XC Ski Poles – fixed length carbon?

[Jesse Jakomait]

I’m looking for the lightest trekking pole I can find with little regard for cost.  Anyone have some research to share?

For more details, I don’t need a collapsible pole especially since I already own the BD Z carbon pole (10oz/290g) and it has me thinking a chopped down XC ski racing pole should destroy anything marketed towards trekking in terms of weight.  A second point is that I need proper hand straps since I prescribe to the XC ski style of putting my hands in from the bottom so the loop locks in my wrist and my hands don’t actually have to hold onto the handles and get some serious drive with my arms uphill.  I’ve read the arguments from Gossamer Gear but that isn’t for me.

My big struggle is I can’t find weight data on any of the major ski brand sites and don’t have retail stores near by that stock this stuff.  At best they will list the shaft weight per meter but nothing on the full assembly.  I have to guess they will be lighter than my Z poles but how much?

[Jesse Jakomait]

selected getting email notices…

[Steven Paris]

Jesse,

I bought some 120cm fixed length carbon ski poles from REI (they are “Volkl Magisticks” I bought because they were on sale at the end of the winter season) and replaced the grips with Gossamer Gear grips.

Weight = 4.9 oz each, with the GG grips. The grips are listed at 1 oz per pair, so weight of the poles alone should be 8 oz.

I didn’t want to keep the original grips and didn’t want straps, so the GG grips are great. They were easy to replace, as well. The only issue you might have is finding a replacement grip that has straps but is a hiker-friendly material, like foam, cork, etc. The ski grips are often plastic and probably harder on bare hands than with ski gloves.

Hope that helps!

 

Edit: these are downhill ski poles, not XC. My thought was that a downhill pole would be a stronger construction over XC poles, but I don’t have any info to back that up.

[Nathan Watts]

I went with a pair of Komperdell Featherlight Alpine ski poles. I’ve since picked up some BD Z poles that I tend to favor though.

[Jesse Jakomait]

Thanks for that info Steven.

Before you edited your post I was going to comment on how did you find poles that short?  XC ski poles start at 135cm, My BD Z’s are 120cm and I’ll probably aim for 125 for my fixed pole.

I’m positive the XC poles will not be as durable as the DH poles but I’m impressed with the weight of yours with the added robustness.  Personally, I run sketchy equipment all the time and will gamble with fragile poles and see how long they last.

Good point on the grips.  I’ll probably just try the hard ski grip and change it out if it isn’t working although I’m pretty sure cork is also used in some XC poles as well.

[Dale Wambaugh]

They wont be mind blowing light. Used ones can be very inexpensive. You can make them more hiker friendly by replacing the tips with ones from Black Diamond. Use silicone adhesive to fill the gap if the pole diameter is too small.

http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/trekking-poles/flex-tech-tips-BD1120820000ALL1.html

http://blackdiamondequipment.com/en/trekking-poles/z-pole-basket-BD1121260000ALL1.html

 

 

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