Pacer Poles

[ninjapuppet]

PACER = acronym for - "physiotherapist architect clinician engineering research"
just a few questions from members here who have used them:

1
I am needing new poles, and either thinking of going with the flip lock types such as those from black diamond. Leki have started incorporating flip locks now so it seems that the twsit lock action of these pacers are abit outdated. Is the quality found on these pacer poles comparable to the old twist?

2
i really liked the cork + neoprene handle combination on my Lekis and never got blisters on them. Does the plastic handle on the pacers cause any friction hotspots on the hands?

3
And i have ordered a few tents such as zPack's Hexamid which require poles to prop up. Does anybody have experience with using these weired angled handles to prop tents up?.

4
I have considered the highly recommended gossaamer gear poles but they are fixed length and i like to adjust for different lengths going up hill vs downhill so i dont think the GG will be suitable. I know the black diamonds are, but are the pacer poles also quick to adjust?

[Jellybean]

I have considered the highly recommended gossaamer gear poles but they are fixed length and i like to adjust for different lengths going up hill vs downhill so i dont think the GG will be suitable. I know the black diamonds are, but are the pacer poles also quick to adjust?

Hi NP,

The Gossamer Gear Lightrek™ 4 Trekking Poles are adjustable length (as opposed to the Lightrek™ 3 Trekking Poles which are fixed length). They seem to get really good reviews (I was actually keeping them on my " wish list" for the next time I need to buy poles (my Leki Super Makalus are still going strong).

Cheers,

JB

[photohiker]

1. The twist mechanism in the Pacer Poles seems a lot better than my old BD Poles. The mechanism is simple and robust. Its easy to use and easily serviceable. Apparently they can be difficult to loosen, and Pacer give you a strip of latex glove to improve traction. I've never had that problem though. Good flick locks would be hard to beat though.

2. No friction hotspots for me. When I first started using them the weather was quite hot (25+) and sweat was a problem, but no blisters. Cork would possibly be a better material, but then the shape of the handle might be difficult or expensive to create in cork.

3. No experience, sorry. I think the Pacer tents are designed to use the Pacer Poles, so it must be possible.

3a. The handle shape is not 'weird' its 'correct'

4. As quick as any other twist lock I expect.

Really, you should borrow a pair and take them for a trial. You'll either love them or hate them. For me, I found that the natural hand angle made the difference between having poles and having poles and using them. The benefits for me of any pole are in balance and upper body involvement, and to a lesser extent taking weight from the knees.

[crockle]

PACER = acronym for - "physiotherapist architect clinician engineering research"
just a few questions from members here who have used them:..

The WORST thing abut Pacer Poles is this rather unbelievable acronym. In all other respects they are FANTASTIC - I would say the 2nd best piece of bushwalking gear I've ever purchased.
Difference between Pacer Poles and 'regular poles' - including some really expensive poles I have used - is night and day.
The 'weird handles' on the poles are what make them work so well - in bio-mechanical terms, and in terms of comfort . When I first saw them , I thought they looked gimmicky, and (like many gimmicks) over priced. Taking 4 strides across the retail shopfloor with them, indicates pretty much nothing at all - a hopeless environment to test anything like that.
But I read a pamphlet on how they'd been developed by a husband/wife team working in the field of bio-mechanics, and how they had supposedly incorporated all this learned stuff about human movement when walking, weight distribution etc etc - and put it into their pole design. all of which makes really good sense (on paper).
Photohiker has summarised it my saying

The handle shape is not 'weird' its 'correct'

- which is really what you realise after

a) Reading all the 'human motion' material that is behind the design, and
b) Using them. Short walks, long walks, steep walks, flat walks - just using them.

