I just got done making a trekking pole for my Grandson, he's only 5 years old and they don't make nice poles for really young/short people. That's were Grampa comes to the rescue, that's what Grampa's are for, right. I went to my local Dick's sporting goods store and picked out the cheapest graphite gulf club shaft they had $12.99. It needed to have a tip diameter of .370 which this one did, for about 6" before it started to tapper up to the top where the hand grip would go, perfect! I also ordered 2 tips from GG, (thanks guys for the fast shipping) the I.D. of the tips were a little different than the O.D. of the pole tip, but not enough to make it a problem. I cut the pole to length, 28", installed the tip with no glue, it was, shall we say, a tight fit! Then I cut the gulf club handle to the length I wanted. I cut the bigger part of the grip off so his small hands could grip and hold the pole. I need to go to the hardware store tomorrow to get some addhesive to glue the grip on, and its done. I don't know the weight, but it's lighter than my Titianum goat pole. Total cost around $20.00 getting to see my Grandson use it for his first hike next weekend PRICELESS!!!

That is simply awesome....brilliant

I even became nostalgic as I read your post...remembering good old days with my own grandad (I called him Pop) and my dad...making stuff in the shed....

.... I'm gonna have to make one for my daughters now!

Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Jason, if you have any questions let me know.

Jack

Very cool idea...My only critique would be whether or not a child that young would really find it useful...for sure it's cool as they'd feel included even more...but it's not like they should be carrying enough (if anything) to warrant the benefits of a trekking pole no?

I've never hiked with a child so I'm not sure what to expect.

Hi Jordan, I made the trekking pole for my Grandson mainly so he would fell like he was one of the guys. I just added a cool feature for him that might help him get to sleep easier in the forest. For me, this was just about the cool factor, and to see the look on my Grandsons face when I give him his first trekking pole, hopefuly he will pass it on to his brother. I added a light at the top, it was one of those Life Gear glow lights that I bought somewhere for a dollar. I cut off the tube just below the threads, which left only the light body, and the threaded part. I then glued the threaded part to the trekking pole so I could attach the light body, this way when the batteries die you can unscrew the light body and replace the batteries.









Another cool feature is that you could stick the pole in the ground, turn on the light, that way if you were off somewhere cooking dinner in the pitch dark, or getting up to got to the bathroom you would know exactly where your tent was. If you take the pole wuth you, you always have a light when you need it.


Jack

Great job Jack, I am sure your grandson will love it!

This is really cool. I always love checking out ideas from the MYOG brain trust.

Thanks guys for all the comments. I weighed the pole today and it comes in at 3.3 oz not to bad, the light alone added about 1.3 0z from the original weight of 2 oz. Oh well, I think it should be ok for him, at least until he out grows it.

Jack

Very cool.

Glad to see you didn't take my comment the wrong way. Definitely makes sense and really is a neat project to see done. Considering even making my own poles now out of something similar.

Great work, Jack. I like the things you come up with. The little man will love it.

Ha. You are a very thoughtful grandfather, Jack. I'm sure he will love it.

Ryan

i wasn t going to pitch my tarp in camp this weekend but now i have to so i wont be BLINDED BY THE LIGHT !! i have visions of a child hitting me with his spotlight
when he gets up to tinkle in the middle of the night and muttering
"whats going on here" lol

just kidding great job jack he will feel more like one of us while we hike along

it will be cool to see him actually using it ill have to get pics of him and g paw

hiking along with pole in hand

kevin

Edited by divr6347 on 09/26/2012 07:19:52 MDT.