As a person who sometimes trips over literally nothing but the air in front of her, I decided I should consider adding trekking poles to my gear stash.

I know people who have them and love them even for walking around the parks in our neighborhood. So I did a little research online, and what I learned from that was that I really need to talk to a person, in person. This is the kind of item that looks pretty simple but comes with enough variations and features that it warrants speaking with an Expert. I think that’s what makes it Level II gear – I have to seek out a shop and a salesperson with knowledge, and I feel a little bit like Link in the Zelda chronicles.

So I trotted off to my local REI, where I met my man Chuck. I was standing in front of the vast array of poles looking befuddled, and he asked if he could help. I said, “I know nothing but I think I want some poles” and it turns out that Chuck is a veritable font of information about the subject. He explained the main differences:

• aluminum vs. carbon fiber
• telescoping vs. foldable
• cork vs. foam vs. rubber grips
• extended vs. standard grips

He showed me which poles he uses and why he chose each feature. And then he gave me the most important bit of information, when he leaned in and whispered, “A lot of these will be going on sale on Friday, if you can wait that long.” This is the kind of service you don’t get from reading Amazon reviews. So I left, empty-handed but armed with knowledge, to test my patience and wait for four days.

Four days later I returned and found the Leki Cressida Cork Lite on sale for 25% off (cheaper than on Amazon, or anywhere else for that matter). I chose them for these reasons: cork handle (best for hot hands), extended grip (for greater adaptability when changing elevation), aluminum pole (slightly heavier but more likely to dent or bend than outright break) and telescoping (since I’m not planning to be backpacking, I don’t need to spend the extra $ to have them break down into a smaller size). I think I struck a good balance on cost/versatility and that they will meet my needs for a long time.

I also picked up a tiny first aid kit and a tiny Gerber multi-tool. I travel with a full-sized first aid kit and tool kit in my car, but I want to have mini versions that are stationed in my Parks Backpack.

Tiny First Aid Kit ($12 on sale)- perfect size to live in a backpack. Great if you scrape yourself or get stung while you’re actually on the trail, before you can get back to your car/tent/hotel.

Tiny Gerber Multi-tool ($26)- this thing is really quite tiny! Literal palm-of-your-hand tiny. It’s never going to be my go-to if I need an actual screwdriver, but it has enough features to be extremely useful on a trail (or in the car when I can’t open a package, which happens more often than I’d like to admit).

Off-list shopping is a definite risk in a store like REI, and since I only got those two extra items I feel like I really won on the self-restraint front today.