Trekking Poles vs. Ski Poles

[cbcbd]

Leki baskets rotate freely, preventing this problem. Twist-locks would also tighten on one side and loosen on the other.

IIRC, the Komperdel baskets are not free to roatate.

Doug

Yep, the baskets are locked. I wonder if that's the main cause. I'll have to take them off and try it out.

 

[Lawn Sale]

I don't understand the numerous problems people have with telescoping twist-locking trekking poles. I used to have aluminum Lekis and now I have carbon fiber Komperdells. Both have 3 sections, twist lock, and anti-shock.
I always beat up on my poles, put a lot of weight on them, and occasionally use them for vaulting over dips. I can count on one hand the number of times a section has come loose.

I have some shockable Leki's, and non-shock Komperdell's in the aluminum and carbon fiber variety (which I absolutely love!), and have never had a problem with any of them. I have even repaired many of my poles, to include the twist mechanism (all 3 section poles), and none of them slip. Is there something I'm missing? I have also bent all of my poles to the N'th degree and none of them have broken or even become useless. I did manage to bend the bottom of an aluminum one, but I was able to bend it back so you can't tell. Since then I've modified my hiking style so I lift my hands more in certain situations to compensate.

 

[dug]

Well, the one time I did break the pole was at the end of a horrific crash. I was lucky that was the only thing I broke......

 

[julianne]

A humble request from a trail maintainer

Hi folks,

I saw this thread on poles and thought I would chime in with a concern I have - in the last five years or so since poles have gotten really popular I have noticed a small but increasing amount of damage to the sides of trails, that are being constantly poked and churned by hiking poles (in the non-frozen months). It's a tiny amount of damage that adds up over time. I think a lot of it could be prevented by using rubber tips, like crutch tips or something, in the summer - you would still get the needed knee support from the poles but they wouldn't aerate the sides of the trail so efficiently.

It's one of those things that seems insignificant on a personal level and yet is very noticeable if you are watching a trail over time.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.