Another MYOG Trek Pole thread – 3.3oz per

[Ryan Smith]

I've been meaning to make these for a while now just hadn't quite got around to it. Used stiff 46" golf shafts from Dallas Golf with a .350" tip. I like having a normal molded grip as opposed to the standard EVA foam fishing grip so I used Gossamer Gear grips and tips. The ID of the GG grip is .50" and the OD of the golf shaft is .60", but with the help of some Gorilla Glue it was an easy fit. Used 5-min epoxy for the tips.

My previous poles were BD Ergo Trail Corks that were great, but at 9oz each they were 3x heavier than these and I just like to tinker. I'm probably going to sand & throw a coat of paint at them sooner or later. Thanks for looking!

Ryan

[Curt Peterson]

Nice! Gotta get on this project myself. Why paint, by the way?

[Sam Farrington]

Those are nice – almost make me wish I used two poles and had no need to be able to fold them (it) up. Great info about the source of the grips and other details.

A couple of questions it would also be nice to learn about:

Did the grips expand a tenth of an inch to fit over the poles?
Or maybe I missed something.

What did you use for tips and baskets that fit the Dallas Golf shafts?

Thanks.

[MFR]

Great project. I've been wanting to do something similar for a while. So it's nice to see where some current sources for these materials are.

Do you mind if I ask what the total cost was?

[Konrad .]

How far into the cork grip does the shaft go?

[Ryan Smith]

Curt – I will probably paint them just because I don't care for the golf graphics that are on there now. They go from black at the top to maroon at the bottom and also have the maker's logo about halfway down the shaft. Not a huge deal really though.

Samuel – The GG grips are made from kork-o-lon which is similar to EVA foam, so it does have some stretch to it. With the gorilla glue acting as a lubricant it allowed the shafts to slide up into the grip with some assistance from yours truly. The grip just stretched around the shaft. As the gorilla glue cures it expands slightly which also helps keep everything secure. The tips are from Gossamer Gear and they fit the shaft pretty well. A .370" shaft tip may fit better, but I had a hard time finding a 46" with a .370" tip. I pressed the tips on to the point where they couldn't be pulled off by hand(the ID of the tips taper) & used epoxy to set them. They are rock solid.

Clayton – $18.00 for shafts, $30 for grips & tips, $7 for shaft extenders. Including shipping on all this, probably comes to ~$70. The GG grips are the costly part of this project at $22.50, but I really wanted a nice grip. I did find a much cheaper kork-o-lon grip that I think would work OK after I made these. Maybe next time.

Konrad – I'm a tall guy so I needed shaft extenders to make all this work. So, the shaft+extender go all the way up into the grip. There is probably an inch worth of empty space left.

Ryan

[Curt Peterson]

Thanks for the additional info! Really helpful.

You mentioned shaft extenders. Can elaborate on that? The poles I see are all 46" – that will be too short for me. I'm used to 130 cm poles, so I guess I need something around 50" but they seem less common.

Also, did you go with the "extra stiff"??

Thanks again!

[Ryan Smith]

Curt,

I run my poles at 130cm also, so the 46" were a little too short. Google "golf shaft extensions" or go to the link below for an idea of what they are. I would have rather used a 50" golf shaft & avoided the extra step of using extensions, but could only find 50" shafts with a .335" tip. The shafts used were X-stiff GolfGear GZ-50s and I used epoxy to connect the extensions and shaft. Took 'em out for a short 7mi hike yesterday and so far everything is working perfectly.

http://www.golfworks.com/category.asp_Q_c_E_2555

Ryan

[Konrad .]

Thanks for the leads on the Kork-o-lon grips. I did a little homework and saw that this manufacturer makes a variety of grips using this material. See bottom of page at: http://www.cuiproducts.com/Grips.cfm

Problem is, it only seems like one style of grip (traditional fishing rod grip style) has the ID of .5"

I really want the pistol grip style, as it resembles a traditional trekking pole grip, but this grip style has an ID of only .38" I will have to see if there are any graphite shafts that come close to that diameter at the top (vs. the tip), but I'm fairly doubtful.

If anyone is interested in the grips linked to above from CUI products, the cheapest I found them were at:
http://www.schneidersrods.com/eva_universal_grips.htm

Would be interested to hear if anyone else has found more info or appropriate Kork-o-lon grips. Thanks!

[Ryan Smith]

Konrad,

That kork-o-lon pistol grip you found is the same one I was looking at. I feel pretty confident you could buy two of those, drill them out to .50", and then glue them on a standard .60" shaft. That was my plan anyway. Tough to beat $5.00 too.

Ryan

[Sam Farrington]

Ryan – Thanks for the info. Great sourcing. Am sure I will be able to use the info from this thread.

[Michael Ray]

I see lots of options for flex variations in the shafts. is it better to be stiff, or to have more flex?

