"The Government has recently presented the Growth and Infrastructure Bill, which includes proposals to suspend the protection afforded to National Parks for the installation of broadband infrastructure, mainly through the installation of overhead telecoms cables, for a period of five years."
If you wish to oppose this move you can sign the e-petition set up by the Campaign for National Parks click here
My first poles were from Aldi £10 for an Al pair. These included shock absorbers, which failed quite quickly, but are unnecessary anyway. I loved the cork handles - warmer and better grip than moulded plastic.
I saw some in Lidl about a year ago that looked the same, but not sure about the current ones. If they are like the Aldi ones I thought they were worth the money, but they did seize up after a about a year or 2, so I replaced with some on offer with a TGO sub, then more recently Pacerpoles.
Because they didn't last that long, and I hate waste, I prefer more expensive poles for myself, however they were great when I was experimenting with poles, and propelled me along the Welsh 3000s in 17hrs in foul weather.
I think those thin Pacerpole shock cord straps are only there in case dropping a pole would result in losing them (steep ground, snow, etc). I don't use them. Pushing the adjuster right up to the handle keeps them out of the way.
I got mine 2nd hand (cheers Mike they're great) but for me they would be worth the full price.
I decided to get Pacerpoles after using traditional poles with wrist straps because they feel intuitive and I find straps a pain in the neck, especially when wearing gloves. At times I'm constantly putting the poles down to use my camera, so I find myself using traditional poles without the straps, which isn't the most efficient way to use them. With the Pacerpoles life is so much simpler without the straps.
Hi Dave I've remembered they're the Expedition pockets and I believe they're 9L each plus an elasticated pocket each. They used to be the biggest pockets Aarn made. They were bought at the end of 2008.
Ian Battersby
