More durable hiking poles?

Carbon fiber poles concerned me as well. Picked up a pair of Black Diamond Trail Ergo Cork with Flick Locks and am overall happy with them, they are just pretty heavy. They have been used in places reliably where I feel a carbon fiber pole would have snapped for sure but that is mostly due to carrying a 35-40lb pack for off-trail bushwhacking along with tricky scree fields.

If I were to do it all over though, I would get a pair of Gossamer Gear LT4s and just take it easy on them.

GG's should be fine as long as you're not using it in the snow. That's how I broke mine. I've also used Black Diamond carbon poles and they look and feel much stronger, but I have not used them in the same conditions that I broke my GG pole. I'm not really sure that any pole would hold up though since I saw MANY bent aluminum trekking poles out there.

I'm using Black Diamond Trail poles and light they are not, but they *work*. I see that REI got out of the carbon pole business and I wouldn't be surprised to hear that it was because of returns. They get plenty of returns on damaged aluminum poles let alone the carbon models.

IMHO, it is like SUL packs: you are willing to put up with the compromises or not. You do trust poles with your well being in some situations, so you want them to work ALL the time. I would just get an aluminum non-shock absorbing flick-lock design in the 16oz-19oz range and be done with it.

I have a pair of the REI UL peak poles they are carbon fiber and have twist locks. The poles are made by komperdell and weigh 12.3 oz. on my scale. IMO they are plenty sturdy, I have had the tips wedge in between rocks and such as my body continued to move forward many times and surprisingly they havent snapped. I recommended them to a friend but she hasn't been able to find them, maybe try REI Outlet.

I also use them as my snowshoeing and skiing poles.

The REI UL Peaks, as much as I liked them, are the only poles that have ever failed on me. The twist locks wouldn't tighten, first one then the other. I couldn't even pull them apart to fiddle with the mechanism (nor could anyone at REI.) They were 5 months old.

I was willing to exchange them for a new pair but they've been discontinued and, as far as I know, are completely gone and no longer available, even at the Outlet.

I do really notice the weight differences, more than I thought I would. I've replaced the Peaks with the Black Diamond Distance; the aluminum version instead of the CF ones. Comparable weight as the Peaks, folds up super small (much easier to fly with) and have great straps (hand-specific.) They feel solid to me. Also ended up getting a pair of the Fizans for tarp-setups. Also aluminum at comparable low weights but not sure I'm confident about their twist-locks yet.

Another Black Diamond Trail user here. They're nearly 20 oz/pair. I only use them in rougher/slippery/snow conditions, and I want a durable pole to match the conditions. Otherwise, I use the lightest poles: none.

1/2" bamboo will make poles of whatever length suits you, very strong, very inexpensive, and weighing about 10 oz. – which is lighter than any carbon poles. Cost about $1 each and you won't cry when you fall over them and break them. However, they are amazingly strong, so it is unlikely that you will break them.

Bamboo was commonly used for cross-country ski poles about 35 years ago, and there were simple ways of making it stronger to reduce breakage. Then fiberglas or aluminum poles took over the market, and it is hard to find bamboo poles anymore (except possibly stored in my garage).

–B.G.–

"1/2" bamboo will make poles of whatever length suits you, very strong, very inexpensive, and weighing about 10 oz. – which is lighter than any carbon poles."

Except the Gossamer Gear LT's and Titanium Goat poles. That I know of.

Where do you find bamboo locally? I have been unable to source it except via internet.

They wear down pretty quickly. So if you do find some, need some sort of a cup on the bottom. We used to use them for staffs back in the day.

I've been using Komperdell and Leki CF 3-piece poles for six and five years, respectively. They've taken all the abuse I can throw at them, have doubled as shelter supports (including siamesed as a pyramid pole). They're scraped, scratched and nicked up, as one might expect, and are still fine.

My conclusion is it's not the material, it's how the material is spec'd and the overall pole design. A properly designed and made CF pole should not fail.

(FWIW I've used aluminum and yes, bamboo poles too. CF for me, thanks.)

Cheers,

Rick

I've got the Leki CF poles, and I love them. Mine have well over 3000 miles on them now, including plenty of slips/falls, and they're still in great shape.

One nice thing about the Lekis is that they come with a 1-year full replacement guarantee, even if you break the shaft.

I've had the same issue with the twist-locks on my REI poles (not tightening) if you just loosen them enough to adjust and then tighten it's not a problem and they do come apart, at least mine do, fairly easily. But it seems they are hard to find. I do have quite a bit of bamboo in my yard if anyone really wants some bamboo trekking poles.

or ski poles.

CF Komperdell poles for me … havent snapped yet

IMO though whatever poles you get you should get flick locks if youd desire adjustables … twist locks IMO can be unreliable and hard to repair in the field …

I'm a big fan of the Fizan Compact poles. Fizan claims they're the lightest aluminium collapsable poles in the world (slightly under 12 oz/pair if I remember correctly). They can take quite a bit of punnishment too. During a trip last summer I fell during a slippery descent. I landed with all my weight on one of my poles. I'm pretty sure any carbon pole would've snapped, but this pole was just a little bent. It still functions perfectly. I also like the price, which is about half of what most other ligtweigt poles cost. I think I paid about $80 for mine.

>> They wear down pretty quickly. So if you do find some, need some sort of a cup on the bottom. We used to use them for staffs back in the day.

The one I use now has a 12 ga. shell on the bottom. :)

Bamboo poles can usually be found at any garden center. I found a whole bunch at a decorating accessory store called "Home Goods". They cost just about 25 cents each.
Thanks for pointing out that Gossamer Gear poles are even lighter. However, I hike on a budget, so I'll stick with my bamboo and take the 4 or 5 oz penalty.

Currently I have a pair of the Leki Super Makalu Tour Cor-tec from about 5 years ago. They are solid but do weigh a bunch and I was just looking for something that might weigh less and preform just as well.

I replaced the stock handle on a pair fliplock "outdoor products" poles with eva foam grips. End result was just under 14oz/pr (were probably 20-21oz stock), 3 section, very rugged feeling poles for $40.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=50320&skip_to_post=426839#426839

Does anyone make a hybrid hiking pole with an aluminum lower section and carbon fiber in the upper section(s)?

Please post if you know of any.

In my experience with CF cross country racing ski poles it's the bottom 1/3 that's most vulnerable to lateral damage, the most common cause of CF pole breakage.
Having dealt with an (expensive) broken CF racing pole I shy away from
('spensive)CF hiking poles.

del

Yes, Black Diamond Contour Elliptic Carbons are one such pole.

Cheers,

Rick

my BD carbon corks while not the lightest set of poles out there (16 oz for the pair) have proven very sturdy- I've taken a couple of good spills (hiking and snowshoeing) and they are no worse for the wear. The Flicklock setup is also as solid of an adjuster as I've seen

I probably look at the G4's weekly :), but I don't really want to give up the sturdiness of the BD's