Gossamer Gear Poles

[Ryley Breiddal]

I'm not sure if many people run into this issue, but I regularly destroy the "carbide flex tip" on my Leki poles. On the PCT I think I replaced both tips maybe 3 times each.

How does that work for the Lightrek poles? I see lots of references to people replacing the whole lower section, but what about just the tip? Can you use just a standard Leki tip (http://www.leki.com/nordicWalking/nordicWalkingAccessory.php?aID=5

Any insight, especially from any long distance hikers would be much appreciated!

PS, I'm reposting this question from the review, because I think most people that actually have Lightreks probably wouldn't bother reading it:
http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=34630&skip_to_post=344282#344282

[Don Meredith]

Standard Leki tips. What's failing on yours? There might be space for a design improvement if I can better understand what's wearing out.

[Ryley Breiddal]

Well, probably a picture is worth a thousand words, but I don't have them handy so…

The actual metal tip is embedded into the plastic of the whole replaceable tip. The plastic wears down over time and exposes more of the metal. At that point, I've had two different kinds of failure:

1) I knock the whole metal tip off. I've never noticed it happen, just noticed later.

2) The metal tip gets pushed back into the plastic, leaving almost none of it exposed. In this case, the tip lasts a long time, just slowly eating back the edges of the plastic around the metal.

I'll post a pic of my current one when I have a chance, but it is type #1. Maybe the other pole is showing the types of wear I generally see, I'll have to check.

[Ryley Breiddal]

This is what it looks like… I couldn't say exactly how many miles on this particular tip, but probably ~500?

[Ryan Linn]

Ryley, I used LT4's on the PCT this past summer, and had to replace the tips only once (surprisingly). Give the folks at GG a call– they were extremely helpful when I called, and recommended I send the poles back to them so they could replace the tips. They're replaceable on your own, but apparently take a lot of whacking to knock the tips off, and if it happens to break the pole while they have it, they'd just replace it. And if I remember right, I only ended up paying for shipping and materials when I sent the poles to GG for tip replacement.

The one time I had to replace the tips, I was about to take a few weeks off the trail anyway, so I sent the poles to GG, got back to the trail a while later and had the poles with new tips waiting for me. Not the ideal situation for most through-hikers, though. One thing I thought of was just ordering a spare set of lower sections for the poles (again, ask the guys at GG) to switch out if the need arose. That way I could have the new pole tips installed while I used the spare lower section with its own tips. Does that make sense?

[john hansford]

My only concern with these poles is their long term durability. I took a pair of brand new Gossamergear Lightrek 4 adjustables on the John Muir Trail this summer : one pole snapped after 110 mls, the other snapped just after finishing ( they both snapped in the lower section 1 1/2 ins below the upper part). I only weigh 126 lbs , but do put all that weight on the poles, especially going down rock steps. The first failure happened when I tripped getting onto a log and probably overloaded the pole, but hey, who doesn't stumble once in a hundred miles? The second went for no apparent reason, just had had enough I guess. (I mended the first with a short piece of tent pole that had sat in my first aid kit for years, and it lasted out the trip).

Both of the carbide tips came off mine too. Back at home I found that a sharp blade easily cut away the tip plastic – go easy near the carbon! -but what is the best glue to use to put the new ones back on? Any ideas?

PS. I have ordered some lengths of 11mm aluminium pole to insert into the lower sections of the Gossamergear poles, which will hopefully both repair them and make them stronger.

[Bob Gross]

John, I'm not sure about your idea with the 11mm aluminum inserts. You might find that the poles break at the end of those inserts.

I took a completely different approach with some aluminum ski poles. I figured that the likely failure point would happen somewhere in the bottom 6 inches of the poles, and it would happen after the poles got nicked by some sharp rock in the trail. So, I made some pole bumpers. I purchased one foot of spiral plastic cable bundling material. This is the stuff that just squeezes on around a bundle of wires. I used a 6 inch piece on each pole to catch all of the future nicks. The poles are now over 15 years old, and the treatment is still holding. This idea might weigh less than the aluminum inserts. Or, go for broke and use both ideas.

–B.G.–

[Ryley Breiddal]

Oh, this got pulled back up now I see. I hiked the CDT this summer, and took these poles.

I really think that sending the pole sections back to Gossamer Gear while on a thru-hike is silly. They only ship via UPS, so you have to have somewhere to send them to other than a post office. Between the tip annoyances and breaking the poles, I ended up just using my old Leki poles.

People that successfully used them on the CDT that I met had 2 sets of bottom sections. They'd send one set to GG to get fixed, and have someone at home send them their other set.

As for whether the tip is replaceable yourself – covered in some other threads, but in summary it's possible but stupidly hard. They super-glue the tip to the pole, making it way harder to get off. Once I got their tip off (using a big knife and a steady hand), I was able to replace the tips whenever I wanted. I'd almost suggest thru-hikers do this before leaving home, that way you can carry replacement tips in your bounce box.

Still doesn't solve the issue of lower sections breaking though :(

[Jay Wilkerson]

Solution: Get the custom fixed length made by GG–I have the Custom 120cm. I had the lower section break on me to last season in Yosemite and I never want to go through that again out in the middle of freak-in nowhere. The fixed length poles have been Gold!

[john hansford]

I would like to hike with fixed length poles, but unfortunately can't fly (from the UK) with them.

Back to the old issue, Ryley, yep, same problems, different folks! Are you saying you don't use any glue at all for replacement tips? So far I've read about weld glue, epoxy glue, and gaffer tape friction. The only thing worse than loosing the metal bit would be loosing the entire tip!

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