Editing Setting pole (section)

===Propulsion===
The quanter stands at the front of the barge or, for a punt, normally on the rear deck. The angle at which the quant is held depends on the depth of the water and the desired speed of travel. A steeper angle is required for deeper water (the bottom of the quant must be able to reach the bed of the river or canal) and a shallower angle required for speed. The quanter drives the quant downward and slightly backward to push the craft forwards. On a larger boat, the quanter then walks down the side of the boat, facing aft and braced against the quant pole, the boat being propelled forward at the speed he walks. To reverse, the quant can be pushed forwards. The quant is then pulled out of the water by placing hand over hand on it and pulling upwards (as if one were climbing down a pole).

When punting, as in Oxford and Cambridge, the quanter stands stationary at the back (Oxford and Cambridge disagree on which is the rear end: decked in Cambridge and undecked in Oxford) and slides the quant into the water at an angle forwards. As the punt glides forwards the loosely held quant becomes increasingly vertical. When the quant is just past the vertical, i.e. sloping downwards from front to back of the punt, the quanter pushes on the quant to propel the punt forwards. At the end of the pushing stroke the quant is twisted with a downward roll of the wrists to break it free from the bottom, and then retrieved by being thrown forwards hand-over-hand in readiness for the next stroke. A rhythmic and smooth style is usually considered to be 'good form'.

Disaster may strike if the quanter loses grip on the quant while attempting to extract it from the bottom, and the quant is left 'stuck in the mud' at an increasing distance behind the punt. This is ''not'' 'good form'. It is not unknown, when the quant sticks in the mud, for an inexperienced quanter to choose to hold onto the quant rather than letting go, with the result that the quanter is left dangling from the end of the quant, and subsides slowly into the water. This, too, is considered ''not'' 'good form'.