Recommendations For Trekking Poles

[AlmostThere]

Actually I don't worry about it as long as the weight and stress is vertical. They have taken my weight plenty of times on creek crossings or when I stumble, and I crank 'em pretty tall when using them to support the tent.

They are weakest horizontally. Just don't pile stuff on them or torque them sideways. I was using mine for SAR until I found a cheap pair of Eastons. They survived a lot of abuse they shouldn't have.

[sparky]

I go for the cheapest walmart poles. I have nevee had a a problem with the locks, and I have never broken one. I just leave them in friends vehicles :-)

I generally have an aversion to walmart but the poles are golden.

Actually one fell out my pack on sunnyside bench, let me know if you find it!

[Bluewater]

I have a set of Leki poles but lately they have been used as spares for friends. I used TiGoat adjustable poles on the JMT and several other trips. They are carbon fiber and adjustable, about $135 and very lightweight with a good locking mechanism but I left them in the South Lake parking lot a few years ago. Next I tried Gossamer Gear LT4s which are slightly heavier. I liked the grips a lot, but the locking mechanisms were a PITA in the winter. I broke one of them while falling into a hole in a snow covered boulder field, then left the other one in a parking lot in Idyllwild. The latest set I'm using are the GG LT3Cs. They are fixed length and it's possible to custom order the length in 5cm increments. At 5.4 ozs for the pair they are slightly lighter than the TiGoat poles. I was concerned about not being able to adjust them, but the grips are just right and make it easy to switch from level to up or downhill positioning. I got a few c/f extensions to make it possible to use them to setup a Solomid. They seem to be working really well on trail, but I already broke on a difficult x/c route while tired at the end of the day.


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[Scouter9]

I use Komperdells that I managed to score on clearance from Sierra Trading at $60, a great price for poles that extend 145cm and are light.

However, the hiking poles I recommend to all my Scouts and leaders are the carbon-fiber, cork-gripped $35 poles from Costco that weigh the same as my high-zoot poles do. They "came out" last season and are now in the Costco stores again. These are twist-lockers, extend to 140 and they come with plain rubber tips, contoured street-hiker tips and two sizes of baskets. The carbon-fiber is clear coated and visible, making the user very stylish, cool and probably faster (like that coffee can I clamped on my tailpipe for 40hp gain)... and the six sets of them on trail with us last season performed great.

They Sharpied their names into the cork, because so many poles looked alike.

[rlown]

a few of us have the same version of BD poles. Decided to sharpie some stripes on mine right below the cork as it never gets touched. If you sharpie the cork, it could wear off. It's not hard to determine Markskor's set of poles; One is usually bent or broken