I searched around a little and didn't see anything, so forgive me if this has been covered.
I am new to trekking poles and have a pair of REI Peak UL Komperdell poles, and haven't put the baskets on yet because they are extremely hard to take off again.
Should I put them on? Is leaving them off THAT big a weight savings?
I live and hike in the Sierra, if that helps.

I like the Komperdell 'dirt' baskets (0.6 oz/pair) because they keep the poles from going too deeply into holes or between rocks. It does increase the swing weight a bit, so your arms will have to work a bit harder.

You should find it much easier to twist the baskets on and off if you hold the plastic pole tip with pliers.

Edited by Otter on 12/09/2006 23:34:02 MST.

Are the dirt baskets the ones they come with? Small, solid disks with teeth on the under-side?
I didn't think about the benifit of not getting the pole wedged - and possibly breaking it, definitly a good point.

>Are the dirt baskets the ones they come with? Small, solid disks with teeth on the under-side?


Yes. They also help a lot in mud.

Edited by Otter on 12/10/2006 00:09:51 MST.

Coming pretty late to this thread, but I'm in the opposite camp --- I like going without baskets. And if I do actually *need* a basket, it's likely I'm in soft snow so in that situation I might as well carry along an actual snow basket (purchased separately). Put it on if needed (two people working together can make this easier), take it off when you don't need it.

I used to carry along the original mini-baskets "just in case", but no longer --- I just very rarely found a condition where I needed them, and in such a condition it would typically be more hassle to put 'em on and then take 'em back off again than to just soldier on w/o.

Apart from whatever weight issue, baskets snag in brush. Sometimes they'll stop your pole from sticking in somewhere too deep, but sometimes a basket-less pole can go down through brush or whatever and find a solid surface just slightly lower where a basket would leave you with a less reliable support. And sometimes they don't help much even where you would expect them to --- I've been surprised to find that sometimes in pretty soft snow my no-basket poles support me pretty well (of course snow comes in many guises).

When I'm going through a muddy area, often if I take an extra micro-second I can find a more substantial place to plant the pole point. And I like the fact that I can *see* exactly where my pole tip is going; even a mini-basket somewhat obscures that.

But the main reason is to minimize the poles snagging when there are bushes close along the sides of the trail.


Brian