Best Practice: Trekking pole maintenance

[Slugsworth .]

For those of you who don't use single piece trekking poles, what sort of maintenance do you do to your poles? Is there a 'best practice' that perhaps people who rent gear follow?

Maintenance is not my favorite activity and I try to remember to separate the segments after a hike to allow them to dry out (assuming snow or rain or stream crossings) but I've got a huge amount of oxidation on my poles and the locking mechanisms (I have both twist and flick lock) seem to fail way more often than they should.

[Wolf’s Rain]

I have 3 segment pacer poles. So far I have been breaking them down and being sure to store them that way in the net bag they came in. This past weekend was a cold, snowy trip with a lot of water crossings. My poles had icy mud on them quite often and I'm sure some water inside. When I got home, I wiped down each segment with a wet paper towel and dried them. Now they are hanging in my closet in their mesh bag.

[Slugsworth .]

I should have added that I welcome tips on:
The best way to remove the existing aluminum corrosion and the best way to extract segments that are stuck together.

*FYI, I am happy to provide beta testing to any manufacturer that would like their poles beat on.

[Kiel Senninger]

Have you tried WD-40 on the stuck parts and to clean off corrosion? I by no means consider myself a handyman, but that would be my first instinct. Some other sort of mineral spirit may get the corrosion off too.

[Ito Jakuchu]

I have Leki poles with flip locks. I dismantle the poles, rub the dirt from the rubber tips (more because of where I need to store them). Wipe the pole segments with a dry cloth and blow inside the tubes. I store them with the flip locks open (unlocked) as per the instructions they give you here in Japan. Takes roughly the same time as typing this reply. They've seen some bad bad weather but, other than replacing the rubber tips three times because of wear, they are in great condition I have to say..

[hwc 1954]

I just leave my Black Diamond Ergo Corks in the trunk of the car. Otherwise, I would end up at the trailhead having left them at home…

I'll probably take them out and clean them up when I switch to the big snow baskets for snow shoeing.

[Franco Darioli]

Same as Wolf and Ito.
Aluminium poles will oxidise if not cleaned and dried after use.
So yes take them apart, wipe them down and let them dry out.
If stuck yes you can use WD40 but make sure you do wipe it off after use.
Do leave the flick lock type open when stored.
If they are already corroded, gently sand them off with fine sand paper.

[Jon Leibowitz]

I've had the same pair of adjustable black diamond poles for 8 years. I have never "maintained" them or taken them apart. Best poles ever made.

[scree ride]

Same with my Leki's. Long time use, no maintenance. Sounds like work.

[Mobile Calculator]

…

[peter vacco]

" Maintenance is not my favorite activity "

well. ok …
being a journeyman maint tech, and moving past the part of me that draws the line at not dating people who state things like "bathing is not my favorite activity". there are things you can do to back yourself out of the problems that you've caused.

to disassemble stuck things made of aluminium, it can help (in order of severity) to run them under scalding hot tap water, submerge them in even hotter boiling water, heat them with a propane torch, and about that time you are running out of thermal options as alloy melts pretty easily.

but, as advised, soak them in penetrating oil and let them sit (easy). then get to work with heat and twisting.
in a perfect world they will soon enough yield to your new, more maint oriented efforts, and you'll then "want" to render them properly clean.
the nicest way to do this is with a bore brush. sold at better gun stores, you'll find them avail in a multiplicity of sizes. they are plenty long enough to get as far as you need to get inside the tubes. also avail at McMaster Carr (and what isn;t …).

after you learn the wonders and benefits of performing regular maint on your gear, your life will be better, people of all manner will find you desirable, you'l look Hella Better, and butterflies may stream from behind when you break wind.

good luck !
v.

[Slugsworth .]

Thanks for the insight (especially Peter, for the record I do maintain other stuff – I just didn't think that my sticks warranted 'care')

For those that are providing their favorite brands: I have a Leki pole (it's match was given to an injured hiker) that is probably ~8years old and has finally corroded up and I have a pair of flicklock BD poles that are less than a year old and are giving me a lot of problems.

I'll give the WD-40, heat, and if all else fails the sandpaper a try.

[D G]

An old trick for stuck aluminum is to use ammonia. Stuck aluminum stems in headtubes of bikes (before threadless headsets) used to be common and generally wd-40 and other solvents would not work. Ammonia seemed to work good on aluminum oxide.

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