You've seen them charging down the red-rock trail -- the posture and attitude of a runway model with elbows and two hiking poles flying.

Oddly, it's either pedal-to-the-metal extreme hikers or wizened, trail-wise geezers who seem to have adopted double-fisted pole walking.

That alone should give pause to those of us who eschew a high-technology approach to the outdoors. Could there be something to these carbon-fiber and aluminum abominations -- besides another toy for equipment freaks?

Advocates of the double-stick approach to the trail (and the even goofier nordic-walking craze) argue that if you fall into any of these categories you should get your own matched poles post haste:

* You don't want to "blow out" a knee on descents.

* You've already blown a knee, hip or ankle and you are trying to get moving again.

* You want to involve your upper body into your walking workout.

* You hike trails on which a pole or two can help with balance and stream crossing.

* You're getting older and the old bod is starting to creak and pop, shortening your outings.

* You want to hike farther and faster because you are a mountain maniac.

Sticking to the trail

"Trekking poles give you two additional points of balance," says Michael Heathfield, a hiking and climbing expert at REI in Salt Lake City. "The upper body can assist you once you get used to them and add them to the rhythm of your stride. And it can become an upper body workout."

And that's on flat trails. Adjustable and impact-absorbing poles offer additional benefits in climbing and descending steep grades.

Christine Schnitzer, who teaches nordic walking and represents outdoors companies that are trying to reach the 50-plus market, compares the rubber-tipped nordic poles to a road bike and trekking poles, with carbide metal tips, to a mountain bike.

"Trekking poles bring power to your uphill climbing, one can be very energetic going uphill," Schnitzer says. "Many people become very interested in trekking poles when they want to protect their knees when they come downhill. You extend the poles a little longer to reach out to the ground, and it slows and controls your momentum and takes some of the impact off the knees."

Also, she says, "On the downhill, they help to keep people focused and they prevent falls. They bring a sense of awareness that the whole body is involved in the descent."

Heathfield, who is 54 and wants to continue hiking and climbing as long as possible, has long made trekking poles part of his basic equipment.

"I've used them for decades. From day one they have been an advantage," he says. "As I aged, I found them even more helpful. There's nothing bad about them, and used correctly they are wonderful."

Gnarly knees only

About the only experienced hiker who has anything bad to say about hiking sticks is New Jersey-based Rick Bolger, and even he sees some good in them.

"There are times when these things will help people, particularly if it involves a medical situation -- like a gnarly old knee," he says. "I think the day is going to come when I will be hauling those things around myself. It'll be a big irony."

But for most hikers, Bolger said he believes poles are another case of technological overkill and consumerism run amok.

He uses a seven-mile round-trip hike with a 2,000-foot elevation gain as an example: "That can be tiring, but I don't think the majority of hikers need hiking sticks for that sort of thing."

Some critics go farther, arguing trekking poles are unnatural -- humankind left quadrupedal locomotion behind eons ago.

"This sounds harsh, but if hiking poles prevent a seriously damaging fall, that person was probably going to fall for another reason," Bolger said. "If the hiking pole is the thing keeping you from peril, you should be avoiding that peril."