What pole design hurts thumbs?

"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 had a problem with my little finger one season, and finally figured out
that the new poles I was using, which had a "disk" like widening above and
below your hand, were causing the problem. My little finger would be really
sore after a day skiing. I finally tried a pair of poles with the more
straight grip, and the soreness went away. Unfortunately, that finger now
has permanent arthritus from the constant irritation that season.

Bob

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

Sven Golly wrote:
"Armin" wrote in news:1111190679.992709.82990
@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

I think you're mistaken about the Life-Links. They release fairly
easily on an upward pull, such as when the pole catches on a tree,
but
you can push down on the strap as hard as you want without having
them
release. That's the beauty of them.

Not so sure about that. I'm pretty sure they simply release when
pulled on
too hard. I don't think they care if the tension has a different
angle to
it. I could be wrong.

Trust me, you're wrong.

I've used the Life-Link AEC for many years... including yesterday. I
double-checked just for the hell of it. I pushed down on the straps as
hard as I could. They held. I pulled upwards fairly lightly and they
popped.

Maybe it's time to trade those Kerma's for Life-Links. :-)

A.

Sven Golly wrote:

"Armin" wrote in news:1111421620.544394.130460
@l41g2000cwc.googlegroups.com:

Trust me, you're wrong.

That's because you have a partitioned mind and cannot see all the angles
of flatpoling. Oh wait, sorry. Got this mixed up with a parallel universe.


Partition hard drives, not minds!

Is it true that if a mind partition crosses the 1024 cylinder boundary
that mind won't be bootable?

Lisa

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.

TexasSkiNut wrote:
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.

How can you use the poles to self arrest when your hand are in the
straps?

How can you use the poles to self-arrest when they're lying 100 feet
above you and you're sliding away from them at 30 miles an hour?

You raise a good point - as the estimable Dr Lee has pointed out, some
people advocate not strapping in for exactly that reason.

I don't strap in, and I tend to reflexively jettison my poles when I
fall. That's what I mean by "really really bad idea".

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.

Even strapped in, you should be able to grab the basket of the other
pole. At least that's the theory.

Best bet is still not to fall.

Ok. I'll try to follow your sage advice.


--
//-Walt
//
// There is no Völkl Conspiracy

"Armin" wrote in message
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.

If you adjust the strap properly, when used this way it holds the hand
exactly where you want it on the pole with very little grip. The strap does
the work, not your hand.

Bob

"Walt" wrote in message news:LTH%d.892
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.

Even strapped in, you should be able to grab the basket of the other
pole. At least that's the theory.

Best bet is still not to fall.

The last time I did it, the last 5 inches of the pole broke off. But it
stopped what would have been a bad ice/bumps slide. I used those poles for
30 years.

Bob

Bob wrote:
"Armin" wrote in message
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.

If you adjust the strap properly, when used this way it holds the
hand
exactly where you want it on the pole with very little grip. The
strap does
the work, not your hand.

Bob

I think that's exactly what I said, wasn't it? See the line about "You
can have a loose, relaxed grip...".

I realize I have to be extra-clear with the folk still using floppy
cable
bindings. Nice people, and they mean well, but their lips move when
they read, if you know what I mean. ;-)

A.

In article .com,
"TexasSkiNut" wrote:

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.

If both hands are in the straps, and you use one hand to try and grab
above the basket and plant the pole, the one hand would be near the snow
surface, jsut above the basket and the other hand would be in the strap,
about 48" perpendicular and above the surface of the snow. If think this
would be quite a feat while accelerating down the mountain on your
stomach.

....there must be a better way.


...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.

Sounds like a good plan. We'll keep it in mind.


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.

That would mean paying attention to what I was doing all the time.

-Dennis

--
Dennis Kessler
http://www.denniskessler.com/acupuncture