2 Carbon Fiber poles at Costco for $27

[Yuri R]

Recently seen these at my local Costco, but was too lazy to pick them up, weight and report. Perhaps someone else can take on that duty.

[EndoftheTrail]

You think they can spell Mountain correctly? But yeah, would like to know the specs as well. Not a member though. Anybody else a Costco member?

[gunther kirsch]

no hard metal spikes at the bottom. that could be a REAL pain in the A$$

[Brad Walker]

What? It says it has carbide tips.

[gunther kirsch]

was only looking at the picture… oops, this means only one thing.

BUY BUY BUY!

[John S.]

Twist lock..deal breaker

[Ben F]

What's wrong with twist lock? I don't know squat about hiking poles.

[Dale Wambaugh]

Twist lock poles have been around for years. They work, but flick locks are better. People would be wetting themselves if these were flick locks with carbon fiber shafts :)

I've noticed that even flick locks get returned to REI and end up in the Gear Garage. I'm the happy owner of a nice pair of BD carbon fiber poles for $0.25/$1 for want of a simple adjustment. Sometimes I think people use hammers on their gear— and I don't mean climbing anchors!

[Bob Gross]

Some hikers who use poles prefer twist locks for adjustment. Others prefer flip locks.

Twist locks can work fine, up until the time when dust or sand gets into the middle of it, and then it may not hold completely. Or, if the internal tightener has been adjusted all the way out to one end, it may not hold at all. External tighteners can be slightly different. If you get this and study it closely, you can avoid most problems.

Flip locks can work fine, but the same warnings about dust apply. I had one that was OK on dry land, but once the bottom portion of the pole was in cold water, I believe that parts can contract, and then the flip lock can slip badly. Tightening it up generally requires a tool like a Philips head driver, but I never seem to have one of those when I am out on the trail or in the middle of a stream crossing. So, you can test this at home and adjust it there before you go out on an important trail.

I have internal twist locks on X-C ski poles and flip locks on a trekking pole. They will all work as long as you understand what you have.

–B.G.–

[Walter Carrington]

They're also at amazon for $29.99+$5.24 shipping.
http://www.amazon.com/Cascade-Mountain-Carbon-Fiber-Trekking/dp/B007E0ZBZI
A little more info (but not weights):
http://www.cascademountaintech.com/default.asp

[Emil Gazda]

Emailed Cascade Mountain regarding weight of the pair. They could've been more specific with their answer – "just under a pound".

[Steven Hanlon]

i wonder if they are aluminum wrapped in a carbon fiber veneer.

[Jace Mullen]

The first picture says "100% carbon fiber".

But that picture also spells mountain wrong so I think they lost all credibility there.

[Ryan Smith]

It looks like you could shave a pound off their weight by removing the black foam under the grips. It goes down a foot and looks thick.

Check that – they're shock absorbing so that mechanism is somewhere in that foam I bet.

Ryan

[Daniel Cox]

Hi all,
I didn't see an 'introduce yourself' section, so I guess I'll just jump right in:

I've been lurking here for about a month, decided to register and join the conversation. So far, I'm a fan of this site. The gram-counting gets a little bleeding-edge for my taste but I learn from it, and take it with a grain of salt. I especially like the MYOG, Philosophy, and Nutrition sub forums. I've been backpacking since I was a kid in the 80's and am getting back into it, but much lighter this time.

So, on to the poles-
I saw these at Costco and was curious so I picked them up to play with.
They are indeed full CF, my kitchen food scale, accurate to 1g says 470g for the pair, including the wrist straps, rubber caps, and mud baskets. Under the rubber caps are indeed carbide tips, though they don't seem removable/replaceable without minor surgery- I think they press-fit in.
They extend to 135cm, collapse to just under 70cm.
The cork handle is a wrap around a hard rubber handle. Not thrilling but, it seems ok. Doubt the durability is stellar, but should last a few seasons.
Overall they seem pretty nice for under 30$. Especially for those who don't know if they like or want poles.

I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting…

Edit: to the post above- The anti-shock is in the middle section, with the twist-lock mechanism. The anti-shock is able to be 'turned off'. The foam could easily be excised for weight loss.

[EndoftheTrail]

Welcome, Daniel, and thanks for the feedback! The specs — esp. coupled with the price — don't look bad at all. Have fun with your new poles, and don't forget to post a user report later. :)

[Ben F]

Worth pointing out Costco has a pretty solid return policy if these snap or something.

[Chris S]

"Burn up to 45% more calories"

Does this mean I need to take 45% more food?

[K C]

"Burn up to 45% more calories"

This sound's great! I will have to take them to the gym when I go on the treadmill!

[James holden]

oooo … new cheap gear …

as said costco has a good return policy .. the weight is comparable to $$$$ poles … the price look much better though …

maybe the wallymart poles have competition ;)

[Daniel Cox]

I got curious and did the foam-ectomy this afternoon- 5 minutes with a sharp knife, and some goo-gone.

weight loss: 10 grams. With aggressive work removing the wider part above, one could maybe get another 10 grams off, but you'd essentially have nothing below the cork at that point. I assume that would negatively impact the durability. I'm gonna leave them as-is at 460g per pair.

[Ben F]

I checked them out today but didn't end up buying. Look totally fine for the price. I'm just not sure I'm ready for hiking poles just yet.

[Bog Brick]

I was curious and picked up the Costco poles as well. They are notable lighter than my decade old REI Haute Route Thermogrip
(http://www.outdoorreview.com/cat/product-archives/outdoor-equipment/backpacking-camping-hiking/trekking-poles/rei/haute-route-ii/prd_79326_3012crx.aspx)

Like the REI, they are twist lock and have a shock absorber in the upper twist mechanism. Like the REI, the shock can be locked out (in this mode, there is still 1 to 1 mm of motion when you plant the pole, My REI as well have 1mm of motion in the shock even when locked out).

When using the shock on the Costco poles, the shock has a lot of travel, probably a little over 3/4 inch (a bit more than my REI's). The shock is too soft for my liking and there notable noise during shock movement, but the noise doesn't sound flimsy, so I think the shock should have a good lifetime. Now, when using the shock, it's a bit soft for my liking, and will bottom out when coming down the hill when you lean on it (I'm 155 lbs and noticed this when descending on my house stairs testing em out). Since I don't generally enable shocks, that's not a big deal to me.

I noticed my REI poles have 3 and 1/8 inch of pole below the basket, and the Costco's have 1 and 7/8 inch. I'll have to see how that plays out when I actually hike with them.

The final test: the lean test. I take one pole, adjust so it hits at bottom of my ribs, and lean on it w/ 90% of my weight on my tippy toes. The Costco pole kept letting go on the bottom joint right as I was on tippy toes. The old REI moved on me the 1st time, but after tightening a bit more, held fast. And, when the metal REI did move the 1st time, it was a more gentle movement (the Costco's let loose in a more dramatic effect as they contracted a several inches). I still plan to keep the Coscto's cuz at my weight, I don't see how I could put that much force on a pole with one arm and at $30 wi tax (and all the accessories like snow basket and sidewalk attachments), I don't think any other poles come close. I'll let u know more after a hike or two.

-Bob

[Ken K]

Does anyone know if Costco is still selling these poles? Or any other source? It looks like they're not available from Amazon any more, and the Cascade Mountain tech website hasn't been updated for a couple months.

Thanks,
Ken

[Mike In Socal]

Ken,
Yes, I saw them last week @ Costco.

[Author]

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