How to Size Trekking Poles | The 90-Degree Elbow Rule

Size trekking poles by standing on flat ground in your hiking shoes, planting the tips beside your feet, and adjusting until your elbows sit at about 90 degrees.

Getting trekking pole length wrong shows up fast — hunched shoulders on the climbs, aching wrists on the descents, knees that complain the next morning. The good news is the fix takes about a minute on flat ground and a few small twists of the locking mechanism after that. The 90-degree elbow rule is the sizing standard used across retailers and manufacturers, including REI, LEKI, and Black Diamond’s reseller charts. It beats any height-based shortcut because it accounts for your actual torso length and arm proportions, not just your overall height.

The Direct Sizing Method

Stand on level ground wearing the same shoes you hike in — several sizing guides stress that different footwear changes the fit. Plant both pole tips on the ground next to your feet, then adjust the length until your forearms sit roughly parallel to the ground and your elbows bend at 90 degrees. At the correct flat-ground setting, the handle tops usually end around waist or hip level.

Walk a short distance and recheck. If your shoulders rise toward your ears or your wrists feel strained, make small adjustments of about 1–2 inches (2–5 cm) at a time, then test again. One important habit: always tighten the locking mechanism fully after you set the length. A loose lock lets the pole slip mid-hike, which ruins the fit you just dialed in.

How to Adjust for Terrain

The 90-degree setting is your baseline, not your permanent setting. Terrain changes demand quick adjustments, and most modern poles have sections that make this a ten-second job.

• Uphill: shorten the poles by roughly 2–4 inches (5–10 cm) so you don’t shrug your shoulders or overreach with every step.
• Downhill: lengthen by about 2–4 inches (5–10 cm), or around 5 inches on moderate descents, to keep your torso more upright and take strain off your knees.
• Traverses and sidehills: shorten the uphill pole and keep the downhill pole longer so both elbows can stay near 90 degrees.
• Snow or mud: use longer settings and larger baskets so the tips don’t sink too deeply and throw your stride off.

The one rule that applies everywhere: adjust incrementally and test-walk after each change. Large jumps in length force your body to compensate, which defeats the purpose of using poles at all. LEKI’s official pole-length advisor makes a related point — it asks for your activity as well as your height, because the ideal length for relaxed walking differs from what you want on a steep, technical trail. The 90-degree check remains the anchor; activity just tells you how far to deviate from it.

Trekking Pole Height Charts and the 0.68 Formula

Height charts give you a useful starting point, and manufacturers publish slightly different versions. REI’s guide brackets sizes as 100 cm for under 5 ft 1 in, 110 cm for 5 ft 1 in–5 ft 7 in, 120 cm for 5 ft 8 in–5 ft 11 in, and 130 cm for 6 ft and up. Black Diamond’s reseller chart runs finer, listing 105 cm at 5 ft 1 in, 110 cm at 5 ft 4 in, 115 cm at 5 ft 7 in, 120 cm at 5 ft 10 in, 125 cm at 6 ft 1 in, and 130 cm at 6 ft 4 in.

A simpler shortcut appears across multiple size guides: multiply your height in centimeters by 0.68 to estimate pole length. For a 5 ft 10 in hiker (178 cm), that gives roughly 121 cm — which lands right in the middle of the chart recommendations. Treat the formula and the charts as estimates only. The elbow check is the final word because it corrects for the things charts can’t see, like long arms on a short torso.

One more chart note: REI advises that hikers taller than about 6 ft choose poles with a maximum extended length of at least 51 inches, so the poles can actually reach the lengths those charts suggest. If the pole tops out before your elbow hits 90 degrees, the sizing process fails before it starts.

Trekking Pole Length by Height

Most quality poles adjust over a wide range — a 110–130 cm pole covers the vast majority of adult hikers — which is why the charts work as starting points rather than rigid rules. If you’re between sizes, pick the pole whose adjustment range brackets your elbow-check setting with room to spare for terrain changes. When you’re ready to buy, our tested roundup of the best budget trekking poles covers solid, affordable options that adjust across the right ranges.

Trail running is the one case where the standard rule softens. Several guides note that runners often prefer shorter settings for easier uphill propulsion, accepting a slightly more compact stance in exchange for faster turnover. For hiking, backpacking, and walking, though, the 90-degree baseline holds: stability matters more than speed, and the elbow check delivers that stability.

The same sizing logic applies to walking poles and most hiking staffs as well. LEKI’s official pole-length advisor guide confirms that the best length depends on what you’re doing, not just how tall you are. A walking pole for a flat park loop can sit at the flat-ground setting all day; a trekking pole for the mountains spends its time moving between the uphill, downhill, and traverse settings you’ve practiced.