Telescoping trekking poles

Let me try that again…

I want to make a pair of carbon fiber telescoping trekking poles and have a couple questions. I’d like to try and make a three-section pole that will telescopes to ~150 cm. I’m also thinking about having the locking mechanism be internal and similar to the LT4s (I’m still figuring out the parts and if you know what everything is called let me know). I imagine these questions have been discussed somewhere on here but I can’t seem to find what I’m looking for.

1. What should the difference between the internal diameter of a male section be from that of the outer diameter of the female? Can they be the same? Is 1mm difference too much? (obviously male and female will depend on which end of the section is being worked with).
2. Should the diameters between the end of the pole and the tip be exact or can there be 0.5 difference?

Thanks!

Chris – you might find this thread on MYOG carbon trekking poles useful. In particular, look at Bob Moulder’s post on the poles he designed.  I have a pair of poles that Bob made for me and they are perfect in every way.  Also, his work is what inspired my MYOG tent poles project, which you might also find useful.

To answer your specific questions…both Bob’s and my experience show that matching the ID of the larger tube to the OD of the smaller works well.  If they happen to fit a tad too snugly, it is a very simple matter to “fine tune” the OD of the inner with some 220 sandpaper.

For trekking poles, I would suggest using CF tubing with a 1mm wall thickness, eg the OD is 2mm larger than the ID.  Bob’s sizing of 13×11 and 11×9 works very well as does his use of BD components. Consider using the FlickLoks as they are inexpensive, and easy to install, adjust or repair.  I have no experience with the internal locking mechanisms, but they seem as though they would be harder to get right.

Lastly, I very highly recommend the eBay vendor HaoZhong (URL in my MYOG tent pole post) as that product has proven to be very high quality.

Good luck with your project and please report back on your results.

Thanks for the response and pointing me to the great information! I suspected the tubes would telescope that way but it’s good to get confirmation. Bob’s poles are very nice and good work on your tent poles! I think I’m going to try the GG LT4 inspired route with the internal locks. Overall, I’ve had good luck with mine and I really like the cleanness and simplicity of that pole. Having a pole that telescopes down to ~55 cm is appealing so I want to give it a try. The LT5 looks good but I don’t like the aesthetic of the locks. Getting the right sized parts is the current challenge but I’m close to cracking that nut (McMaster-Carr is a magical website). I’ll post updates and pictures as I progress.