Repair lost tip on LT4 trekking pole

[Ben C]

I recently lost just the carbide tip of my Gossamer Gear LT4 pole. The tip unit is intact except for the small little carbide insert on the very tip. Is this something I can easily repair? If so, where will I find a new insert and how do I replace it? Any help is appreciated.

[Hiking Malto]

You can find a replacement tip at rei, I think it is leki style. Getting the old one off can be interesting. I ended up whittling down one side and peeling off. I superglued the new one on. Not a major deal.

[Ben C]

Thanks, Greg. I lost just the little carbide tip, not the whole tip unit. You think I have to rip off that whole unit on the end of the carbon pole?

[Anonymous]

You might want to email Gossamer Gear. I'll bet they've run into this problem before. That said, I'll bet you end up doing something very similar to what Greg describes, but GG may have an easier way to get the tip unit off the shaft.

[Greg Mihalik]

What Greg G. said.

But I used 5-Minute epoxy.

For $10 and ten minutes you'll be done.

Otherwise it's ship and wait.

[Hiking Malto]

You will have to take the whole tip off. There were some suggestions about heating the tip to help but I found on both that I retipped that it was easier to whittle. Agree with epoxy as potential. The only concern is it could be harder to get off if you have to replace down the road.

[Chad “Stick” Poindexter]

I recently had to send in one of my LT4's for the very same thing. And yes, as others have already said, the whole tip will need to be replaced. As far as I understand, the entire tip is pressfit onto the pole and does have to be knocked off the end. This can be done at home, however, if the carbon fiber shaft breaks…well, at least they do sell the upper or lower shafts only on the GG site…

Also, I know that turn around time depends on how busy they are at the given time, but when I sent mine back I had them back 6 days later. I shipped it USPS Priority on a Monday afternoon and it was back to me that next Saturday afternoon.

Also, they are using different tips that what they were using, so if it matters to you about having matching tips, I would ask them about sending in both to be changed out.

Here is a little write up I put on my blog about it:

http://sticksblog.com/2012/11/10/gossamer-gear-lt4-trekking-pole-update/

[Ben C]

Thanks for the tips guys(no pun intended). An REI store is an hours drive from here. I will look at it tonight and see how it looks with your advice in mind.

[Kyle Kuschel]

Sadly Gossamer Gear uses a really cheap, low quality tip on their poles. I've replaced both of my tips now due to breakage. I use a nice big Black Diamond tip on my poles now. When you replace them, don't glue them like Gossamer Gear. Just press it on and smack it on the ground a few times. If you glue it like they do you will have a hell of a time taking them off (I also had to saw half of it off to get a tip off once).
So yeah, spend a couple extra bucks for the nice tips and don't use any sort of glue. Trust me, they won't fall off.

[Ben C]

Thanks for the in put, Kyle.

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