After my last outing I noticed that the steel tips on my trekking poles had lost their edge. Mine were of the "countersunk" sharp round edge variety. I had just logged 100 miles on a section hike of the AT passing through the Grayson Highlands. We passed through a lot of hard rocky real estate.
I was looking for a way to replace or sharpen these now extremely dull tips and even considered replacing the poles completely. What I found was these replacement parts from Black Diamond that I purchased through Backcountry Edge.
http://www.backcountryedge.com/black_diamond-flex-tip-pair.aspx
I tried following the instructions included with these tips for removal of my old tips from my Outdoor Products flicklock style poles. Differences in the OP tips and BD tips caused me to seek out a different method.
I pinched the metal part of the old tip in my vise and twisted and turned it out of the hard rubber part of the tip. It was then that I noticed that the steel portion of the tip seemed to have been pressed and "crimped" into the bottom of the last section of the aluminum shaft. It was not hard to twist it out. Twisting left 45 degrees and right 45 degrees while pulling back removed the steel tip.
At this point I tried following the removal instructions using a 2 minute boiling water soak to expand and loosen the old hard rubber parts. It may have been a lack of patience on my part but I didn't achieve much success using this method.
I then padded my vise jaws with a terry cloth rag and adjusted the vise so that it "cradled" not squeezed the bottom pole section. I carefully sliced through the thickest portion of the hard rubber piece with a hacksaw blade in a "jab saw" handle holding it parallel to the trekking pole.
A "linoleum knife" was used to finish slitting the hard rubber piece length wise to free it from the bottom pole section. A delicate touch with the saw and knife is required to avoid hand and finger injuries and scratching the bottom pole section.
After all the old parts were removed all that is left is to slide on the new pole tips and tap/pound them into place on a solid piece of floor. I was in my garage so I used the concrete floor of my garage under a thin mat to "press" the new tips into place.
I was quite pleased with the outcome and the relatively small investment of funds.
Disclaimer
As stated above I deviated from the instructions in going my own way in how I removed the old tips.
I am simply telling how I chose to accomplish this task in my particular case.
I am not recommending this method of removal. As I said I am only recounting how I did it.
Be very careful when working with loose parts and sharp tools! Always cut away from yourself. Never cut towards yourself. Children / teenagers should have their parents permission and be supervised by a parent / adult when using any kind of tools.;-)
I've never had much use for my FAK on the trail but I've done my share of damage to myself in my workshop! LOL
Be Safe!
Party On,
Newton
