I bought a pair for my son couple years ago and as far as I'm concerned, that's one of the best deals around. I have other sets of carbon fiber trekking poles that are a lot more expensive but, they are by no means a lot better, IMO. They are a little lighter than my Black Diamond's and a little heavier than my Locus Gear, and probably fall somewhere in between in regards to durability. With the availability of these, I see no need for trekking poles that break the bank. Take that $100+ you save on your poles and put it towards better optics. On a sidenote, I was scrolling through craigslist yesterday and saw trekking poles FS and in the ad stated "for the physically challenged person". I got a good chuckle out of that. I never really considered myself physically challenged, but I am getting older.