I was thinking about taking some golf club shafts and making my own treking poles. Any idea were to get grips and treking pole tips?

Tips you can find yours local hiking store, Leki and Komperdell or some other.
Grips, fishing rod grip could be good and light.

Tips are pretty easy to find; REI carries them. I recommend getting grips from Gossamer Gear. I made some poles and used fishing pole grips first and ended up getting the GG grips and they're much more comfortable. The poles I made weigh 2.9 oz each.

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/make_your_own_gear_carbon_fiber_trekking_poles.html


Some helpful dimensions in the article.

If you do try to get GG grips, just be warned, you need to call. I tried emailing them a number of times without answer.

I made a decent pair of trekking poles out of old blue fiberglass xc skiing poles. I cut off the old tip and old grip, then measured and cut to the right length.

I used some bar tape, for a road bike, that I had lying around. Bar tape is pretty cheap and easy to find in town.

Pair came out to 11 oz. Not bad, for free.

A tip about using golfclub shafts: get some cork or light wood and glue a plug in the handle end flush before putting the grips on. Otherwise the sharp carbon fiber tube end will cut through the top of the grip.

I just found a lightweight graphite driver from Goodwill for a $1.00 and it's about the perfect length for me with the end cut off. As suggested, REI and similar places carry tips, in pairs, from what I've noticed. I got lucky this weekend and actually found an old, but usable tip before spending the money on them. Its inner diameter is slightly bigger than the club's outer diameter, but I've [just] filled it with JB weld and pressed in the club. I'm hoping it will solidify nicely and hold firm after it cures.

Edited by AaronMB on 08/03/2011 13:55:34 MDT.

Gorilla glue expands and is another (potentially lighter) option instead of JB weld for taking up space between grips --edit: or tips and pole.

Edited by ctwnwood on 08/03/2011 18:30:48 MDT.