Seeking thoughts on Hilleberg trekking poles.

I haven’t tried them, but 17oz per pair is pretty heavy. I know the BD ACC poles are popular, but at 8oz each they feel a lot heavier than the 5oz poles from GG, Locus Gear etc. They could be good if you want durability but a lighter pole is awfully nice.

I agree that light is nice, Dan. Especially when you swing the weight back and forth thousands of times a day. I’ve just heard enough stories about broken carbon poles that it makes me a bit nervous if I’m headed into the mountains for a while. Especially since my tent needs those trekking poles!

Am I overstating the risk of a broken pole with the ultralights? I go off trail with some regularity and use the poles on scree fields, etc. where it’s easy to have a pole get clipped by a rock.

I’ve broken tons of poles…..maybe 10 over the last decade. I’ve never broken a pole by clipping a rock. usually I wipe out for some reason and land on them. Stronger poles do help, but still have a good chance of breaking if your body weight lands on them so not wiping out is more important than having heavier poles. I find that you go quite a bit heavier and they are stronger, but not way less likely to break. You have to go all the way to something ridiculously heavy before they are super unlikely to break.

At the same weight, I don’t have more confidence in aluminum. You have to go super thin with aluminum to get it down to carbon weights.

If you’re worried about breaking poles, the best thing you can do is use flick lock style poles so you can take whatever is left of the broken section, insert it back in, and keep hiking. Whereas with twist locks if you break the bottom section (most common) you are out of commission.

Oh that seems like really good advice. I’ve always preferred flicklocks because of the ease of use but I never considered that they might be more salvageable in the field after a break. Thanks for sharing that.

I have never broken a pole on scree or talus. I have only broken one pole… it was carbon… and it was heavier than the very light ones… around 18 ounces per pair… and I broke it in a stream crossing where I slipped on a wet rock and fell full weight on the pole. Snapped like a cracker… I was glad to break the pole and not my leg :)))

For about $90 less, there is the REI Trailbreak poles: https://www.rei.com/product/168739/rei-co-op-trailbreak-trekking-poles-pair

Basically same weight. I think mine weigh 16oz for the pair. 7075 aluminum. Got mine for $10 at the REI Garage Sale. These have a little less range 105-140cm compared to 90-145cm.

“I’ve always preferred flicklocks because of the ease of use but I never considered that they might be more salvageable in the field after a break”

Yeah even a stub of the lowest section usually works because you can extend the upper sections more to get a length that is reasonable.

Hello-

I own the Hilleberg trekking poles and, like all their products, they are rock solid. I do a lot of off trail adventuring through the steep mountains here in the cascades and I enjoy the confidence of craftsmanship knowing that this will hold up well while trudging downhill through quite rocky terrain. For reference I only use my poles while ascending/descending steep terrain and, as much as I don’t want to destroy another pair of poles, I don’t worry about it too much because, as Dan has said, you can’t adequately repair poles or use the plethora of poles Mother Nature leaves lying all over the ground.

Weight wise, I’m not sure the argument about several ounces, when compared to other brands, is valid with respect to mere mortals who will only be walking less than 20-ish miles per day. Moreover, a 3-ounce weight difference is almost equivalent to choosing to wear a smart watch and not many people talk about their struggles hiking with one.

In my opinion, when compare to say Lexi, the $160 price tag for a DAC/Hilleberg product seems more than reasonable and I would love to see a side-by-side strength analysis when you compare the TH72M aluminum to Leki’s HTS 6.5 aluminum.