Hiking poles

Btw.. I ain’t no fatso….5’9”. 165 lbs with @ a 35 lb pack

So…sacrificed the pole instead of your body.  I’m gonna argue they worked great :)

JCH

A great perspective and, one of the reasons I hike with poles.

However, my heavier.  and more robust BD poles would have handled my stumble in stride.

So… I’m thinking I’m going to swing a few more ounces..and go back to the reliable and dependable BD poles.

CMT Carbon Fiber. Cheap, cheap replacement parts, bombproof. 3,000+ abusive miles and have broken the lower section twice-both my fault. Replacement is $10 shipped and only takes a couple of days. No reason for me to look for another pole.

Brad. Thanks for the suggestion..Quick question..would u mind sharing how you broke the poles in the past ( worried that I would do the same )

Thanks !

Scott

UPDATE on BD cork—You can easily fix cracked, crumpled or missing pieces of cork handle by using Locktite PL Max Premium caulk to fill the holes and shape to size and/or sand to fit hand.  It keeps a small hole from becoming a large hole.

So here’s my story

• 1st pair of poles was BD Carbon Corks. Worked great but wanted to save weight
• 2nd pair of poles were Fizan aluminum that I bought from Massdrop…great until I fell through some snow, one bent and one broke. The broken one was jagged and if I had fallen on it wrong I would be dead. Never again.
• Let’s go ultralight with Ruta Locura. Broke a few tips, replaced handles. Couldn’t fully trust my 225# with these. Josh was a fabulous person to work with and if you are a small or medium sized person…go for it.
• BD Distance Carbon Z – The buttons rusted and rendered the whole concept useless and BD support was even more useless. Stainless steel buttons that fail?  Broke one that shouldn’t have happened.  Broke another and that was that. Nope.

Brings me back to BD Carbon Corks….my kids fight over them, bought a second pair on gear swap despite my disdain for BD customer support. No handle failure whatsoever dispite sweaty and stinky abuse.

Question…for backpacking,  would you trust your entire falling weight on the poles you own? Crashing down?  For me, Carbon Corks for the save…and the win.

Do you fear breaking poles when you are using a tent/tarp that requires them?

How many have actually had this happen to them on a trip? What did you do?

I got the GG LT5 and they leave me a little nervous since I would be relying on them a good bit.

Finally, I apologize if this should be a new thread – I’m a rookie here, and it seems close enough to topic.

Thanks!

I have the GGLT5.. only for light use. My BD Carbon Distance FL poles which i always used, well 1 snapped in half on me last winter in the Adirondacks..

Now I use BD Aluminum… stronger and not too much weight difference…

Terrance, I would not worry. While trekking poles are fairly sturdy, as Dirtbag mentioned, it is possible to break them. Holding up a tent? Well, somehow I don’t believe your tent has the same weight as a hiker unless it is covered in snow/ice. If your pole can hold you, it can hold a tent. But, hiking staffs are easy to acquire. Even if you break one, you can grab a stick from somewhere along the trail in most cases.

I’m a big guy – 6′ and 275 lbs and I’ve been happily using the GG CF poles for years.  A couple of things:

• I have LT4’s and no wrist strap – if my pole tip gets stuck in rocks I just release my grip and then turn around to get it (this happens a couple times each trip in PA)
• I’ve broken poles twice – both times it’s because I slipped and the pole ended up underneath me straddling some rocks.  It simply snapped cleanly each time.  It hasn’t happened in a couple of years, but I’ll buy LT5’s in a heartbeat when I break another one (which will happen).  I’ve fallen on the poles plenty of other times (I’m a bit of a klutz) but I’ve only broken them when they were elevated on rocks.

I understand your concern when you’re counting on the poles to support your shelter, but as James mentions you could find a stick and cut/break it to the correct length if needed.  If you hike with others you might be able to borrow a pole while you’re in camp in the unlikely event you break a pole.  The other option would be to carry a 3″ aluminum tube that is slightly bigger than the pole shaft.  You could use that, and some duct tape, to repair the pole enough to support your shelter.  The biggest hassle is then to carry the pole while you’re hiking.

@Scott Smith I never answered. First lower section snapped when I was walking down an icy trail, slipped and jammed a pole in to save myself. Pole went in 8″ or so and I fell backwards breaking lower section. Second time I was moving fast in very rough/rocky terrain and it got jammed between two rocks and with my momentum snapped. But I can’t stress how tough these things are for the price. I put lots of weight and torque on them when hiking and other than the tips wearing fast, they have held up. I see no point in changing to a different pole.

I did an unscientific survey here of most common items for gear failure and trekking poles were mentioned often. That is the thing I break most frequently. I always use shelters that require trekking poles for setup, so this is an issue for me. The time that I hiked and packrafted the length of Kodiak Island, I broke one of my poles three times in three different ways. On that trip I used my Fossils bowl and some Voile straps as a splint at the end.

Now I carry Tyvek tape and 2 small v-stakes which can make an excellent splint. Some breaks are harder to repair than others. I use fixed-length poles (think downhill ski poles) whenever I’m not on a trip where I need to collapse my poles (e.g., packrafting). Fixed-length poles are lighter, stronger, and have fewer potential failure points.