Ron - NY wrote:
"bdubya" wrote in message

The advantage I find is that if you let go of the pole in a fall,
then
it's dangling harmlessly from your wrist, leaving your hand
completely
free. Whereas if you do the instinctive thing (reach horizontally
_through_ the loop so that you only grip the pole, rather than reach
UP through the loop and then grip both the pole and the strap), then
when you let go, the pole hangs from the strap which is nestled in
the
webbing of your thumb, turning the pole into a very well-braced
lever,
admirably suited for tweaking your thumb or wrist


Yep , that's pretty much the idea I got from it . But it's a little
bit of a
nuisance to do and it makes the grip feel a little weird because your

holding the handle plus the double thickness of the strap and it
feels like
your not getting as tight a grip . But then again a broken thumb can
be a
nuisance too :-) .

I think you'll find that the "weird" feel is only weird because you're
not used to it and, as long as the strap is threaded through the buckle
properly, so that it isn't twisted, the extra thickness isn't really an
issue and you won't even feel it with your gloves on. It must not be an
issue for most people because almost everyone I ski with uses their
straps in this way.

As for it not feeling like you're getting as tight a grip, well, when
using the strap this way you don't need to have a death-grip on you're
handle in order to keep your hand from slipping down it when you put
some weight on it because the strap supports your hand and keeps it
from sliding down the handle. You can have a loose, relaxed hold of
your poles and yet be more secure than you would be no matter how tight
you gripped it without the strap.

Lastly, if you're worried about catching the pole on a something and
having it dislocate your shoulder then just by a decent set of poles
with break-away straps. I use the Life-Link Alpine Extreme Carbon Fiber
- AEC (www.life-link.com) pole which also doubles as an avalanche
probe. I think they're well worth the price but there are certainly
cheaper alternatives out there.

A.