New BPL Stix … for Thur-Hikers ONLY???

it looks like removing the tip will not be of my concern anymore. seems like too much since I think you're right, tips dont come off unless you break the pole?

Good call, Jason about the shrink wrap. I did it to my older poles and they took some pretty good abuse. I used a much slower method, a hair dryer.
Mike

Any update on availability and a ship date?

Thanks,
Chris

I got my new Stix, and they are great at the price. I'm concerned about wear of the exposed shaft area above the integral tip ferrule and the basket attachment. I'm thinking of getting a thin walled piece of stainless steel tubing and epoxying it on to protect against abrasion, which is inevitable. Heat shrink tubing is a good idea, maybe even better above the basket attachment for 6 or 12".

I see that http://www.smallparts.com has some exotic and tougher heat shrinks, one is mylar, others are super expensive. Maybe a thin, light hi tech heat shrink would be the ticket, both on the tip section and a ways above the basket fitting? My old poles collected nicks above after some years.

I'm going to put something on the tip at least. I'll post any real world results.

Best, Todd F.

I had the original stix, and they were great, but I was shocked at how thin the walls were when I broke them after years of heavy use. (My fault.) If these are as thin, abrasion will take it's toll.

Any suggestion on removing the stock hand grips? I'd like to know if the stock handles are hot glued or epoxied or whatever onto the shaft in case I do this.

I'm thinking of putting on Leki Nordic Walking grips so I can use their snap in handstraps. These come in 3 sizes, I use the large so thinner gloves can be used with them for cold. This is not UUL, but I really like NW handstraps. These Leki straps are right and left, but they can be used reversed — a feel good change of pace on long backpacks.

OTOH, I may belt sand the trigger finger bump off and smooth down the lower ridge, then hook the Leki straps on with the cross pin in the existing handle. The material of the existing grips feels/looks good to me, so why not?

Best, Todd F.

> I'm concerned about wear of the exposed shaft area above the integral tip ferrule and the basket attachment. I'm thinking of getting a thin walled piece of stainless steel tubing and epoxying it on to protect against abrasion, which is inevitable. Heat shrink tubing is a good idea, maybe even better above the basket attachment for 6 or 12".

Yeah, good point.
I used Ultra-High Molecular Weight (UHMP) adhesive tape with a very aggressive adhesive from some company like 3M on my XC ski stocks for this purpose. I did a spiral wrap up for about 12". The tape got chewed a bit by my metal-edged skis when I fell over (this happened a 'few' times …), but it sure protected the shafts.

Heat shrink using a very tough material would be good IF you can get it over the lump at the end.

Cheers

FWIW, they make heat shrink with different 'shrink' ratios. For example, 2:1 is common, but there is 3:1, 4:1, etc. With a higher ratio heat shrink, you could pick a size large enough to slide over the basket attachment, but that would still shrink small enough to snug on the shaft.

Can someone provide a specific answer to this question: "If an aftermarket tip is installed on a pair of STIX, by how much does the length of the pole increase?"

The answer may vary depending on the aftermarket tip brand. You don't need to have all the answers — just one brand would suffice. Jason – You said about 5cm. Do you still stand by that answer?

I've seen these poles on some Wilderness Trekking courses and the only reason that I have, thus far, avoided buying a pair is because of the integrated tip. Gregory is spot-on in identifying the issue with this feature: if you break the tip, either from torque or (probably more likely in my case) from use, you break the pole.

Otherwise they are beautiful poles — I used a prototype version of the Komperdell Feather Light's for 5300 miles of my Great Western Loop in 2007. Those had a standard non-integrated tip. I went through 2 sets of tips because the plastic surrounding the carbide tip would erode away and after about 2,000 miles the carbide tip would just fall out of the tip because no plastic was holding it in. This will inevitably happen with the STIX too: the CF will not endure many miles of wear before eroding away or cracking.

I've seen a couple of posts that ask about how to get the basker collars off for one reason or another. I have the answer! Lock one of the baskets on, grasp the basket firmly in one hand, the grip in the other for maximum torgue. Now twist to unlock the basket. Voila, you now have easily removable collars.

Alas, they will no longer have the grip to actuall permit you to attach and remove baskets anymore without your Leatherman, but its a small price to pay.

Seriously, what sort of glue or adhesive would be safe to use of tne CF and provide a strong bond to hold the collars on?

Thanks

I picked up some STIX when they were at fire-sale prices two weeks ago, and I wanted to report back about the effect on length when after-market tips are installed. As I said before, I believe that the lack of regular tips (i.e. not just a carbide tip, but a carbide tip embedded in a plastic housing) on these poles is a major fault — with enough the CF will erode away (from rubbing against whatever your pole into, like dirt, sand, or rock), the tip will fall out, and you'll be left with an ultralight pole that will shatter completely if you keep using it. I would not expect these poles to last a mere 1,000 miles if an after-market tip is not added.

Earlier posts suggested that the increase in length from adding an after-market tip would be about 5cm. This is very incorrect — the actual increase is only about 1cm.

The default basket collars are very easy to remove, as was pointed out in the previous post: clasp them with a pair of pliers, and rotate the pole. They come off pretty easily.

I was mistaken yesterday in my post — the change in tip length I referenced above is not precise. (And, in the event that readers have already read the old post, I wanted you to be alerted, which I don't think happens if I just edit my old post.) The change actually depends on the type of after-market carbide tip. I went to REI last night and picked up a new Leki pair. And I have a Komperdell pair from the REI Peak UL poles; while they are used the effect on pole length is the same. These are the changes:

– original pole length: 115cm
– pole length with Komperdell tips: 118.1cm
– pole length with Leki tips: 119.3cm

So, changes are:

– Komperdell tips: add 3.1cm
– Leki tips: add 4.3cm

Has the method on how to change out the tips on the BPL Stix been provided?

You just slide the after-market tip over the standard tip. It's no different if you were replacing the old tips on a model from Leki, BD, or REI. You do not need to do anything with the STIX tip — it gets covered up, perhaps for emergency use somewhere down the line.