Carbon fiber poles seem pretty good to me. I have a Sierra Designs tent, maybe twenty years old, that uses early carbon fiber poles. Those poles have been used in the slightly curved way for all of these years without any problem. I agree, if you beat on them too much, they would shatter. Also, you want to keep them somewhat clean. Sand and gravel will shorten the life of the joints and the internal shockcord.
I also have straight Fibraplex poles that I use for a modern low tarp. They are much lighter and much shorter, but they seem to do OK as long as I don't let airline baggage handlers get their hooks into them. One Fibraplex was crushed on the way across Alaska.
If you have a minor problem with a pole, you might be able to apply a piece of duct tape. They also make an aluminum repair sleeve to slip over two ends. However, mine doesn't fit anything, so I never carry it. You can splint a broken pole with something and then use duct tape. In Alaska, I simply picked up one piece of tree branch and used that instead of one pole.
Now, when I carry my Fibraplex poles, I wrap them up with my plastic ground sheet and pop a couple of rubber bands around that. Then they are carried inside my backpack. No problem.
–B.G.–
