Reader Reviews

Rating: 4 / 5

I got these to replace my heaver AL. poles. I have done 2 five day Grand Canyon hikes and am quite satisfied. I use them heavily for support on the descents and as a boost on the ascents. Stepping down 3' - 4' drops off trail I will put my full 158 lbs plus gear on them. I have not babied them at all. The locks have held up and are secure in use. I do carry a spare tip in mt "spares and repairs" kit just in case, but have not needed it. I use one for the pole in my Luna Solo II and at 45" it is long enough. I have also used the pair for tarp support (GG SpinTwin). I do have some scrapes in their surface from rock contact, but it appears superficial. I gave them a 4 because the grips are not angled.

PS. I lost my original pair in the Escalante river, UT. (long story) area and have replaced them with another pair of the same model.

Edited by malndman on 05/11/2009 18:03:26 MDT.

Rating: 4 / 5

I was a little wary about taking carbon fiber trekking poles on the rugged CDT. I wasn't sure that they would be strong enough to last for 3000 miles.

Well, they were. So don't fear the carbon fiber.

The weak spots I discovered were:
- tips. I had to replace the tips halfway through the hike. And my replacement tips were dead by the end
- Length adjustments. These poles use a Leki-style twist to adjust mechanism. It's pretty finicky and broke down on me toward the end. i was able to survive, but threw away the poles at the end of my thru-hike. I had the 2008 version of the poles. I hear the new version is better...

Rating: 4 / 5

I too had something over 3000 miles on my pair --- the majority of that thru-hiking the PCT in 2008 plus a variety of much shorter trips. I started my AT thru-hike with them (early in 2010), but just starting into the very snowy Smokies in March I managed to slip on the very first little icy patch I found and snap! Broke the lower section of one of these poles, just snapped immediately.

In fact, the other pole had for the past week or so been slipping too, I'm not sure why given how well these had worked before, but I was periodically disassembling it and peering at the mechanism, reassembling it only to have it start to slip on me again. I ended up going through the first half of the smokies with two sticks I found in the woods, and buying a heavy set of Leki's in Gatlinburg.

I liked these CF poles a lot, and since they worked so well for me for so many miles I still give them a 4/5, but what I've gone to now is the lightest weight Leki pole that has a lifetime guarantee. Leki gives a one year guarantee for their CF poles, but their titanium poles with no shock absorbers are guaranteed for life.

My REI branded CF poles were about 11.6 oz for the pair. My new Lekis are 14.9 oz. (both weights are without baskets)
FWIW, my new poles are the Leki Thermolite AERGON model, without shock absorbtion (can be hard to find Leki's that don't have shock absorbers, but these can be ordered online). Of course I don't like poles that are almost 30% heavier (1.65 oz more per pole), but I'm a lot more confident that one unfortunate slip won't suddenly leave me without poles (noting also that I'm thinking of switching to a tent that requires two adjustable trekking poles to set up ...).