Trekking Poles-Lightest fully adjustable

"Tom, the Locus Gear owner told me that changing the tips was possible, but not easy. I plan on keeping the caps on mine."

Hi Sean,

Thanks for the beta. One thing is not clear to me: What exactly are caps?

"What exactly are caps?"

An exceptionally depressing hockey team.

Or, perhaps, these: http://www.rei.com/product/807598/black-diamond-trekking-pole-tip-protectorswalking-tips-pair

"An exceptionally depressing hockey team."

They all depress me.

"Or, perhaps, these: http://www.rei.com/product/807598/black-diamond-trekking-pole-tip-protectorswalking-tips-pair"

That's sort of what I suspected, but couldn't quite believe would be the case. If true, it would render a very exciting UL trekking pole worthless for any serious mountain work. If you can't replace the tips, the inevitable wearing out or breakage of a tip would mean replacing the entire lower section of the pole. All the way from Japan. I'm totally bummed out, because I have been lusting after these puppies from afar for some time now. Somebody tell me it ain't so. ;o{

I'm exploring the options for lightweight carbon trekking poles. The LocusGear poles seem popular, but everyone seems to want to the flick lock (FL), which are unavailable at the moment.

I currently have komperdell twist lock poles (TL) and have had no problems with using the TL mechanism. Actually, truth be told, I have been anything but gentle to these komperdells and the TL has been solid.

Has any one used the LocusGear TLs? Is there a real disadvantage to twist locks that I am missing? The TLs are lighter.

I purchased the MSR UL-3 after years of the Leki twist lock system. Too many failures on the latter. The MSR is relatively light, and most importantly to me, they are bomber. The push button locking mechanism is extremely reliable. I use them on approaches when climbing Cascade volcanoes and they have endured repeated beatings. The grips are comfortable and use a material that minimizes conductive heat loss. They are pricey, but considering the construction and MSR warranty they may be my last set of poles.