Lightweight Trekking Poles

A little over a year ago, I got a fantastic deal on some Leke Micro Vario carbon fiber poles. Retail is $200. Left Lane Sports had the outgoing (2014) models on clearance for $100, and I had a $25 coupon, so I got them for $75. The newer models shave about an ounce per pair, but I was more than happy to carry that along with the extra weight of $125. My pair is about 15.5 oz; the new ones are about 14.5 oz.

What I like about them: relatively light but still durable, carbon fiber for vibration reduction (gimmick or not), fantastic grips, 20 cm of adjustment (nice for pitching tarps), flip locks, and they fold like tent poles so they’re easy to transport in my luggage

So, I’m very happy with these poles, and for the price I paid, I’m ecstatic. Would I pay full price for them? No, I don’t think I would. So why do I bring them up? Mostly to brag about the awesome deal I got (I kid).

I did find something similar on Amazon, though I’ve got no experience with them. But for $55, they look like a good deal, and have cork grips, flip locks, 20 cm of adjustment, and they fold like tent poles.

ive used the komperdell C3 carbon since the latter part of the last decade …

eventually this year i took em back to MEC as the attachment point to the flicklock came unglued … i was fine with them fixing it (and its a pretty easy fix) but they just gave me credit for a new pair

komperdell might cost a bit more but they have a no questions ask repair/replace for any reason for 3 years …

as some blogger said a “hippo could sit on em” and theyll cover you

;)

I’m surprised there haven’t been more mentions of the Locus Gear CP3s in this thread.  They are light (about 5.5oz each), but more durable than other carbon fiber poles.  Over the last two years I’ve used them for about 30 days of off-trail Grand Canyon hiking (plus a number of other trips) and they’ve held up fine, so I imagine for trail hiking they would pretty much last forever.

After going to lightweight poles, I don’t think I would ever go back to poles weighing more than 6oz each again.  It makes a huge difference.  Weight that you are holding and swinging with your hands matters more than weight in your pack.

Lighter poles have spoiled me, although I would go back to heavier poles if there were a durability issue.

In the winter I must use heavier Komperdells (~8oz each) because snowshoeing requires poles that can occasionally withstand some pretty heavy loading, and they need to be longer and stronger in order for me to pitch the Duomid using the inverted V pole arrangement. Plus, they have big 5″ snow baskets and fairly burly straps.

However, my strapless myog poles weigh 3.5oz each for fixed-length and 4.3oz each for the adjustable ones and I find them plenty durable thus far even though I am not babying them in the least. However, I also don’t abuse them and am attentive to careful pole placement in rocky and rooty areas that invite pole damage. But I would be doing this anyway, no matter the poles, because they all can break in certain situations. Wedging a tip while moving quickly is probably the #1 cause for breakage, followed by slipping and falling on a pole.

I know. I know…

they’re wicked heavy at about 22 oz./pair, but I have to put in a good word for Pacer Poles.

Check them out. They’re not for everybody but they are for me. If I ever have to replace my pair (not likely) I wont’ even look at anything else.

I’d like to try Pacer Poles sometime just to experience the feel of them. But with no retail availability here in the USA it’s not likely going to happen unless I find somebody on a trail who’s using them and ask to try them.

It appears that a lot of the weight is accounted for by the big plastic pieces that make up the grips, and I assume that the plastic is a fairly dense variety for structural reasons.

Comes to mind that I wish I had a pair of those grips to try my hand at making a much lighter fixed-length or 2-section version. :^) Unfortunately, looking at Replacements and Spares on the Pacer Pole website, these are not sold separately.

Hiking poles are the one area in my gear list I could probably save the most weight (apart from switching to a dinky pack), but I love my bomber 17 oz/pair cork-handled Komperdell Highlanders, with straps removed, that I’ve used for years.  I seem to jam my tips in between rocks quite a bit (that’s when I need them most – tip-toeing across jagged rock fields), but am 100% confident they will not break, so very hesitant to buy light CF poles that might break in the field.  If I were to have to spend even a nano-second more thinking about where I have to place my poles each step because of their materials, any weight savings would be completely pointless.  So what would people recommend that’s lighter but still extremely durable?

Andrew Skurka Gives his recommendation at the bottom of this blog post from his site( he uses hiking poles and hiked over 30,000 miles

:Buying recommendations:

Careful of the BD folding poles…the sleeve is press-fitted into the tube, and will over time (23 months in my case, +11 mo.s beyond warranty) will enlarge the outer tube and work it’s way loose.

