New Durston Iceline Trekking Poles — but no straps :/

[Philip Tschersich]

Dan, quick question: are the stock carbide/steel tips held in with glue that softens at 100 C like the grips, or something non-thermolabile like epoxy? Cheers

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

They are glued in, but I haven’t actually tried heat based removal. Usually if a tip has a problem the best solution is just to slide a regular replacement tip over top. You might have to yank off the basket collar, but otherwise the tip should slide on easier than having to remove a regular tip.

[Philip Tschersich]

Roger. Thanks

[Robert Spencer]

Dan, did you consider making your poles in two sections instead of three, and do you have any plans to do so later on? Thanks.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

We could make a two section pole that has a single adjuster without the quick connect, but then it would pack awkwardly long. I’m hesitant to make a pole that sticks up taller than a backpack because that can be an issue while bushwhacking/off-trail hiking.

[Mason K]

The design is quite elegant and they look like they should be pretty tough.  Perhaps in a future release they could cut a notch in the grip for the strap fans and/or offer an optional upgraded grip with strap.  I use straps and grip my poles between my thumb and forefinger.  I have had straps save me from losing poles multiple times.  That being said straps can also lead to injuries if the pole is caught under a rock unexpectedly.

[Richard P]

Used them this weekend on a 40km hike.  Best poles ever.  The light weight is great but the stiffness even more so.  The larger diameter tubing makes for a solid grip when “choking up” on the poles. The grips are perfect – just the right density and texture.  Worked well when wet.   Regarding the lack of straps?   In my view, straps are a carryover from X-country skiing where they make sense.  But X-Country skiing and hiking are very different activities. When you hike, to maintain proper balance, you should constantly be changing your grip to deal with constantly changing terrain.  Uphill, downhill, sidehill, trenched trails, rocks and crevices, bolder hopping – all require different grips.  The frequent consequence of using straps is that you don’t change your grip when you should and your hands are too high, too low or  uneven, all impairing balance. I’ve been wandering around the Canadian Rockies for ~ 50 years and have used dozens of different poles and these are the best I’ve used so far.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Thanks Richard! Glad you’re liking the poles :)


@Mason
We are adding a strap option. We move pretty quickly here (without model years and retailer stock etc to worry about) so we’ve already been through multiple rounds of strap prototypes over the past month and now have a nice and superlight strap designed. We’ll add that version when the second batch is here in the fall.

[bradmacmt]

Dan, will the straps be removable? Will the non-strap model still be available?

[Todd T]

…now have a nice and superlight strap designed. We’ll add that version when the second batch is here in the fall.

Hopefully it’s tough enough for all-day, weight-bearing use and not just a lanyard?

[jscott]

Nordic ski poles all have a clip in mechanism for wrist straps on their poles. The straps are easily removable and re-attached. These straps bear weight well, to say the least. Far more than what hikers would ever need.

At the other end of the extreme, my ancient GG light-trek poles merely have a tiny loop of very light weight cord about the same dimensions as is used to stake down tents. this is attached below the handles to allow one to tie on their own circle of cord to wrap around their wrists, if desired. I don’t imagine this style is meant to support weight bearing use.

I’m curious to see what Dan has come up with. On this forum, it seems those who like straps want them to be permanently attached; others, not. Sorry to state the obvious…

 

[Ross Bleakney]

I’ve had a lot of poles and a lot of straps and I like the GG straps. They are light, simple, easily adjustable and can be removed. I wouldn’t say they are the absolute most comfortable out there, but pretty close. If these can match GG in terms of strap comfort, I’m buying a pair.

[jscott]

I just went to the GG pole site, and wow!  My old two section GG lighttreks without a strap have gone the way of the dinosaurs. Too bad! But mine do have a propensity to break down near the tip. I adjusted, am aware, and mine have lasted decades. Sweet!

edit: the GG video recommends one use the baskets on rocky terrain to prevent the tips from becoming lodged in crevices. This last was what happened when I broke a LT pole on a hike years ago. The Sierra are rocky. the baskets  do add a bit of weight exactly where I don’t want it: near the end of the poles.

I’m finding it hard to see their straps and  how they’re attached  on the GG site.

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

The straps are real straps (e.g. proper width, not just cord) while also perhaps being the world’s lightest real straps at 6g each. There is also hardware to attach them inside the grip though, which adds another 6g. The straps will be removable, but you still have that hardware in the grip so the non-strap model will still be the lightest. We’ll have both options available.

Also quite a few other nice updates for v2 that we’ll share closer to when they launch in the fall. I don’t want to say too much, but it looks like we can make the non-strap version even lighter while actually improving strength too.

[jscott]

“The straps will be removable, but you still have that hardware in the grip so the non-strap model will still be the lightest.”

If I understand Dan correctly, this strikes me as being the best option for those who only like straps ‘sometimes’. The difference between this last and just using a light cord for attachment is…(let’s see,  divide by 8, multiply by pi, subtract the difference…) negligeable. As in, not noticeable by human standards.

[Matthew / BPL]

lol @ the math!

[Ross Bleakney]

I’m finding it hard to see their straps and how they’re attached on the GG site.

Let me try and explain it. There is a screw that goes into the top of the handle. The strap is held on with that screw and a washer. Thus the strap is attached to the top of the pole, and drapes over the top to the side (opposite the grip). I once had the screw pop out, but I think that is rare. I just found a new one at the hardware store. Because of the screw it would be easy to get rid of the straps. If I remember right it was smooth on top as well (when the screw was missing).

On a different note I would mention that in terms of swing weight the straps and handles have the least influence. They should almost be weighed separately. The comfort of the straps is far more important.

 

 

[Phong D]

I thought I hated straps until a month into my thru hike and I couldn’t straighten out my middle finger.