I spent a 1/2 day originally with new Pacer Poles stumbling around - "My left foot plus right-pole, let's see..umpf" - after which I just relaxed and realised, that all my concentrating was unnecessary - 'pole technique' was all based around the natural flow of the body when walking and the way we bipeds move our weight forward - either flat, up or down.
After which, I just walked - easily, with more speed, less fatigue & less joint pain.
My answers: -

1. Twist mechanism - What photohiker said.Simple, robust twist. Very 'grippy' - I think only retail-shop tyre-kickers over-tighten them. The poles are so good, don't make this your main priority.
2. Handles -I've not got a blister or felt a hotspot from the handles - I've used them in 33° - 6 hrs walking, sweating from every pore all day. It's worth mentioning that because the Pacers are typically held much lower relative to the torso, you get better blood-flow to the hands than in some pole-walking techniques
3. Poles as Shelter poles - They do prop up the Aarn Pacer tents no problem - by virtue of the angled handles going into little pouches designed for them. That's just one brand though. There may be a difficulty here. Both poles have removable plugs in the top - possible that a plug hole could be filled with a shank or nubbin to support a shelter
4. Adjusting length -I find the adjustment time on the Pacers fine - I too prefer to make adjustments according to up or down hill, sometimes quite dramatic adjustments (steep hills)

I'm pretty conscious of the weights of my gear - but am convinced that the weight of walking poles (mention of Gossamer Gear)is pretty much a non-issue if your goal in weight reduction is to promote walking comfort.
Pacer poles outstrip conventional poles by such a large margin - felt both whilst walking, as well as at the end of the day - that discussion of 100g here or 80g there, becomes an irrelevance.
Both carbon-fibre and aluminium versions are available - I have aluminium.

I'd urge you to beg borrow or steal a pair to try out for a day or 2 - I think they're fantastic.

[crockle]

Sorry long post there.
Looking for something negative to say about them -
They are not great on boardwalk. Less so even than other poles because of the posture / tip placement when using.

Link to Pacer's 'Weight vs Effort' on their site: - http://pacerpole.co.uk/walking-pole-faq-trekking-poles-5.html

[CenVicCharlie]

I use these http://www.titaniumgoat.com/poles.html and at 96.4 grams a pole you cant complain.

I'm now looking at getting the extra add on Tankara rod.

[ninjapuppet]

hi charlie, are you talking about the Yagi fly rod for your AGP trek poles?
http://www.titaniumgoat.com/tenkara.html

From their website:
New rod sleeve comes with removable hard liner for added
protection. Rod sleeve weighs .4oz, hard liner weighs an additional .4oz..

so with the rod sleeve and hard liner, it weighs 2.1 oz - which is about 60 grams, and costs $95.
on its own, it weighs 1.3oz (37 grams)

wouldnt you rather just get a real tenkaraUSA rod? My Tenkara Iwana weighs 68 grams, and costs only anotehr $40 more but comes in a very nice and neat packable package. handles beautifully

[under10kg]

I just love my pacer poles. They must be my favourite bit of gear.
I can place a lot of weight descending on the poles with no discomfort to my wrists etc.
So I can jump down 1 meter drops with little effort.
You can move so fast with these poles descending steep slopes.
I my opinion, they are so so much better than the normal poles with their normal grips.
You really need to try them out for a day or so.
I got the carbon fiber model.
Only disadvantage is they could be a little lighter.

[north-north-west]

Had a quick fiddle with a pair when I picked up the Load Limo Friday night. Neat. You really do have to try them out to realise how good they are.
But:
I wish I didn't like them, 'cause I'll probably end up buying a pair, and I hate using two poles 'cause they get in the way so much when you're trying to use a camera. And you do need two of these to get the benefit. Grrrrr.

[jez_au]

Pacer Poles are by far the best hiking purchase I have made.

I bought Pacer Poles because I found a post here somewhere where a user mentioned they tried them because they have arthritis. I tried them because I have rheumatoid arthritis, which mean the joints in my hands and feet suffer from chronic inflammation.

The posture to hold the Pacer Poles is very natural and effortless, it is more or less the state your hand is in when it is relaxed. I carefully watch weight when doing multi-day hiking, these poles are heavier than most poles, indeed, much heavier (I suspect most of the extra weight is in the handles), but this is by far outweighed by how natural and easy they are to use. With rheumatoid arthritis I could barely move my hands after using Black Diamond poles after a day, but the natural grip of the Pacer Poles mean I can use them all day with minimal pain.

