Mountainsmith Trekking Poles?

[WhiteMTHike]

My knees are not as young as they once were so I finally admitted that I'm getting old and bought a pair of trekking poles. I purchased Mountainsmith Carbonlite Pro Trekking Poles. I tried them out in the store and they seem quite sturdy. I was curious if any of you are familiar with this particular brand and how they perform on the trails in the Whites.

Thanks.

 

[David Metsky]

Honestly, poles are poles. You could go with solid apline ski poles and get 90% of the benefit from specialized trekking poles.

Weight savings are nice, and collapsing poles are good to attach to the pack on scrambles, but beyond that they will all work the same.

The biggest issues it the loosening/tightning mechanism. All the twisty ones will fail at times, but they are pretty easy to field fix. I really like the Black Diamond Flick-Lock system, it doesn't slip or fail.

-dave-

 

[DougPaul]

Honestly, poles are poles. You could go with solid apline ski poles and get 90% of the benefit from specialized trekking poles.

Weight savings are nice, and collapsing poles are good to attach to the pack on scrambles, but beyond that they will all work the same.

I find the ability to change the length useful. Different lengths work best on different kinds of terrain. And then there is the long traverse...

The biggest issues it the loosening/tightning mechanism. All the twisty ones will fail at times, but they are pretty easy to field fix. I really like the Black Diamond Flick-Lock system, it doesn't slip or fail.

People can get rather religious on their choice of mechanisms--whatever works is best. I personally have had very few problems with my Leki twist locks.

Doug

 

[KMartman]

I personally have had very few problems with my Leki twist locks.

Doug

Ive had no issues with my Lekis either.

I have however taken to either leaving them on the pack or not bringing them at all..they are quite noisy and distract me from my enjoyment of the solitude of the woods, so im trying to "break" myself of the habit of using them.

M