So how about some…

"Weight does not matter to me"

Sorry, I believe you have the wrong forum…please hang up and try again.

BTW Gossamer Gear LT4s or TiGoat – period, no others are in the ball game

Perfect reply Jon. Hehehe.

As Jonathan says, gossamer gear LT4s and TiGoat poles are the go-to poles for BPL members looking for adjustable poles.

BlackDiamond poles are worth a mention to due to their excellent 'flicklock' locking mechanism and bomber construction. However they are *much* heavier.

I'd go with Jon's recommendations. FWIW, I went with Komperdell C3s because I got a deal on them at Sierra Trading Post. They are fine, but cannot compare to the LT4s or TiGoat poles in terms of weight, and many people find that the locking mechanism sucks. Mine are ok (so far).

If you haven't hiked with positive grip poles yet you might want to check them out. Leki stopped making them (they have the nerve to call a 4-degree tilt a positive grip!), but these Black Diamonds (and a few other BDs) have a 15-degree grip. This is really helpful if your wrists get all carpal-tunnelly while hiking with straight poles.

This pair is as light as it gets with a positive grip & a very short (29") telescoped size…

http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/shop/mountain/trekking-poles/trail-ergo-cork

The Gossamer Gear LT4s look nice, but they look so fragile. When I do the Triple Crown in the next three years I dont want them to ever break on the hike. Light is awesome, but how are they're durability. Im afraid if I tripped and accidently put all my weight on them, they would snap lol Well? =)

.

I definitely will. Im going to do both a video and written journal. I'm kind of scared, I won't lie. However, I think I have the body for it, now all I have to do is learn how to get down my weight over the 10 months.

Back to my question though. Its not like I am expecting to have the poles last for all 3 trips; I just want each pair to last for each trip. What do you guys think?

I’m sure I’d like the GG poles if I had them to try. GG makes great stuff. My $.02: If you’re walking mostly on well-maintained trails, it doesn’t matter too much what poles you have.

But for me, weight isn’t the most important thing in trek poles. They’re all “relatively” lightweight. I want rugged, sturdy poles that will take heavy punishment, wet, dirty or cold, where I can trust my life to them when crossing a fast stream or inching down a granite slope by a waterfall. I want to be able to vault myself and fully loaded pack up in the air with them if need be.. like when I got preoccupied swatting mosquitoes and almost stepped on a big rattler last week in Yosemite’s Grand Canyon of the Tuolumne. I also count on them as part of a MYOG camera tripod for my DSLR, and to hold up my Tarptent Contrail.

I currently use Black Diamond Contours. The elliptical shape makes them tough and the clamps are on the outside where you can get at them if they jam. My first pair of Black Diamonds, the sections got dirty and stopped sliding in/out easily and I wasn’t a fan. Then I bought some Leki’s with shock absorbers. Great ergos, good-looking, lightweight but pricey at $140. My first big trip with them, when it started getting cold (forties), one pole failed – wouldn’t retighten and became useless dead weight. Lekis screw-in clamping mechanism is internal and can’t be fixed without disassembly. In warm weather, they were normal again and I couldn’t repeat the problem. So I thought it was a fluke and brought them on another hike. Same thing happened again.

I went back to Black Diamonds and they’ve worked well.

"But for me, weight isn't the most important thing in trek poles. They're all "relatively" lightweight. I want rugged, sturdy poles that will take heavy punishment, wet, dirty or cold, where I can trust my life to them when crossing a fast stream or inching down a granite slope by a waterfall. I want to be able to vault myself and fully loaded pack up in the air with them if need be."

My thoughts exactly. Hiking poles are light as it is. Give me something that can last and take some punishment. More adivce from other please as well as yourself if you have more to offer. Thanks Larry.

If you want cheap, and you want the locks, then REI makes a cheap set that is reasonably light. I think they are called the Peak UL Carbon, or something like that, and are about 8oz each, 16oz for the set of two.

I'm not sold on the utility of an 'anti-shock' system. It is added weight and no real benefit IMHO, from the ones I've tried. And it is one more gizmo that can fail. Any 1m pole of thin aluminum or carbon will have enough flex in it.

Hmm. I just looked them up, and maybe 'cheap' is a relative term: $130. I got mine a couple of years ago and I SWEAR they were a lot cheaper than that. Maybe I got them on sale or something…

http://www.rei.com/product/784271

The REI Peak UL are actually Komperdell C3 poles in disguise… they are the exact same pole, but rebranded for REI. So they are the same ones I have. I got mine for about $75.

Tim, since you want something "bomber" and reliable I'd strongly suggest you DO NOT get these poles. I haven't had any trouble with mine, but they are a bit fiddly, and about 30% of user reports I've read have complained about the locking mechanism (see the user reviews on this site!). I think there's just a bit of a knack to it, but nevertheless it's not a good sign that there have been quite a few users with problems.

