I use a single pole. When I first started hiking I found that I was spending the first half hour looking for a suitable branch to use for a staff so I bought a Tracks collapsible pole. When I started using a tarptent it required an adjustable pole so I bought a pair of poles but have only used one at a time. I tried the two poles and could not get used to them. Like others have said it acts like a third leg for stability and acts like kind of a pace setter. Kind of like a metronome.