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#1
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What pole design hurts thumbs?
My wife fell on her thumb a couple year ago and it took many months to heal.
The orthopedist told her to use poles where the grip wraps around the hand, rather than the kind with straps, to protect her thumb in the future. The wrap around kind is no longer available, so I have picked them out of discard piles whenever I see them. I also use the wrap arounds because I don't like the straps, and you can hook them on the chairlifts rather than hold them. Several people have noticed mine and said they used to like them also, but they are not available anymore because they can cause thumb injuries. Well, that is the exact opposite of what her doctor told her. (and she is sure she isn't confused on what he told her.) So, which kind is safer for thumbs? I am not going to change either way, but she should be using the safer ones. Thanks. |
#2
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I like the older ones better too and still have mine even though I use the
newer ones with the straps . I was on the lift one day with a ski patrol guy and he told me there is a special way to wrap the strap around your wrist when gripping the pole but It might not be easy to explain . He said to put your hand through the strap and instead of just gripping the pole , to put your hand over the strap so it's between your index finger & thumb and then grip the pole . If you can make sense of that then your all right . As far as which is safer for the thumb I'm not sure but it would seem obvious the older style is , at least to me anyway . I've actually heard of quite a few people hurting their thumbs with the newer style poles but I don't know if it's related . "toller" wrote in message ... My wife fell on her thumb a couple year ago and it took many months to heal. The orthopedist told her to use poles where the grip wraps around the hand, rather than the kind with straps, to protect her thumb in the future. The wrap around kind is no longer available, so I have picked them out of discard piles whenever I see them. I also use the wrap arounds because I don't like the straps, and you can hook them on the chairlifts rather than hold them. Several people have noticed mine and said they used to like them also, but they are not available anymore because they can cause thumb injuries. Well, that is the exact opposite of what her doctor told her. (and she is sure she isn't confused on what he told her.) So, which kind is safer for thumbs? I am not going to change either way, but she should be using the safer ones. Thanks. |
#3
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Ron - NY wrote:
I was on the lift one day with a ski patrol guy and he told me there is a special way to wrap the strap around your wrist when gripping the pole but It might not be easy to explain . He said to put your hand through the strap and instead of just gripping the pole , to put your hand over the strap so it's between your index finger & thumb and then grip the pole . The advantage of using the strap that way is you get more leverage when you're poling across the flats. It's essential for X-C, but I'm not sure I see the advantage for downhill. Personally, I don't put my wrists through the straps - you're supposed to unstrap when you get on the lift, and with the small hills here it's just not worth the extra ten seconds to re-strap every run. Note that going strapless is a really really bad idea if you're skiing terrain where self arrest may be necessary. So whenever I encounter such a slope, I carefully put my wrists through the straps, taking sometimes three or four minutes to do so. Usually by that time I've come to my senses and go ski some other run. Returning to the OP's question, The "handguard" style pole is probably useful for bashing gates, but I doubt it's really much help in preventing injuries where the thumb falls on the pole. Usually, these are a result of someone trying to break their fall by putting their hand out in front of them.* The safest bet is to fall with your hands close to the body and trying to land on your hip. Or not fall at all (c: * Yes, this happened to me. I speak from experience - broken thumb metacarpal. -- //-Walt // // There is no Völkl Conspiracy |
#4
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On Fri, 18 Mar 2005 16:32:02 -0500, Walt
wrote: Ron - NY wrote: I was on the lift one day with a ski patrol guy and he told me there is a special way to wrap the strap around your wrist when gripping the pole but It might not be easy to explain . He said to put your hand through the strap and instead of just gripping the pole , to put your hand over the strap so it's between your index finger & thumb and then grip the pole . The advantage of using the strap that way is you get more leverage when you're poling across the flats. It's essential for X-C, but I'm not sure I see the advantage for downhill. 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. bw |
#5
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"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 :-) . |
#6
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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. |
#7
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Note that going strapless is a really really bad idea if you're skiing
terrain where self arrest may be necessary The things I learn here :-) . What does self arrest mean ? |
#8
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Sources close to the investigation reveal that, on Fri, 18 Mar 2005
18:11:28 -0500, "Ron - NY" wrote: Note that going strapless is a really really bad idea if you're skiing terrain where self arrest may be necessary The things I learn here :-) . What does self arrest mean ? It's like a citizen's arrest, but you turn yourself in. Either that, or it's what you do when you've fallen, you're sliding, and you won't stop naturally. -- Bill Griffiths "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no such thing as justice." Hobbes |
#9
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In article ,
Walt wrote: Note that going strapless is a really really bad idea if you're skiing terrain where self arrest may be necessary. So whenever I encounter such a slope, I carefully put my wrists through the straps, taking sometimes three or four minutes to do so. Usually by that time I've come to my senses and go ski some other run. How can you use the poles to self arrest when your hand are in the straps? ....After sliding about 75 yards a few weeks ago, I discovered that I was unable to slide my hand down to the basket end of the pole in order to use the pole as a pick. So, I just kept sliding and sliding, etc.. Fortunately one ski came off during the fall and I was able to dig the front of my boot into the slope to eventually stop below experiencing the full length of the trail. Some skiers say keep one hand out of the strap when on difficult/steep runs. But isn't the point of the strap to keep you from losing the ski. Damned if you do, and damned if you don't??? -Dennis -- Dennis Kessler http://www.denniskessler.com/acupuncture |
#10
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no spam wrote:
Walt wrote: Note that going strapless is a really really bad idea if you're skiing terrain where self arrest may be necessary. So whenever I encounter such a slope, I carefully put my wrists through the straps, taking sometimes three or four minutes to do so. Usually by that time I've come to my senses and go ski some other run. How can you use the poles to self arrest when your hand are in the straps? I believe the idea is to grab the pole with your other hand near the basket. At least, that's the technique I've used. ...After sliding about 75 yards a few weeks ago, I discovered that I was unable to slide my hand down to the basket end of the pole in order to use the pole as a pick. So, I just kept sliding and sliding, etc.. Fortunately one ski came off during the fall and I was able to dig the front of my boot into the slope to eventually stop below experiencing the full length of the trail. If you still have both skis on, don't bother starting with the pole arrest. Just get your skis downhill and put 'em on edge. Unless it's super-steep (i.e. over 50 degrees) this usually works for most skiers. If you're still sliding after engaging your skis, then add the pole arrest. Typically, pole arrests are done after you've lost both skis. Some skiers say keep one hand out of the strap when on difficult/steep runs. But isn't the point of the strap to keep you from losing the ski. Damned if you do, and damned if you don't??? Best bet is still not to fall. |
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