[Ryan Smith]

Michael,

I went with a stiff shaft for two reasons. (insert 10 yr olds joke here) 1) That was the consensus in all of the research I did on BPL. 2) I wanted rigidity for when I'm pushing off. Seems most carbon fiber poles break down low on the shaft due to getting stuck in between two rocks, where a flexible shaft wouldn't make much difference in avoiding a breakage.

Ryan

[Michael Ray]

good enough for me. thanks!

[Paul Mason]

Where are the straps?

How do you avoid going up and down steep hills? They don't look adjustable.

[Jake D]

Some are perfectly fine without straps.. I removed mine the minute i figured out how. unnecessary for how I use poles.

for downhills hold the grips with the palm of your hand for more extention. hold at the bottom of the grip or below the grip for uphill. my BD poles came with grip tape below the main grip for that purpose (though i put cloth tape over it since it was too abrasive)

This is on my MYOG list at some point for day hikes/peak bagging (need my adjustable for tent)

[David Gardner]

You can also get Wilcor tips and baskets at $1.95 per pair on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Hiking-Pole-Replacement-Foot-2-pc/dp/B003RQDIWQ/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1360134732&sr=8-7&keywords=Trekking+pole+tips

and

http://www.amazon.com/Hiking-Pole-Replacement-Mud-Basket/dp/B003O7BEA6/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1360134788&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=Trekking+pole+baskets

I've used them on the same Dallas Golf shafts.

Also, if you hot glue the tips to the shafts, a broken tip can be removed with boiling water and replaced.

[Ryan Smith]

+1 to Jake's post. Once I set my poles at 130cm I never adjust them, and I loathe straps. Although, I could add them later on if I wanted to I suppose.

Ryan

[Rusty Beaver]

Thanks Ryan… and others who have contributed. Those poles look really nice!

I've kicked around making my own for some time now….some that are 4-5 oz per pole and inexpensive. Problem is, I need them to be adjustable for my shelter and carrying in my pack while riding my motorcycle to trail heads. Hoping someone figures out how to achieve all this. Doesn't seem like it should be too difficult….if one could only find the right components…or those requiring some mods to retro. In the meantime, I'll continue my ponderings…….

[Brendan Swihart]

In a recent search for durable, lightish, adjustable poles I came up with the following 2 sets for my wife and I:
1. Changing the grips on some BD alpine carbon corks saves over 3 oz. I used some GG grips I had. less than 13oz for the pair.
2. Similar to Dave C's post below, I used BD pure carbon tip sections from BD parts page, carbon tubes from ebay for the upper section, and GG grips. These are about 12.5 oz and collapse down to about 36". You could use some of the tip sections from a 3 part pole if you wanted it to collapse further.

http://bedrockandparadox.com/2012/08/14/building-a-perfect-trekking-pole/

There really is a big hole in the trekking pole offerings between 8oz and 16oz.

[Rusty Beaver]

Thanks for the info and link, Brendan! I may be asking you some questions down the road a bit.

I agree too about the hole in the market…and particularly on the lighter end of poles at a more reasonable cost than the GG LT4s.

[Michael Ray]

here's my pair. the graphite shafts were free on craigslist and the grips/tips are from gossamer gear. the shafts are similar in composition and flex, but they were different brands .. so i scuffed them up with sandpaper and sprayed them with 3 coats of that classic (albeit obnoxious) red. then i sprayed both ends in black using 2 coats of rustoleum bed liner. this gives nice abrasion protection at the bottom and some grip towards the top for choking up on the shaft while going uphill or wrapping cord for tent support. I still need to get baskets, so no idea on final weight; I also don't have a scale that measures oz, however the needle doesn't even move on my shipping scale.

[Ryan Smith]

Look good Michael! I like the bedliner spray idea. I've noticed mine are getting scratched quite a bit towards the bottom.

Ryan

[Michael Ray]

I took them for a quick 3 mile spin around the property and definitely like them so far. the bed liner spray is about $7 a can, so I've never used it on an actual truck bed. I've gone through many cans, however, on small projects when I want a good durable surface – two coats should be more than enough to "armorize" your poles.

one note about gorilla glue. I got the clear kind that dries white and claims to dry 2x as fast. I put a long bead on my pole and began shoving it into the grip. It started to setup almost immediately and I ended up with about 1/2 an inch of space in the top of the grip that isn't supported by shaft. on the second pole, I only put a line of glue on the bottom half of the shaft that would be inserted and I managed to easily get the grip on before everything set up. I went ahead and left the same amount of gap on that one for consistency sake. so, be advised.

weighed them at my parent's house today. 3.6oz for each pole ..the paint must make them heavier.

[Eric Blumensaadt]

Why people use small pole baskets in summer is beyond me. They are extra weight and don't add any function.

Andrew Skurka, who treks in damn near every condition does not use pole baskets in non-snow conditions, even in tussock areas.

Winter snow baskets are all one needs, and then only in snow.

But pole straps on the other hand, if used properly like cross country skiers do, are very useful. They assist greatly in descents and always keep forearm and hand muscles from fatigue.

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