Durable trekking pole

[OutdoorsMD]

Looking for a recommendation for a durable trekking pole. I am less concerned about weight or cost and I am thinking of going the aluminum route. I broke both of my leki micro vario carbon poles during my sheep hunt in August. I realize it was partially my fault getting them wedged in some bad spots but in bouldery terrain is often unavoidable.

 

[Ram94]

I’ve had the same set of Black Diamond Trail aluminum poles for 9 sheep hunts now and they haven’t skipped a beat. I’ve had them get wedged in tight spots like you’re talking but they’ve always come out unscathed. The lock mechanisms have never slipped on me and I’m a big guy, at times putting full weight on the poles.

 

[6.5x284]

Black Diamond Alpine Cork are phenomenal.

 

[CCooper]

The S&S trekking poles will be my next set if they ever come back in stock. One of my flip-locks took a crap on my Black Diamond carbo cork's this year. I want to try the twist locks.

 

[mtnwrunner]

Black Diamond Alpine Cork are phenomenal.

This ^^^^^^^^^. I've put them through some gnarly terrain the last few years....and they stand up. I've had others and broke them all.

Randy

 

[Mackey]

Looking for a recommendation for a durable trekking pole. I am less concerned about weight or cost and I am thinking of going the aluminum route. I broke both of my leki micro vario carbon poles during my sheep hunt in August. I realize it was partially my fault getting them wedged in some bad spots but in bouldery terrain is often unavoidable.

I broke one of my Leki micro vario carbons (my bad) and Leki sold me a new pair for cheap. I now carry the survivor of the pair I broke as a spare. These poles have served me very well and I highly recommend them.

Mackey

 

[RadDad]

I’ve had the same set of Black Diamond Trail aluminum poles for 9 sheep hunts now and they haven’t skipped a beat. I’ve had them get wedged in tight spots like you’re talking but they’ve always come out unscathed. The lock mechanisms have never slipped on me and I’m a big guy, at times putting full weight on the poles.

I’ve put mine through the wringer with zero issues. Highly recommend these poles!

- RadDad

 

[Cascade340]

Costco’s trekking poles have been awesome for me! I have a couple aluminum sets and one carbon fiber set. Haven’t broke any of them. They have lasted quite a few hunts in rough terrain.

 

[adventure907]

Go on eBay and do a search for an antique wooden ice axe of suitable length too also use as a walking stick. Buy said ice axe and hunt the mountains happily ever after.

 

[Decker9]

Another BD carbon cork here, im quite impressed.

I broke two sets of the BD flz poles, I’d steer very clear of them. “Not meant for serious users” according to BD CS.

 

[JBrown1]

I have a pair of Black Diamond Trail Ergo pokes. They are aluminum with cork handles, and hell for stout.

They have been fallen on and wedged between boulders in ways that I thought would destroy them, yet they remain in perfect working condition.

 

[Azhun]

I’ve heard good things from black diamond.

 

[ljalberta]

I have the black diamond carbon corks and a number of the Costco sets. Costco ones are great value, but I’ve broke a few sets now. Carbon corks are better. But if durability is the main concerns, go aluminum not carbon. It can bend and be bent back in a pinch. Once carbon snaps, there’s not much fixing it.

 

[Buxman]

Never had issues with Black Diamond.

 

[StopMakingSense]

BD Alpine Carbon Cork fan here. I’ve broken a lot of poles but these trucked through 5 weeks of mountain hunting this year.

Remove the foam and use some handlebar tape to allow for more contact points.

 

[LoveOverAll]

I am also a fan of Costco’s Cascade Mountain Tech CF poles. So much so that I usually use my Costco annual dividend (from all my gasoline purchases) to pick up yet another pair of the poles, if they had come out with another color. The weak link for these poles seems to be the plastic screws that you tighten with your fingers to secure the pole sections. Somebody here on BPL alerted me to this potential weakness (Dan Durston?), so I picked up some metal wing nuts at my hardware store to replace them if they fail (break). At this low Costco price of around $40, it’s hard to go wrong. But for my local open space wanderings, I keep a pair of Fizan poles in my truck, which I like a lot.

 

[Freeride]

I have a set of Black Diamond z carbons. (they have changed them up slightly now) but my pair has lasted 5 years now in the rock and shale. The metal tips are worn and round, I just recently super glued an insert back in this year, but they have hundreds of hard miles on them.

I slipped with a loaded pack and the one pole was bent like a recurve bow, saved my butt and it never cracked or broke, and its still dead straight.

 

[mtwarden]

Another BD carbon cork here, im quite impressed.

I broke two sets of the BD flz poles, I’d steer very clear of them. “Not meant for serious users” according to BD CS.

I also broke two pairs of FLZ poles, both pairs fortunately within warranty- both broke in the same place, clearly a weak point. The third pair were Alpine Carbon Corks and after a lot of tough use, I'm convinced these are the poles to use

 

[AKMoose]

Another BD alpine carbon cork guy here. Two bear hunts, two sheep hunts, caribou hunt, and more. Think they still have many years on them!

Seen two other hunting buddies had other brands fail on them during these hunts. Costco are okay. SS are good only if your light, I used them on one hike and with constant tightening I kept having them slip when I went full load.

 

[jhm2023]

I'm a fan of the BD trail pro shocks I've been using the past couple of seasons. Plus Black Diamond's customer service is excellent if you ever need to deal with them.