In regards to ninjapuppet's 4 questions:

1) The twist mechanism isnt great. I often have trouble releasing the grip and shortening the poles at the end of the day. The supplied piece of rubber glove isn't really a very good solution, I would hope future manufacturing runs would remedy this (I think the problem is caused by the metal expanding over the day). That said, this type of movement is difficult for a rheumatoid arthritis sufferer. I much prefer the Black Diamond flip lock, but this does not negate using the Pacer Poles over the Black Diamond poles.

2) The Pacer Pole grip is so natural and easy the hands just don't get as hot as other poles. Even on a really hot day, any sweat has not caused blisters. I have a comprised immune system, I get blisters and other soft tissue injuries really easily (really really really easily), I have never had a blister or hot spot from the Pacer Poles. I have hiked over 1,000km since purchasing them. The handles are really comfortable, even at the end of a day.

3) Sorry, no experience with combining with a tent. I investigated these kind of tents, but found other tents much lighter even with a tent pole.

4) There would only be a little difference in adjustment time between Pacer Poles and Black Diamond. The documentation that comes with the Pacer Poles strongly recommends not adjusting their height. I used to be a big height adjuster of my Black Diamonds, but am happy to keep the Pacer Poles at the same length. They don't need adjusting as they suggest you modify how you use poles, it is well worth reading and trying, it really works.

It is interesting to note that BackPackingLight gave the Pacer Pole a 9/10 in a review, stopping short of 10/10 only because of their performance walking uphill - this seems to have been a misunderstanding on their part on how to properly use them when on an ascent. The review: http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/pacerpoles_trekking_poles_review.html

[ninjapuppet]

thanks for the helpful reviews. They're all very useful to everyone looking for new poles.
unlike husbands and wives, theres no "try before you buy" with these sorts of overseas poles. you just got to dive in blindly and lock in the purchase, abit similar to arranged marriages.

I recently had an opportunity to try 4 different sticks over several days each.
My Leki old Super Makalu (10 years old)
Leki Thermolite aergon antishock http://www.moontrail.com/leki-thermolite-aergon.php
Leki Makalu summit AS Makalu http://www.moontrail.com/leki-summit-as.php
and some trekking poles from Annaconda. (? denali or something)

Ive grown used to mine but when I tried the light weight thermolite aergon, they seemed to offer a much better swing due to being lighter than mine. I was suprised to find that the few hundred grams difference made such a big difference to my swing and that I could walk faster.
The Summit AS Makalu at 595g felt similar to mine except i prefer my cork/neoprene handles.
The Annaconda ones were ok on gentle slopes but seemed slightly wobbly when going down steep slopes, and I wasnt keen on this because i'm looking to upgrade poles, not downgrade.

One thing i really hated about the 2 new leki's are that their twist lock mechanism is vastly different than the old versions like mine. When you twist it to lock, mine gradually gets harder and harder to screw in so there is a chance that you may over-tighten it if you're unfamiliar with them. However its rock solid once its tight. with the new leki's you only need half a turn to lock it in and there is a sudden reassuring stop. The problem is that during the gait / walk cycle, your hands rotate slightly as they swing and this occasionally loosened the poles. Not good when you really need it tight during a river crossing.
As a result my friends who used the new lekis always had to check if they were tight prior to a river crossing while I was confident my old lekis were tight without checking.

so it seems to me that the 3 most important features i look for in any new poles are:
1 - light weight (GG LT4 wins easily)
2 - Quick and reassuring locking mechanisms that dont come undone (black diamond wins)
3 - comfortable handles (I like cork + neoprene but logically I think pacer wins here)

wouldnt it be good to have a combination of these.

[ninjapuppet]

And forgot to mention that i met a hiker last week in the blue mountains with a pacer pole propping up a shangri la 3 tent. I tried his poles with my hexamid and that worked too

That confirms that Pacer poles are suitable for proping up pyramid tents and tarps.