From ToEE

Paul Fenwick - No party is complete without a 10' Pole. Don't ask me how you get a group of nine adventurers into the Inn while each of carrying one of these, though.

James - We could tie a bit of string to the end and claim to be fishermen...

Incidentally, our party has so far found the amazing ten foot pole (tm) to be very useful for:

1. Pushing secret door buttons (though it wasn't so good for actually opening the door).
2. Finding weak sections of floor in corridors.
3. Whittling.