Rubber tips or tip protectors?

[ETtrailrunner]

Hey guys;
I just got home from a trip to Baxter Park, where I did some light hiking (didn't go for the summit this time). I enjoyed my hikes, but while trekking through some wet spots, my Black Diamond Flick-Lock poles would get stuck in the mud. I didn't have any of the rubber tips or tip protectors; I tried to buy some at the Katahdin General Store in Millinocket, but being the end of the season, they had run out.
So I'm looking on Amazon, trying to decide whether to buy just the replacement rubber tips or tip protectors that fit over the carbide tips already attached.
My thinking is that the rubber protectors would do a better job of preventing the pole from getting stuck, and also help to protect the environment.
Being that there are so many choices on Amazon, I'd like to know which ones are best for my BD poles. The diameter of the lower part of the shaft is 11mm, which seems to be pretty much standard, but I'm afraid that if I buy the 'wrong' ones, they'll slip off the poles.

Thanks for your help
Ethan

[LazyLightning]

Some people claim that using poles without tips is bad but I don't buy it. Especially in the mud where your poles will still sink and leave even bigger holes then without any protector tips. They might help keep scratches off rocks. I just don't use them or am very particular where I use them if I feel like it's doing any damage. Also if your tips aren't on very well they are likely to slip off and get lost in the mud. If I only had a dollar for every rubber trekking pole tip I've picked up and packed out...

[ETtrailrunner]

Hmmm...
I've lost rubber protectors as well; one is still lying somewhere near Lemon Squeezer on the A.T. in Harriman Park. While on a hike through the park, I lost it, and actually went back to see if I could find it; no luck.
I like the rubber protectors, but they don't provide such good stability on wet rock - then again, the carbide tips are much worse!
So I guess I'll just buy a bunch of the rubber protectors (get at least 2 brands), and see how well they fit. If they don't fit snugly enough, maybe I can figure out a way to keep them on. Maybe a hose clamp ?

[Daybreak]

This may help.

https://whiteblaze.net/forum/showthr...-pole-tip-ends

I never had many significant problems with poles getting stuck in the mud including many miles in New England through Quebec. I tend to hop over it where I can. I use sturdy poles, carbide tips and no baskets (in the summer). My pole ends/carbide tips did quickly push through the rubber protectors from hard surfaces. I never tried gluing them. Do you have baskets on your poles? If you don't get them stuck, standard baskets or larger snow baskets may be a better choice. On my poles, they screw on and off

[HooKooDooKu]

I used rubber tips on a thru hike of the JMT, and the problem is that they do NOT lock on. They simply hold on with friction. That means every time I put the poles in a mud hole or snow, the rubber tips would come off. Since then, I just use carbide tips. I would only use rubber tips if ALL my hiking was are firm ground.

[Traveler]

Trekking pole rubber tips have been an issue for a long time. Though over time I have found purchasing tips from the manufacturer of the poles typically work best as they are sized for the specific diameter of their pole tips. I have tried "will-fit" tips over time that seem to come loose in the car and found over time replacement tips from the manufacturer of the poles grab the pole best, though they are a dollar or two more expensive. I have a pair of carbon-fibre poles that I purchased replacement tips when I got them. After 4-years I had no issues with them, but lost one last week in a root tangle at the bottom of a trail mud pit. The replacement fits as well as the original did.

Conversely, my hiking buddy couldn't seem to keep tips on his poles more than a few minutes until we measured them and found his discount poles were an odd diameter that were slightly too small for Will-FIt tips, allowing them to slide off after just a few snags. We solved that problem by drilling a small hole through the upper end of the rubber tip and through the pole, using a bit of aircraft safety wire to secure the tips on. To this day they have not moved until the metal tip is needed for ice conditions then quickly replaced, an easy fix to a stubborn problem.

As an aside, pole tip protectors and rubber tips are two different things. Tip protectors are designed for light use in a pack or other luggage to prevent damage by an exposed pole tip. These are usually hard plastic, un tapered, have little lateral adhesion to the pole end and come with the poles to cover their ends. Rubber tips are typically tapered and are more robust than tip protectors. Good rubber tips will require a bit of firm mounting pressure, unlike protectors that slide on/off easily.

Also, most scratches on trail rocks are typically from the use of micro-spikes and/or heavier trail crampons during the winter months when ice is a real threat. Trekking pole scratches are not as deep as traction footgear and tend to repair (blend in) to a given rock in about a year or so.

[Daybreak]

My pole ends/carbide tips did quickly push through the rubber protectors from hard surfaces.

Revision: rubber feet may be more appropriate Since my poles are 1999 Lekis, the rubber tip has been modified so it does not slide up too far. Mine were more like a cane foot and perhaps they were not brand name. I may still have the cheap "tip protectors" which I think of as end caps which are crap.

There seems to be an in-between category of slide on rubber tips that are more than an end cap and sold on the secondary market as tip protectors for walking and hiking when a carbide tip is not desired. However the comments are consistent that they fall off.

BTW Black diamond makes screw on rubber tip replacements in addition to slide on rubber tip replacements. I thought these might be better idea but REI reviews indicate they are pencil sized and wear very fast. No new poles for me.

[Alligator]

1. Aim for the rocks instead of the mud.
2. Don't plant the pole in the mud.
3. You could use bigger baskets but snow baskets that have spaces in the baskets tend to catch on vegetation.

The ones that look like rubber feet I've never used. They seem to have more surface area but are described for us on pavement. Most of the other rubber tips aren't particularly larger as far as surface area. I take a hiking stick occasionally with a cane tip and that still sinks. The basket is what usually stops the penetration in mud.

[wornoutboots]

They don't lock on because they are for using the poles indoors like Mall Walking or putting on for when storing or traveling so they do not destroy things. Trekking poles are made to be used without the rubber tips. B U T......... hyoh...

[ETtrailrunner]

There were really only a few muddy spots where I felt that larger contact point (a.k.a; tip protectors) could have protected me better. I was hiking on what A.T. thru-hikers would probably (I don't know, I'm not a thru-hiker - yet) would refer to as the 'calm before the storm' just south of Abol Bridge where I ran into several 'wet spots'. Of course if you're a thru-hiker (in either direction) and you encountered these wet spots I am referring to, you would laugh and hold your poles up out of the mess entirely.
That was the case in one spot where I needed to 'walk the plank' somewhere between Abol Bridge and.... the 100 mile wilderness. I was only on a day hike; but I met several thru-hikers during my treks in and around Baxter Park ME.