Changed my mind about buying expensive trekking poles

I spent $150 on a pair of carbon fiber trekking poles before a trip to the Smokies last fall. Thought they'd save my knees and be worth the splurge. First rocky descent, one snapped clean in half when I leaned on it wrong. Should have stuck with the $40 aluminum ones I had before, those things took a beating for years. Anyone else had carbon poles fail on them like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

wendy_henderson216d ago

My buddy Dave had a pair of those carbon poles too, spent like $180 on them. We were hiking in New Hampshire and he went to brace himself on a wet log and the pole just snapped at the handle joint. I had my old $30 aluminum ones from a sporting goods store that I've used for like 10 years now, banged them on rocks and trees and they're still going strong. Definitely made me feel better about being cheap and sticking with the metal ones.

lucast816d ago

And honestly the Costco ones are probably made in the same factory as the expensive ones, just with thicker aluminum and no branding. I bet half the durability difference is just having more metal there.

williamw756d ago

You said "snapped at the handle joint" but that's actually a pretty common failure point on cheap poles regardless of material. I've seen aluminum poles break right there too when the ferrule or the locking mechanism gives out. Carbon fiber does tend to fail more dramatically when it goes though, and it's usually from side loading not straight down pressure. The real issue is those expensive poles often have thinner walls to save weight, so they trade durability for ounces. My buddy snapped a pair of Black Diamonds on the JMT and now he just uses the cheapo aluminum ones from Costco.