trekking poles

[One Half]

I need a telescoping trekking pole as I am short 5'3" but also use my poles for my Solplex tent.

Suggestions?

[cmoulder]

Any trekking pole will work. Google 'cascade mountain tech' which is a good but inexpensive trekking pole. Walmart has some decent poles under Ozark Trails brand. There are dozens and dozens more Chinese brands on Amazon.

If you want something very light in weight, see Gossamer Gear LT5.

I make my own trekking poles that weigh 4.2oz each, but MYOG is a lot more than most are willing to commit.

[Traveler]

FWIW - There are many brands, off-brands, and private label trekking poles starting at around $25 or so to around $200 for higher end poles. Most of them will do the job, some more comfortably and more durably than others. Since you will be using poles for your tent, the equation changes and the caliber/quality of the poles becomes far more important. Though the sale bin at Walmart offering low cost equipment, some of it looking identical to the higher end lines of equipment, it may be a false economy to rely on pricing as the decision point since the poles will have two separate uses. For this I tend to gravitate toward retailers specializing in back packing and related outdoor activities. Having a single use pole fail is not necessarily catastrophic, losing tent supports in heavy rain or snow can be. Outfitters tend to have experienced people on the floor who can help sort out and find the best poles.

Having had a number of different trekking poles, I would suggest aluminum poles would be more stable and less prone to breaking when needed over carbon fiber if used for both walking aids and tent supports. Given the weight differential between aluminum and carbon fiber poles is really small at the mid-range price level and up, it may make more sense to use aluminum that is generally more robust and less apt to break as opposed to bending, which can be a manageable circumstance.

Good luck!

[Mockernut]

Walmart...they have both aluminum and carbon poles in most stores. The aluminum with cork handles is what I use and they are great. $20. The flip locks are a bit fussier in that you need to also hold and tighten the nut in the back when you first set the lock.

[cmoulder]

Walmart...they have both aluminum and carbon poles in most stores. The aluminum with cork handles is what I use and they are great. $20. The flip locks are a bit fussier in that you need to also hold and tighten the nut in the back when you first set the lock.

But I'd say that flick (flip or whatever) locks are still better than the internal twist cam locks. When we use trekking poles there is a slight rotation with each push, and over time this unscrews the nut on the cams and the pole adjustment changes... it gets shorter and shorter. With flick locks, once you adjust the screw it usually remains in the proper location for a good long time. Using blue LocTite on the threads helps in the unlikely event that the screws tend to loosen.

I should hasten to add.... NEVER use LocTite on twist cam poles!!!

[HooKooDooKu]

Black Diamond is a well trusted brand name that have good quality poles in a range of prices based on their features.
A 'standard' pair will run you something close to $100.
But prices can range from almost $200 for carbon-fiber poles with cork handles, to less than $50 if you can find a good sale.

Just stay way from their 'Z' poles.
1. They are a fixed height, so you can't set them to one height for hiking and a different height for your tent.
2. I've personally had issues with 'Z' poles, mainly along the lines of body salts (or something) getting in the poles and once dried causing the poles to stick together.

But I haven't had any major issues with their standard 'Trail' trekking poles I use or their 'Trail Back' trekking poles my son uses.

[Nanatuk]

I've used HighTrek aluminum poles and Cascade Mountain carbon fiber poles and have been very happy with both of them. I bought them thru Amazon

[ldsailor]

I've used HighTrek poles and they have performed well. Currently, I use "Trail Buddy" from Amazon. I've hiked parts of the north AT with them and through hiked the Colorado Trail and Arizona Trail with "Trail Buddy" poles. They performed beyond my expectations and would serve you well for an inexpensive aluminum pole.

I don't use carbon fiber poles. I tried once. I lost the tip off one pole a week into a hike and the second pole tip during the second week. They did not like rocks.

[Odd Man Out]

I really like Fizan Compact poles. I have never found the internal twist locks to be a problem. In contrast I like them much better than the bulky heavy external flick locks. The Fizan poles are the highest grade aluminum, but they weigh less than many carbon poles. Having previously used heavy full-featured poles, I so much appreciate the light weight of the Fizan. With this type of pole, both locks are tightened equally, simultaneously, with one twist. Easily cleaned and maintained and in the field with no tools. So easy to use. Not the cheapest, but much more affordable than the deluxe poles.

[Mikerfixit]

I've used the Walmart poles for several years now. I wanted to try them out to see if they helped. They are still going after five years. I check to see if they still stock them and have noticed that they now come with cork handles.

[cmoulder]

I've used the Walmart poles for several years now. I wanted to try them out to see if they helped. They are still going after five years. I check to see if they still stock them and have noticed that they now come with cork handles.

They even have carbons!

[One Half]

everyone recommending Walmart type poles - what do they weigh? This is the UL forum. I do have a pretty heavy pair of poles.

[cmoulder]

I read in a review somewhere that the Walmart aluminum poles weight about 21oz pair, which is definitely not UL. However, the "ultralight" word is used in many trekking pole descriptions with poles weighing 18oz per pair and up, and there's no real definition of what is and is not UL. For example, REI sells Komperdell CF poles described thusly that weigh about 18oz/pair.

