As someone new to DMing OSR games, I'm a bit confused on how to adjudicate the use of a 10 foot pool. One player who carried it at the front of the party said "I'm poking the ground in front of us like a blind dude using a cane so I shouldn't fall into any pit traps", I took it that the pole counted as an extra 2-6 chance for the trap to be sprung and he got mad when he did actually fall into the pit.
How is it supposed to be used? The book just says you can use it to poke traps and chests and shit to see what happens.