If you want strong and reliable you can't beat the Black Diamond flicklock range.

Walmart has some AL ones with a flicklock mechanism. They weigh 21 oz so don't know how that compares with the BD or the AL thickness, etc. But they're only like $15/pole, too. I did manage to bend one early on my 11 day trip (must have caught it between some rocks I guess) but I was able to bend it back just fine and it worked great the rest of the trip – made rock-hopping or creek fording much easier and saved my behind from falls several times. They don't have an anti-shock system or angled grips though.

If you want flik locks and weigh doesn't matter, Walmart poles are coming out with flik locks. Fifteen bucks.

If you want real poles, LT4s. I love mine. I had Komperdell poles (Titanals, 6 oz apiece) from STP on sale – the twist lock gave up locking and I searched high and low for parts, a FAQ, a number to call, some way to fix it. Gave up. Bought LT4s. OMG! they came with spare parts! I emailed about getting the grips replaced after marmots chewed 'em, Grant responded the same day offering to do the first replacement free!

I've used them pretty much the same way as the aluminum poles. Keep the stress on the poles from the vertical and they're pretty stable. You could probably snap them in your hands trying to bend them, but they've been sturdy enough to work with the tarp as poles.

*IF* you are not currently a hiking pole user, I'd also recommend cheap box store poles. Many here, including myself, use them, but some don't like them.

Alternatively, you could buy a set of LT4's and if you don't like them, PM me and I'll do you a solid and take them off your hands at a discount. :-) (regular length, nordic straps plz)

I use the REI UL Carbon's (aka Komp c3's) and also have no issues with them. However, if the nordic strap LT4's were in stock my REI's would be in the gear swap right now.

The REI's were on sale super cheap a while back, I would not recommend them at regular price as they can be finicky.

What is the different between all of the Lt4 poles that are available on Gossamer Gear? Just some having straps and others not having them. And one being black and the other being camo? I mean is there really any other difference besides aesthics and straps?

"If you want strong and reliable you can't beat the Black Diamond flicklock range."

+1, especially if you want to leap tall buildings with a single bound, pack and all, but they are fairly heavy.

If you can control your exuberance, it's hard to beat the LT4's. I own both BD Flintlock compact carbon fiber, which I use for snowshoeing where I can't afford to have slippage, and LT4's for everything else. They're both great poles but, for trail hiking, I'd go with the LT4's They're so light, and plenty strong for any trail conditions you're likely to encounter. Just don't try to beat a grizzly to death with them. If you plan on hiking the Triple Crown, those BD's are either going to get old in a hurry or you're going to look like Pop Eye.

The Wal-Mart flick lock poles actually seem to be pretty durable. Mine are less than 19 oz for the pair.

REI will probably have their REI branded carbon poles on clearance for less than $60 a pair in December. I think they may have had a lot of problems with them malfunctioning and snapping, but that could be due to the customers being REI customers that return and abuse everything.

I'm going to give the Gossamers a try, next, when I can justify the purchase.

The Gossamer ones seems like they might be more ideal for the conditions I will be hiking in from what Ive understood so far being that I plan on doing the Triple Crown and all. However, The BD flicklocks seem to be outstanding as well. If you guys believe that I would be safe to go with using the Gossamer ones, then I guess that should be my choice. I just hope it doesnt snap on me. Any final verdicts before I make my final decisions? I plan to start to get the ball rolling on things by August 1st. Let me know. Thanks again, everyones advice has been very helpul. You guys are awesome.

EDIT: I thought the GG poles were non collapsible. They are (though not very, which is a problem). But I leave the below as evidence that there is often a lot of bad advice on the internet :p

Another thing… just buy whatever. if you're like most people you won't care much at all about your gear after a few hundred miles.

do you have any experience or have you been on trails or to stores and formulated some opinions on what you like?

My opinion:
– I wouldn't go with non collapsible poles because some hikers develop carpal tunnel from poles and want to put them on their packs for a while to let their wrists recover. This happened to me.

– After 4 pairs of them, I'd ignore the MSR carbon poles

– I like carbon because i feel that they really do "dampen" each strike.

– Sooooo… I bought BD Carbon poles for my future hikes (including the cdt). I like most everything about them but wouldn't buy cork grips again as i think that the durability is poor.

I bet you'll "be safe" even if your poles break. Oh, and plan on your gear breaking or wearing out before you finish the triple crown (if you do!)

I have the REI carbon poles. When I got a chance to use the LT4's (with straps) I noted that they were about half the weight, and much slimmer. Much to my surprise, the LT4's were *also* noticeably stiffer than the REI poles. I'm not sure how that translates into strength, but it is a good start. I also found the adjustment mechanism on the LT4's to be less finicky that the REI one. (The REI one has worked fine for me, but it is a bit finicky at times.)

I put quite a bit of pressure on my poles at times, and I never felt any concern about the LT4' not being strong enough.

— MV