UKH

My grandmother, bless her old bones, isn't as steady on her feet as she used to be. She has, however, retained the idea that she is 34 and hates using a walking stick.

I'm looking to get her a walking pole, ideally easy to use, for christmas. It doesn't need to be expensive but must be operable with old, weak fingers.

Robert

In reply to Roberttaylor:
My mother has RA so is always asking me to extend the trekking poles she has, even if it isn't stuck as they can get. But some people might treat them as walking sticks and leave them as they are initially adjusted? I would expect a gift should look a bit nicer, so perhaps a cork handled version and one of the T handle shapes (never used those myself). Flick locks would be easier but I find the Black Diamond ones to be tricky, so perhaps Leki ones are better? I was amazed to see all the different rubber feet that they make for these now and more and more people are using them in the street when they come to the Lakes, even indoors!

Personally, I think the twist off camera screw handles and a wooden cap are the nicest but I haven't seen any for a while.

What about this as an idea but from a cheaper brand (or keep the receipt):

http://www.leki.co.uk/index3.asp?id=13§ion=Walking%20Series%20-%20Wande...

PS: if she decides she likes it, get some black reflective tape off ebay and put it around the pole, she will never notice...

In reply to Dorq:

Definately go for flick locks. I bought walking poles for my mum - they were very well used.

In reply to Dorq:

When I took my mum (who's now nearly 80 and still a regular walker) shopping for poles a couple of years back, we chose a lightweight Leki ladies' model (99% sure it's the Cressida Corklite) with flick locks:
http://www.leki.co.uk/index3.asp?id=416§ion=Ultralight%20Ladies%3Cp%3E&...

She'd tried my Black Diamond poles and found the locks quite heavy, but these are so much lighter to adjust and she just fell in love with them. Sold in pairs only (not so handy if you were looking for just one), but really, really good!

In reply to Roberttaylor:

My mum is 91 and still active. She uses pacer poles and loves them. Apparently the handles are perfect for her and make it easy and comfortable for use both up and down hill.

In reply to petestack:

That's actually a nice pole, and I don't mean to be fruity.

If the ones I pass on keep 'disappearing', I might get something like that as a gift in future.

In reply to Roberttaylor:

One could always use Sugru to enhance the size/leverage of the flck locks - at the expense of compactness/snaggability

http://sugru.com/

In reply to Roberttaylor:

I thought this was going to be a swap thread