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This pole has it all; carbon fiber, antishock joints, 3 collapsible sections, comfortable straps and many basket options. And it has a price tag - $179 - that reflects its top of the line features. Does this combination of top end features result in top end performance? I hiked over 800 miles with these poles this year to find out. Somebody's got to do it. Ken Knight also completed a review of a similar pole, the [link] Komperdell C3 Duolock which lacks the antishock features of the Airshock, but is otherwise identical.
ARTICLE OUTLINE
- Introduction
- What’s Good
- What’s Not So Good
- Specifications: Year/Model, Style, Shaft Material, Tips, Grips, Grip Size, Weight per pole, Pole Length, Baskets Included?, Basket Type, MSRP
- Performance
- What’s Unique
- Recommendations for Improvement
# WORDS: 1330
# PHOTOS: 4
# TABLES: 2
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Discussion
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Companion forum thread to:
Komperdell C3 Airshock Men Trekking Pole REVIEW
I really like the anti-shock aspect (which can be turned on or off). Most of my hiking is in the mountains and it is noticably easier on my wrists on the downhills.
I have found that it’s a good idea to take the poles apart at the end of a trip and “reset” the duo-lock mechanism. With a lot of extending and shortening the poles, the device seems to get out of tolerance and the pole sections can bind. Routine maintenance will prevent this though.
I was at first worried about sinking so many $’s into “fragile” carbon fiber, but these poles have been through it all. I’m not as stable and athletic as I once was and these poles have saved my tush on many occasions, many times with them stuck between rocks on a mountain trail and me torqueing the day-lights out of them to stay upright!
What a difference poles in general make! I just don’t want to hike without my C3’s.
After about 15 days of use, the locking mechanism on my set of c3 Airshocks began to loosen and the pole sections would collapse more and more often, until the poles became almost unusable. Rather than simply return them, I took them apart to see what the problem was. Here is what I found:
The locking components were not securely set into the pole sections, so when twisting the poles to tighten them up, the locking component had the tendency to simply stay in place, with the pole section turning. This prevented the locking mechanism from tightening sufficiently to lock the pole sections in place.
I fixed this by using some epoxy glue to glue the locking component securely into the pole section. Since I did that, I haven't had any issues with the poles loosening or collapsing when they aren't supposed to.
Kai,
That's an interesting discovery! For sure the loose locking mechanisms would result in your experiences.
Due to the fact that I know a few people who use these poles, including myself, I would think that your situation is a quality control fluke. (Maybe the whole batch)!
Hopefully, this isn't a trend for Komperdell as these poles do strike a pretty decent balance among flexible convenience, weight and, price.
Just recieved my C3 Airshock brand new. One pole was fine but other pole has faulty locking mechanism. The middle segment refuses to lock while the lower segment locks okay. It seems too tight unlike the lower segment and the other pole.
Even if I get this fixed. This doesn't give me much confidence to take pole on multiday hike.
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