Ski pole strap for improved power transfer, and ski pole

Abstract

A ski pole strap for transfer of power from a skier's hand to a ski pole when a pole stroke is performed in cross-country skiing, the ski pole strap comprising an attachment portion configured to attach the ski pole strap to the ski pole; and a hand support portion for supporting the hand of the skier, the hand support portion comprising at least 0.03 g/cm 2 of a thermoplastic material arranged at least in a region of the hand support portion configured to surround an ulnar border of the skier's hand, when the ski pole strap is in use, the thermoplastic material being plastically shapeable at a temperature below 100° C. and having a flexural modulus of at least 50 MPa at 20° C.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A ski pole strap for transfer of power from a skier's hand to a ski pole when a pole stroke is performed in cross-country skiing, the ski pole strap comprising:
 an attachment portion configured to attach the ski pole strap to the ski pole; and   a hand support portion for supporting the hand of the skier, the hand support portion comprising a layer of thermoplastic material with at least 0.03 g/cm 2  of the thermoplastic material, the layer of thermoplastic material being arranged at least in a region of the hand support portion configured to surround an ulnar border of the skier's hand, when the ski pole strap is in use, the thermoplastic material being plastically shapeable at a temperature below 100° C. and having a flexural modulus of at least 50 MPa at 20° C.   
     
     
         2 . The ski pole strap according to  claim 1 , the layer of thermoplastic material being arranged in at least 50% of a total surface area of the hand support portion. 
     
     
         3 . The ski pole strap according to  claim 2 , the layer of thermoplastic material being arranged in at least 70% of the total surface area of the hand support portion. 
     
     
         4 . The ski pole strap according to  claim 1 , the hand support portion being configured to at least partly wrap around the hand of the skier between a first end of the hand support portion and a second end of the hand support portion. 
     
     
         5 . The ski pole strap according to  claim 4 , the layer of thermoplastic material being arranged along at least 60% of a distance between the first end and the second end of the hand support portion. 
     
     
         6 . The ski pole strap according to  claim 5 , the layer of thermoplastic material being arranged along at least 80% of a distance between the first end and the second end of the hand support portion. 
     
     
         7 . The ski pole strap according to  claim 5 , the ski pole strap being configured in such a way that the first end of the hand support portion and the second end of the hand support portion are located on a dorsal side of the hand when the ski pole strap is in use. 
     
     
         8 . The ski pole strap according to  claim 1 , the hand support portion comprising in the range of 0.03-0.5 g/cm 2  of the thermoplastic material across at least 30% of a total surface area of the hand support portion. 
     
     
         9 . The ski pole strap according to  claim 1 , the layer of thermoplastic material being sandwiched between a first textile layer arranged to face the hand of the skier and a second textile layer arranged to face away from the hand of the skier, when the ski pole strap is in use. 
     
     
         10 . The ski pole strap according to  claim 9 , wherein the attachment portion is at least partly made of a textile material attached to the hand support portion. 
     
     
         11 . The ski pole strap according to  claim 10 , wherein the attachment portion is attached to the hand support portion between the layer of thermoplastic material and one of the first textile layer and the second textile layer. 
     
     
         12 . The ski pole strap according to  claim 1 , the thermoplastic material having a flexural modulus of at least 100 MPa at 20° C. 
     
     
         13 . The ski pole strap according to  claim 1 , the thermoplastic material exhibiting a ratio between its flexural modulus and its Young's modulus in the range of 0.5 to 1.5. 
     
     
         14 . A ski pole comprising the ski pole strap according to  claim 1 .