How to adjust the length of your hiking poles?

When hiking, you will probably need to change the length of your telescopic or folding poles at some point. Let's take a look at how to adjust the length of your trekking poles quickly and efficiently.

In order to perform better, but also for comfort and safety reasons, it is important to adjust the length of your poles according to the different gradients or types of terrain that you will encounter along your route. For example, you may need to extend the length of your poles on downhill slopes, shorten both poles on uphill slopes or only one pole on downhill slopes. For this reason, when hiking, it is essential to get adjustable multi-strand poles, whether they are telescopic or folding.

There are different types of clamps for hiking poles, screw or clip. Let's take a look at the best way to do this, depending on the type of clamping of your poles. 

Screw clamping system: This is the most common and cheapest system, but it is also the oldest and has some shortcomings. Therefore it is important to use it with some care. 

To adjust the length of the poles, simply loosen the screws, slide the individual strands together until you reach the desired length, then screw them back in at the ideal notch. 

Beware: sometimes the poles can unscrew themselves while walking, which is very surprising and even dangerous. Make sure you tighten the screws sufficiently. A second warning: if you tighten them too much, you will find it very difficult to loosen them, which will make you lose time and patience. You need to find the right balance.

Clip system: This is the best option for telescopic poles and is also the most common for adjustable folding poles.

To adjust the length of the poles, the hiker opens the latch, slides the individual strands together until the desired length is reached. Once the right length has been reached, he closes the latch at the ideal notch. This is a more modern, stronger, more reliable and faster system than the screw clamp. In addition, you should know that a screw can usually be used to adjust the strength of the latch on such systems.

Please note: if you choose breakaway sticks, not all of them are adjustable. If you want to use them for hiking, we strongly advise you to choose poles that offer the possibility to adjust the length.