I haven't posted in awhile as taking care of a 1-year-old boy has gotten time-consuming, but no complaints so far. Anyway, in late February during a night of slalom training, I ended up with an injury to my left index finger. The area between the medial and proximal phalanges had swollen significantly causing me to eventually lose much of the range of motion in that finger. I was using the above Leki pole guard during the training event. A doctor visit and x-ray in March yielded no evidence of broken bone but a significant sprain. I was prescribed physical therapy through the end of April to get back my range of motion and help reduce the swelling. I'm happy to report that my range of motion as of this post is back to approximately 95% and the swelling is down over 50%. I still exercise it on my own now. If you notice the top part of the pole guard shaft begins to narrow leaving leaving part of the hand unprotected from gate impact. I strongly believe that this was the culprit of the impact injury. As a result, I cannot recommend this particular kind of SL pole guard. I am investing in a pair that provides coverage of the entire hand. Beware!
