I use poles religiously and recommend them for hikers who express a concern for previous issues with lower extremities and the knees in particular. If I am working with a customer, I ensure they walk away knowing how to place the hands through the wrist straps and thus hold the pole so they use an absolute minimum of forearm strength. I also discuss basic technique with them. ]

However, this is for those customers I can specifically spend some time with in our pole section. I typically spend a shift in camping fitting folks for packs, showing them how to set up their tent, prime their stove, clean a water filter, stuff a sleeping bag into its compression sack, or pulling watches/heart-rate monitors/GPS/knives/ sunglasses/binoculars out of the optics case. How often do I get to coach a potential customer in using poles? Not often enough.

Try to sell folks truly lightweight gear at my store. A frightening number balk at lightweight gear because Backpacker Magazine has extolled the virtues of bomber gear for so long to go with the SUV's they advertise. To be fair, Backpacker has shown some signs of lightening up a bit in the last couple of years, but the mindset still exists: if you pay enough for gear - you won't have to work or worry in the backcountry. Your GPS will show you where to go, your Jetboil will make cooking instant and easy, your somewhat heavier freestanding tent will practically erect itself, merely possessing trekking poles will make you a mountain goat and so on and so on and so on.

Or you could actually study up, make contact with friends or an experienced group or maybe even take a course in backpacking. There you could learn some real skills, and go smarter, lighter, and safer without relying on a mountain of gear or a college student being paid $6 an hour that most customers won't listen to any way because they know every thing from reading Backpacker magazine. But this approach takes a great deal of effort, and backpacking isn't really about effort, is it?

My take would be to ask the folks with poor technique if they'd ever asked about how to use their poles. I'd wager a dime to a dollar that it never crossed their minds until they actually got out on the trail. I always make an effort to educate my customers in how light they can really go and be safe and comfortable. When I run into the the "traditional" heavyweight objections, I sell them what they've made up their mind about already and let them trod on in pigheaded ignorance.