The Fizan poles mentioned by Odd Man Out are about 11oz per pair, and Gossamer Gear LT5s are a bit over 10oz/pair. Locus Gear CP3 comes in at 10.6oz pair but they're very hard to find right now. I'd call those ultralight, so I guess my arbitrary, made-up "cutoff" would be somewhere in that range. Ruta Locura has some trekking poles that come in at about 8oz pair, but I got a chance to hike with them briefly and they're a bit too "noodly" for me. Some of the earlier GG models were in the 8oz range... unfortunately no longer made.

[cmoulder]

Zpacks poles weigh about 14oz/pair, maybe a little more robust than the 8-10oz options.

The uberlight poles are definitely more fragile. Many of the CF poles weigh just as much as their aluminum counterparts because they use more CF material, so there's not much weight advantage there.

You can go MYOG as well, but it's quite an undertaking to spec/source materials and work out construction methods.

[LittleRock]

Black Diamond is a well trusted brand name that have good quality poles in a range of prices based on their features.

+1 - my Black Diamond poles are one of only a few pieces of gear I haven't replaced in over 1,500 miles of section hiking the AT. They are adjustable, under 1 lb., and cost under $100 on sale at REI (back in 2011).

[HooKooDooKu]

+1 - my Black Diamond poles are one of only a few pieces of gear I haven't replaced in over 1,500 miles of section hiking the AT. They are adjustable, under 1 lb., and cost under $100 on sale at REI (back in 2011).

Today, I would argue the "standard" Black Diamond Trekking Poles are the "Black Diamond Trail Trekking Poles" with a retail price of $110. The men's version is just over 1lb, the women's just under.

I (and others likely) didn't notice this was the UL forum. If you need UL, Black Diamond Z series are lighter, but they are not adjustable. You buy them at fixed lengths (Weight v Flexibility).
I first purchased on Z poles with cork handles for a JMT Thru hike because my cane pole I used at the time was too expensive to take along on plane flights.
The Z poles worked great on the trail, loved them there. It wasn't until I started routinely using them at home that I ran into issues regarding storge.
The Z Poles are collapsible for storage by folding into a Z shape. But to allow the segments to separate, you first slide the top segment inside the handle to create slack that allows the sections to be pulled apart. When I stored mine that way over the winter, the pole slide inside the handle became stuck to the point that I damaged the poles trying to slide it back out. I tried a second set of Z poles because of their light weight, but again ran into issues.

[OhioHiker]

everyone recommending Walmart type poles - what do they weigh? This is the UL forum. I do have a pretty heavy pair of poles.

I just weighed my Cascade Carbon at 16.6oz for the pair with straps and baskets. Compared to my really old REI (made be Komperdel) aluminum poles at 24.7oz.

[Odd Man Out]

I just weighed my Cascade Carbon at 16.6oz for the pair with straps and baskets. Compared to my really old REI (made be Komperdel) aluminum poles at 24.7oz.

I just weighed my Aluminum Fizan Compact 3s and they came on at 12.3 oz per pair. Besides the GG LT5 CF poles, are there any other lighter fully adjustable poles?

[MtDoraDave]

Since I started hiking in 2014, I've had three sets of poles. I started with walmart aluminum twist loc poles because I didn't know if I would like using poles, so it seemed prudent to try cheap ones first. With heavy use climbing long ascents, they did loosen and have to be readjusted and re-tightened. The metal tips wore/ fell out of the first pair, so I bought another pair - which also failed in less than two hundred miles.
Next, I upgraded to the carbon Cascade Mountain Tech with flip locs. The weight difference between these and the cheap aluminum poles is substantial! They don't have the lifetime warranty that Leki (and others?) offers, but they sell reasonably priced replacement parts on their website. A year and a half ago, I slipped off a rock in a stream (it was a foggy night, I didn't even see the stream) and broke the lower section of one pole (this particular incident would have undoubtedly kinked and rendered unusable an aluminum pole). I was able to shorten the bottom section and extend the middle section and keep using it although it was still shorter than my normal setting. When I got home, I went on Cascade's website and ordered a new lower section for around $15 - $20. The foam grips are comfortable. The strap retention system is so-so; I have to readjust the length on one of the poles regularly.

[cmoulder]

When it comes to trekking pole recommendations, for me it always comes back to Cascade Mtn Tech... very good quality and reasonable weight, strong enough for most uses, crazy good price and always available at Costco, Amazon, etc.

When conditions permit, which is about 90% of the time, I use my MYOG poles, but when something more robust is called for I use the CMTs. And I have a set Leki Makalu Ti poles that are more than 30 years old — from back in the day when all pole sections were actually made of titanium — that are nearly indestructible. I've had many a tumble in winter 'steep and deep' that would've destroyed any other pole. I modified them by replacing the twist locks with Black Diamond flick locks and they're darn near perfect.

But it is great on long summer days to use the 'barely there' 4.2 oz poles.