I own and use the CMT poles and they are great.

I hate foam handles – only cork for me.  I did recently buy my father the CMT Carbon Fiber poles, so I’ll try them out next time we hike together.

Actually, Skurka recommends as top-of-the-line poles the BD Alpine Cork Poles, which are the same weight as my Komperdells, so maybe there’s no point considering lighter poles.

The tri-folding poles look great, but deal-breaker since I need at least one extension pole for my shelter.

There is a version of Cascade Mtn Tech poles with cork grips, but when you click on the link and look at them they’re actually a cork/EVA foam hybrid.

I like my  Cascade Mtn Tech poles (that Skurka recommends)

The Cascade Mountain Tech Quick Lock Trekking Poles own the “value” price-point — there is nothing better, not even close, at this cost. But I’ll go further: there are only three instances in which you might consider buying any other trekking poles

You are an extreme user

You value compactness (e.g. you are an ultra runner)

You value weight and you don’t plan to travel often with your poles, in which case fixed-length poles

and my Locus Gear CP3 poles (MY Favorites and Andrew has never tried them) and both weigh less than yours.

I don’t consider our trekking pole choice to be that light, but they are plenty light enough to not be thought about, and since I’m generally using them rather than carrying them, I don’t care.

The first poles we bought, after extensive research and trying various ones out in the store, were BD Alpine Carbon Cork.  Lighter options such as the Distance Z felt entirely too fragile.  I also *really* wanted something with cork handles as they feel a lot better.  The Alpine Carbon Corks were pretty good, but having the adjustable feature seemed pretty useless since we’d never adjust them.  The flick locks were not bad, but if you put weight down hard on them or something, they would sometimes slip a little bit.  You could adjust the little screw in the lock, but this was a delicate balance between hard too tight and too loose.  I was mildly annoyed that brand new ones came with every lock adjusted differently with some being very hard to close and others slipping more readily, though it’s easily enough solved.  Ultimately, we decided to switch up to BD Alpine Carbon Z poles, which we had to order since nobody sold them locally.  Really like that change.  The poles collapse smaller and can be extended or packed away much faster.  No chance of slippage.  Both Alpine models are nice strong poles.

We used a trekking-pole supported shelter until last winter, but the fixed length poles worked fine for that.  Furthermore I found that putting the shelter between two trees and tying the points that would normally be held up by poles to the trees worked out better anyways, when possible, as it eliminated the chance of bumping a pole.

Of course, the LIGHTEST trekking poles are the ones you leave at home.

Plus they have the added advantages of leaving your hands free for handling a camera and allowing you to use your hands for scrambling or deflecting scrub.

And the CHEAPEST trekking poles are the ones you don’t buy.

Cheers

I prefer to deflect poisonous shrub with my poles, not hands.

People that use the straps *correctly* have almost no issues with cameras and scrambling.   I’ve done lots of all four climbing with poles.

Using the poles and straps to stabilize the camera produces sharper photos than hand held shots.

I have bad knees – I had reached the point several years back where I could not go down a mountain without pretty bad pain.  Taking up hiking poles (currently 17.1 oz/pair) and switching to minimalist trail running shoes (currently 15.4 oz/pair), along with lots of ITB exercises, has saved my knees.  The poles also help enable me to wear more minimalist shoes, since I can much more easily avoid putting my full weight on a sharp rock.  If 1 oz on my feet counts for 6 oz on my back (or in my hands), then maybe I’m still saving weight compared to someone with 3 oz/pair more on their feet and no poles.

I have bad knees – I had reached the point several years back where I could not go down a mountain without pretty bad pain.

No arguments at all there. They can be a real life-saver in that case.

My comments were more aimed at novices who think you have to have trekking poles because … well … they are trekking poles. (And the marketing spin can be intense.)

Cheers

Ya, I have osteoarthritis of the knees and they help me tremendously

I’m the same. I’m only 33, and my knees have been shot over the course of various injuries. I can manage 15ish miles a day without pain, but I start to get IT band pain beyond that in my left knee.

I’ve considered moving to one of those Komperdell walking staffs for stability and support’s sake. They can be bought pretty cheaply on sale.

@Ryan, unfortunately, I’ve looked for similar criteria and have found little. I’m testing out a pair of Fizan poles, but I’m still unsure if they are sturdy enough feeling for me and they have foam grips. I might just get some custom, carbon shelter poles and go the Komperdell route.