[jscott]

“I thought I hated straps until a month into my thru hike and I couldn’t straighten out my middle finger.”

At day hikers?

[bradmacmt]

At day hikers?

Bwaaa!!

[Nicholas P]

So I put them through the wringer this week!!

I took them through the “100 mile Wilderness” and even though I bent a tip I am still very stoked on their performance. I didn’t realize the tip was bent until I got back to my car at Abol Bridge. In hindsight I know what caused the bend – I got it jammed between a rock and a root while I was moving along quite fast on the last day,  hastily trying to out run the fast approaching tropical storm. It put an extreme amount of torque on the pole, I believe any other carbon pole and even a lot of aluminum poles would have snapped like a twig or severely bent (in the case of aluminum) under the amount of strain that was exerted. I had stopped to examine the pole thinking I had surely cracked it, but  to my surprise it was still stiff as a board. I did not detect the bent tip at the time but I should have because it was catching on things a bit after that and I dropped it several times over the last 15 or so miles.

As anyone who has hiked the AT  would surely attest the tread on the northern sections is particularly hard on poles and the evidence of this was everywhere in the form of broken sections littering the trail. Strangely I think that this bent tip in its first 100 miles of use is not at all indicative of a flaw or weakness in the pole but conversely a testament to its strength , it amazes me that the failure point was the tip and not one of the carbon fiber sections. Actually “failure point “ is really a bit harsh because the tip is only bent and prematurely worn it still got me out of the woods!

Dan , obviously I will need to replace this tip, what are your recommendations for tips and do you have any “tips” on replacing these tips? Do you pull out the pegs and the tip will pull off or  is it also glued? I’m just wondering on what is the right procedure as this design is different than what I am accustomed to.

Thanks Dan , awesome poles! And it’s amazing that you have already come up with a way to make them even stronger and lighter!

[jscott]

 

I’ll quote myself from just above on this thread:

“the GG video (on their poles) recommends one use the baskets on rocky terrain to prevent the tips from becoming lodged in crevices. This last was what happened when I broke a LT pole on a hike years ago. ‘”

[Dan @ Durston Gear]

Sounds like quite the trip! For the damaged tip, it is possible to get normal replacement tips and glue them on over top, but also we are providing free replacement sections for people with pole damage, so if you send us an email we can arrange to send out a replacement tip section.

[Nicholas P]

Amazing ! Thanks Dan!

jscott-

I don’t use mud baskets simply because in my experience they tend to get caught on things and don’t stay on poles and become plastic litter on the trail. Although I do have quite the collection of them that I have picked up off the trail over the years.

[Philip Tschersich]

There hasn’t been a lot of feedback on these, so here is my 2 cents. TLDR: they are not working out very well for us.

So far I have bent one and snapped the other, and one of my friends in Juneau has also snapped one. Maybe we just got unlucky, but we have been using them in generally less demanding conditions than we usually subject our poles to. I.e., just day hikes with minimal brush vs elk hunting or epic brush slogs. For typical on-trail use where most of the stresses on the pole are concentrated near the tip, they seem to work fine. But as soon as you load the pole midshaft, the Achilles heel of the pole turns out to be the connector between the mid and lower shafts. The connector has a lower 0-ring that sits in a channel machined into the connector where the pole is effectively 8mm in diameter with a 2mm wall thickness. All the mid-pole bending force passes through this piece.

I bent the first pole on an easy hike after work through a mossy spruce forest following good bear trails. About a mile into the walk I looked down and noticed one pole looked strange. I looked closer and realized the lower was akimbo at about a 15 degree angle to the upper. Normally when I biff a pole I at least can pinpoint the precipitating event like falling down, wedging the pole in somewhere and levering it, etc., but I have no idea what I did to bend it this time and I’m sure it was straight when we left the beach. Back on our research vessel I carefully straightened it (mostly).

A few days later I was traversing a slope in the forest and as I swung my uphill foot forward I must have stepped onto some wet wood hiding in the devils club. My foot shot downhill out from under me and I keeled uphill, putting my weight on the uphill pole to catch me. It snapped cleanly and enthusiastically at the connector. This was the other pole- not the bent one. Given my local hiking conditions this sort of fall is pretty common, and with my normal trekking poles, uneventful. But without repeating the fall with all my various poles, I can’t say if the Iceline failure was a reasonable outcome. Maybe I just got unlucky.

My friend in Juneau and his wife were enjoying the Icelines I bought for them. He was out walking a trail with his Small Munsterlander puppy which started to play with another dog they met on the trail. During the play, his dog bumped into him. Without realizing it in the moment, a pole snapped. He says, “I was astonished it broke. I was still holding the upper section and looked down when I tried to plant it wondering what hole I had stuck it in. Crozier bumped it, he really didn’t hit it hard.”

I just did a 90-mile hike up the west side of Kodiak. It offered typical Alaska off-trail hiking: hummocks, tussocks, marshes and meadows, salmonberries and ferns, pushkie and willow, and some short alder thrashes. I took my fixed-length aluminum BD Expedition poles that have thousands of hard Alaska backcountry miles on them. Looking back on the trip with all the slips, falls, and stresses that trekking poles experience in our hinterlands, I believe that I would have snapped the Icelines about ten times over and am relieved that I did not take them.

Dan and Sam at Durston have been professional and responsive about situation, and the replacement parts have arrived. I  have decided to cut my losses and sell the poles and maybe try the next generation if it seems like this issue has been fully addressed. I can post pics of the failures if requested. Dan and Co seem great and I appreciate his community-oriented approach. I think he has the making of a great pole platform here. They are lovely poles and otherwise close to perfect if it weren’t for this one pretty important thing.

Cheers, folks.

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