Costco Carbon Fiber poles back at Costco

If you do a BPL  search  people have been posting about these for years, tons of threads and reviews there is even one from a couple of weeks ago, they are always in stock at my store in Seattle and every store around the country is different with their stock.

These poles haven’t been in my SoCal Costco since last year (Heather Ridge in Laguna Niguel).  I went back in the Gear Deals for 6 months and found nothing referring to these poles or I would have commented there.

I have seen availability updates on the Costco down throws in this forum and thought a similar update might be useful.

I did not realize other Costco stores carried them all the time, unlike my local Costco.

It helps if you are posting about a particular Cosco and that they don’t have them in very often to let people not only that fact but which one since they are located so many places in so many states, then I could see how that could be helpful.

We haven’t had any since last summer. I’ll have to take a look this week, I didn’t see any a week ago. Thanks for the heads up.

Wonder how they compare to the Monoprice carbon poles. Almost bet they are the same.

https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=15319

Can get them online. edited.

Saw them for the first time at an East Coast Costco this weekend (New Britain, CT). Usually these are only available in the West Coast.

P.S.: @here: I don’t think they sell these online at Costco. (edited)

they sell them on Amazon and directly through Mountain Tech but it is cheapest at Costco

@annapurna yup, got my first pair from Amazon. Got 2 more at Costco this weekend (1 for wife, 1 spare)

Good poles. Have used a pair for a while. Flick lock (plastic tightening screw) mechanism is a bit of a weak point (they hairline crack), but I believe andrew skurka addressed a fairly easy fix for this in a blog post. I also noticed the carbide tips wear quite a bit faster than black diamond – and one of my poles developed a small crack along the side of the plastic tip, so I had to replace it with a BD tip. I was rough on the poles though as I used them as a “stake” on several occasions. They are a tremendous value and good solid poles.

Glad places other than the west coast are getting them back in for another season.

Cascade Mountain Tech is quick to respond and send replacements for the cracked plastic nuts that David mentions above.  Some time ago I also experienced the nuts cracking, and am happy with the replacements.  Great poles, a value, and well worth the $$$.  Haven’t read the Skurka blog.

Just for reference, here is the skurka blog post I was talking about w/ some good advice for these poles: http://andrewskurka.com/2015/long-term-review-cascade-mountain-tech-quick-lock-poles/

Can get them online, but at a cost of $15-20 more.  The Costco price is far lower than anything else out there – if you are willing to deal with the cork handles, which don’t feel like they would last.  I got the neoprene handles from Amazon.

..

I bought some of these just for the heck of it to try them for myself… perhaps a little guilt from occasionally parroting the recommendation to buy them without actually having used them.

Well I have used them now for a whopping 14 miles and concur with the recommended upgrade to the nut for the flicklock cam. Not a big deal because once they’re set properly they shouldn’t need adjustment for a long time. Don’t know yet if the ones I bought (got them thru Amazon, the cork handle version) have the durable or the non-durable carbide tips, but I might try replacing them with BD Distance tips (the ones on the “Z” poles… light and durable!) just to see if it can be done.

Thanks Bob.  I knew that price was too good to be true.  My walmart link is no good.  Stay with Costco.

On a side note, I also have a pair of the CNOC Vertex poles.  The weight is similar but the Vertex poles fold up much smaller for travel.  I use both depending on circumstances.  The Vertex poles v1 are on sale for $39.99 right now, per the Vertex thread in Gear Deals and are absolutely worth it.

Scott, those are the Aluminum version and not the Carbon, but still a good deal. The Carbon version is $44.99.

I’m glad because I was about to pound my head on the desk for paying twice as much, lol! :^)