Editing Setting pole (section)

==Regional variants==
===American West===
[[File:2004NickelKeelRevUnc.tif|thumb|Setting poles propelling Lewis and Clark's keelboat on the back of the 2004 [[Nickel (United States coin)|U.S. Nickel]]]]
Setting poles were used widely on the rivers of the 18th and 19th century American West to propel [[keelboat]]s.<ref>{{Cite book| last = Riley| first = Franklin Lafayette| title = Publications of the Mississippi Historical Society| publisher=Mississippi Historical Society| location=[[Oxford, Mississippi]]| volume=VII |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_0wUAAAAYAAJ&q=setting+pole+barge&pg=PA482| date = 1903}}</ref>{{rp|482}} The 1804 [[Lewis and Clark]] expedition relied on setting poles to propel their [[barge]] on the [[Missouri River]]. They brought six purpose-built setting poles, each eighteen feet long and capped with iron on the bottom, though they ended up losing some and replacing them with dog-[[travois]] poles taken from an abandoned Native American camp.<ref name=Mussulman>{{cite web |last1=Mussulman |first1=Joseph |title=Flagship: Keelboat, Barge or Boat? |url=http://www.lewis-clark.org/article/496 |website=Discovering Lewis & Clark |accessdate=19 June 2018 |date=April 2014}}</ref>

===Mesopotamian Marshes===
Setting poles are also used widely on the [[Mesopotamian Marshes]] to propel the [[mashoof]] canoes used by the [[Marsh Arabs]]. These poles are called ''marda'' ([[wikt:مردي|مُرْدِيّ]] in [[Modern Standard Arabic|Literary Arabic]]) and are {{convert|10|-|13|ft|meter|abbr=off|sp=us}} long and made from wood and sturdy [[reed (plant)|reed]]s.<ref name=Kubba>{{Cite book| publisher = Trans Pacific Press| isbn = 9780863723339| last = Kubba| first = Sam| title = The Iraqi Marshlands and the Marsh Arabs: The Ma'dan, Their Culture and the Environment| date = 2011| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=GoiR2Jy57LwC&q=The%20Marsh%20Arabs&pg=PA36}}</ref>{{rp|69}}

===Northeastern North America===
Lighter setting poles, commonly made of spruce, were widely used in the shallow, often rocky rivers of northeastern North America to propel [[canoe]]s, especially in very shallow water and when going upriver against a current. This technique makes it possible to propel a loaded canoe up through substantial whitewater, something which is very hard or impossible to do with paddles. Some modern recreational paddlers still use this technique but it is much less common that it was in the times when people in this region used canoes as an essential means of transportation.<ref name=Conover>{{Cite book| publisher = Tilbury House Pub| isbn = 9780884480662| last = Conover| first = Garrett| title = Beyond the Paddle: A Canoeist's Guide to Expedition Skills : Poling, Lining, Portaging and Maneuvering Through the Ice| date = 1990| url = https://archive.org/details/beyondpaddlecano0000cono}}</ref>{{rp|11}}

===Oxbridge===
The best known form of setting pole is the single-ended [[punt (boat)|punt]] pole used in [[Oxford]] and [[Cambridge]].{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} A setting pole may also be used in [[river]] [[canoeing]] for navigating portions of river where the water is too shallow for a [[paddle]] to create [[thrust]], or where the desired direction of travel is opposite a [[current (stream)|current]] moving fast enough to make paddling inefficient. Setting poles are also useful for fending off drifting logs and negotiating [[sandbar]]s, [[shoal]]s, and rocks.<ref name=Mussulman />

===Norfolk Broads===
On the [[Norfolk Broads]], a quant is used to propel yachts and working craft, especially those lacking an engine, when the wind does not suit.{{cn|date=April 2023}} Large sailing [[Norfolk wherry|wherries]] employed a quant pole at least {{convert|8|m|ft}} in length.{{cn|date=April 2023}}