Gary: I'll be sure to bring the ice tools with me next time Bri comes to visit...
It does boil down to personal preference, and also the conditions on which I'm playing at each moment. I've sometimes even found the poles helpful in larger boulder fields as extensions of my arms to balance points; only to have the tips slip on the boulders and I end up tumbling.
I tend to leave my straps off due to the simple fact that I am constantly flipping positions and grips while using the poles: choking up on traverses, putting two poles in one hand while scrambling, gripping the tops of the poles with the heels of my hands for stepping down. If I'm on a snow slope, imagine trying to arrest with the poles (not recommended, but possible) while the straps are on your wrists.
-L
PS: Gary, I was also working on Bri wearing her sunglasses that day. How did that work out? 
