One thing leads to another

[Jack Waldron]

Losing rubber tips

The tips do pop off occasionally. I'm on my second set. I finally lost one tip last year after 2 1/2 to 3 years of use. If the tip pops off when you are hiking on dirt you can hike for a while before you notice. The Leki rubber tips that I bought last fall are about 3/4" longer and seem to grip the pole much better than the previous tips. I found that the tips do wear but not excessively, at least in my usage. I talked with a thruhiker last summer who had bought some serious third party tips that he felt would survive a thruhike.

 

[Rob S]

Jack,
Thanks for the info. I'll be buying some extra 3rd party tips and experimenting.
Thanks again.
Rob

 

[sli74]

The rubber tips I use have stayed on for the lst 3 years. I haven't had any noticible wear and they haven't fallen of yet (knock on wood) . . . They cut down on the noise tremendously and the poles really save my knees so I keep using them I've got the antishock thing, I am used to it more than anything and so I am not entirely certain if I prefer them because the antishock really helps or if it is just habit now . . .

sli74

 

[CatskillsYeti]

i12climbup - those discarded tips you find may be - just may be - the protectors that are on the ends of the poles when they're hanging in the store racks. The ones on my recently returned EMS poles were black semi-rigid plastic. I think there's a message on the packaging somewhere instructing the user to remove them, but...some folks might have kept them on until they fell off.

I'm getting a pair of tips for my new poles to see how they hold up, but from what I've seen on this string, they should stay on for a while.

As for anti-shock, I wasn't all that impressed with the function on the EMS poles - although the poles were ok otherwise. The antishock seems a little more robust on the Lekis, but I haven't put them to a real test yet.

Pete

 

[Jack Waldron]

One more tip on rubber tips

The thruhiker also told his "fix" to prevent tips from popping off. He said the before putting the rubber tip on, he cleaned the pole and then sprayed the pole with hair spray. He claimed that the hair spray provided a good bonding between the pole and tip but that with a few good twists the tip could still be removed for winter hiking.

 

[ajtiv]

Leki Makulas Air ergo

These are great
I use the rubber tip cover and the small baskets in summer they are quiet when used this way. I hike in the catskills and have planted these poles in between rocks, roots etc, and never a bend or break.
My knees are getting old and the poles help on the down hills and on the uphills I use them with my upper body to help pull me up the real steep sections.
Very comfortable and strong they make my hikes more pleasant.
Al