I'm not sure about all these facts of 40% off your knees etc.

but i think that it gives me a lot better positive attitude, you feel better and that walking is easier although it probably isn't that different than normal

As someone on another thread here put it...

Try weighing yourself, then get your poles, push down on them (as you would when walking) weigh yourself again and observe the difference.

If you are not especially tall (I'm 1.71m) and you will ever want to take your poles inside a rucksack on a plane, I'd recommend Brasher Compact poles: they collapse down to a length suitable for this, unlike many other poles on the market which are too long when collapsed.

Alpkit carbon fibre poles - Cheap and light. (www.alpkit.com) I use them to walk with and to hold up my tarp and they seem to do both jobs a treat.