Tell me the difference between poles

Of the three listed, my only experience is with the REI Peak Ultra. Mine are a few years old and have the "twist-lock" system which I would never recommend. My experience is that they fail to lock when you most need them!

I used to own the REI Peak UL and now have the TiGoat. As above, the REI one was frustrating to use as they frequently require a lot of fussing before they'll finally lock in place. My TiGoat is much better, but does require fussing at times — just not nearly as much.

I have the REI poles – they work fine. The twist lock system is a little fussy, but they are light and on sale right now for $109.

Read HERE, starting about December ’08.

My wife and I have the REI UL Peak which are really Komperdells. After we had them for 3 years, my wife's locking mechanism gave up the ghost. This was after I meticulously maintained the locks after every hike. Mine are still going after 4 years, though. On the plus side, REI replaced the poles after 3 years!

However, if I didn't have any poles now, there would be no doubt that I'd get the Gossamer Gear Lightrek 4 (collapsible is necessary as we travel with our poles).

The Ti Goat poles have been out of stock since last summer. Several emails from me to that firm went unanswered, so I gave up waiting (I checked a day or two ago just out of curiosity and they're still out of stock). I found a pair of Leki Carbonlite poles on sale and bought those. Just under 13 oz. for the pair. I've used Leki poles (starting with a hiking staff and later graduating to trekking poles) since 1989 and am very happy with their product. The Carbonlite poles, though, are too pricey unless you find a sale!

Unfortunately, I need good wrist straps to put the weight on instead of my hands to prevent a recurrence of carpal tunnel syndrome. Otherwise I would have tried the new GG adjustable poles.

My experience with both poles has been nearly identical to Ben's. One major difference between the poles is that the expanders on the AGP's can be replaced if they wear out. Those on the REI Peak UL's are not removable, unless later models have changed that design flaw.