Durston Poles - feedback

[Bobrobheimer]

I just got off of a PCT thruhike and I would not rely on these poles for anything outside of day hikes. I don't know that I met a single hiker who started the trail with these and finished with the same set. Plenty of folks had tips or sections break and had to have replacements sent out, or just gave up on them and got new poles. I even saw someone who had their pole bend just supporting their tent in high wind. The PCT isn't an especially bad trail for poles either - hikers generally aren't carrying more than like 30lb, and you typically aren't dealing with very much snow, talus, or blowdowns where you're likely to torque a pole or tip.

My thoughts are that if they can't handle normal backpacking on a relatively well-groomed trail how can you expect them to handle packing out an animal through bush?

FWIW, Durston's customer service was good to most folks, especially if they pulled the "I'm on the trail and my poles broke, I *need* poles to pitch my tent" card.

Good to know. I’m going to write them off as an option for light weight hunting poles.