Trekking poles

Woodsman

Barefooters
Jan 13, 2012
125
96
28
Can anyone recommend some trekking poles. I have a big hike coming up in the Smokies. It's been a while since I've done a hike of this caliber and I may have aged a bit. I have never used trekking poles before, but I thought they would be a good idea since I'll be covering a lot of ground is a relatively short time and I'll also be flying solo for the most part.
 
Check out the offerings from Leki or Black Diamond. Both will have something to suit your needs.
The Z-poles from BD, or their Leki equivalent, are very popular now.
 
Its been a few years and hiking gear changes yearly with the new years models :rolleyes: so not sure what the current offerings are. But maybe around 3 years ago I upgraded from cheapies (even used ski poles for many years, and they worked fine). I shopped the sales at Sunny Sports .com I think it was and got a great deal on Black Diamond carbon cork alpine poles with speedlocks. I prefer the natural cork grips, and the speed or flick locks make adjusting easier. My trekking poles also are my tent poles which is another reason I upgraded to adjustable length ones. Very happy with them. They aren't ultralight carbon - many reports of those breaking in the field so I stuck with modest weight ones (1 lb 1.7 oz on my scale below). Still they were slightly lighter than aluminum at the time but probably stronger too. Mine had a second foam grip under the cork grip, for quick grip change when you go uphill instead of having to adjust the poles. I thought it would be unnecessary but found I did kind of like it, and not like a bit of foam adds much weight.

IMG_0777-800_zpsaa0b8aa7.jpg


Some (few) prefer the poles with anti-shock. Most I know seem to think its unnecessary or a gimmick. It adds weight, creates a vibration of sorts, and typically at least one of them will fail before long, then you just have a heavier regular pole. I just try not to slam them on the ground, no other anti-shock needed. Carbon itself has some shock absorbing properties anyhow. Just imho.

Often steep and cheap (.com) has trekking poles too for deep discount, but I grow tired of waiting and constantly checking that website (its a one at a time kind of sale I guess).