Hiking Poles Made From Volcanic Lava?

[John Coyle]

I find it interesting that the prestigious French tripod company Gitzo is now making some of their tripod legs from volcanic lava, otherwise known as basalt. I encountered this strange fact in the April ’05 issue of Popular Photography, top of page 66. Quoting from the article, “As stable as aluminum, but much lighter, basalt leg sections are significantly less expensive to produce than carbon fiber, which it resembles, and just as lightweight and shock-absorbing.” Gitzo was making carbon fiber tripod leg sections long before carbon fiber hiking poles were available and the technologies for tripod legs and hiking poles are similar. Could there be volcanic lava (basalt) hiking poles in the future? Go to http://www.bogenimaging.us for more information.

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