Costco Trekking Poles

these or if you want cheap light flip lock poles these .

"Someone mentioned Cascade Mtn as a brand @ $26 each & 7 oz."

These are the ones, the Cascade Mountain Tech carbon fiber poles at right around 7 oz per pole, but I don't think Costco carries them anymore. I have 2 sets currently and I've been looking for another at Costco, but they haven't had them in months at my local store.

They do have them on Amazon for $29.99, or you can get them directly from Cascade Mountain Tech's website at the same price.

I've been using a pair since April and I haven't had any issues. They are twist lock but it hasn't been a problem with me. Maybe the only problem I've had is because they are Carbon Fiber, they are more prone to dings from rocks. They will look a lot more beat up after a trip than an aluminum pole. The grips are a bit big but I found them to be very comfortable. I've met a few people who compared my set to their higher priced poles and they were a little bummed after they discovered mine were lighter and 1/3 of the of price. I would definitely recommend them to anyone not wanting to drop a lot of coin on a set of poles.

My friend managed to score a set of the Cascade Mtn Tech poles for me from Costco this WE. I can't wait to try them out.

My local Costco didn't carry the in-store poles, so I got the Yukon Charlie's several months back. Very pleased. Only issue is the black foam grip tends to turn your hands a bit black as well, which happens with many brands.

While this can certainly happen with any set of trekking poles given the right conditions, i was next to a friend when one his costco poles failed rather dramatically. These were the cascade mountain poles from around two years ago.

While going down a steeper section of trail I watched him drop hard onto his right side with a slight tumble. Upon helping him up and inspecting what happened, we saw right away that his right trekking pole was outwardly bent below the locking mechanism. To his knowledge at the time, he did not place any outward or unusual stress on the pole to cause it to fail in such a way. When he went to put his weight on the pole he just felt it give way and went down with the ship so to speak. These were only the second or third outting on the poles to my recollection.

Could easily be an isolated incident.. but it's a 24.99 pole so who really knows.

These poles are the best in this price range IMO, but they do fail fairly easily. My sons and I all had sets of these for the JMT last year (they are the ones being used in my avatar). All 4 of my son's poles failed before Mammoth (one of them mid-shaft) and had to be replaced or repaired. I managed to use parts from those poles to form one usable set, and picked my younger son up a set of ski poles from the Mammoth thrift store. I initially attributed the broken poles to my sons being harder on their poles than I am (which they are). One of my poles ended up failing on the second half of the trail at one of the adjustment points. I used gorilla tape to keep it at a fixed length for the remainder of the trail.

I currently have one new set, and still have the set that I used on the JMT as well. I cannibalized the kids broken ones to restore my initial set, which I have been using regularly for a year since then with no problems. The difference is that I have not adjusted the length in over a year, as the adjustment points are what seems to fail most often. I've had many incidents of them jamming between rocks, hanging up, etc and mine have not broken except at the adjustment point. The other issue is that the carbide tips are not easily replaceable. I replaced mine by cutting off the old tip (being careful not to damage the carbon fiber pole) and replacing them with ones that can be easily changed by screwing off the threaded carbide tip.

These are better than typical discount trekking poles IMO and I haven't seen anything in this price range that is better, but quality wise they don't quite match up to the higher end poles. I think they have good potential if they make the length adjustment mechanisms a little more reliable. If you use them for a thru-hike, I would recommend keeping them at a fixed length.

Thanks for the info, but now you've got me a bit concerned. It would be almost impossible for me to keep them fixed length, as I will need to adjust for up/down hill and also need them for my tent. Since I've already got them, I'll give them a try and see how they work out.

Does anybody know the details of locking the spring mechanism out?

The best poles in that price are not the costco poles but the outdoor products poles with black diamond flicklock mechanisms found at Walmart for less than 30 bucks a pair.

The flick lock poles in my second link are just as light and cheap and I have known 2 people to thru hike with them with no problems.

@Link – The OP WM poles are not as light (unless mod'd and that drives the cost up). Also, since they're sold individually, it may take some doing to get a matching set.

I'd rather go without poles than use a pair I couldn't trust.
My Leki titanium poles were my second major investment in hiking equipment and perhaps my favorite. I literally pole vault with them going downhill. It can actually be a lot of fun. You do have to be a bit careful not to get the tips stuck between rocks. They don't bend nor break, they stop you abruptly. I've had them for several years. I've replaced everything else, these I've kept.

They are twist lock and the poles will slide slightly if not properly tightened. Not really a problem other than having to readjust them on occasion.

You can usually find the poles at Walmart, Wally’s World and Occasionally Target for $12 each pole and it is about $2.45 for a pair of grips for the modification to make the poles 6.9 oz each,but if that is too expensive or weight is too much I can’t help you.I personally like flick locks better than the twist locks,I have always found twist locks finicky and not always reliable.I use the Locus Gear flick lock poles at 5oz each but they are $130 shipped from Japan(and sold out right now).

I own a pair, as well as a pair of old Leki Malaku. With both you need to be careful to only turn them a little when adjusting them. If it looks like you unscrewed them too much and now they will not lock- they still will. Just pull them out past the locking mechanism and then back in. I adjust mine several times on each trip, to use on my tarp, and they work well. You just have to know how to deal with the prblem, which is a little annoying, but quite fixable.