I'm going on a New Foundland caribou and moose hunt in October on a bum ankle and looking for a good pair of trekking poles. I used an aluminum pair from Walmart last year and when I put all my weight on one pole in the process of falling, the pole collapsed and I did a slow fall to the ground. Maybe poles aren't supposed to hold all of my weight which is 225 lbs. Thanks in advance.

Leki (micro vario carbons) have served me well for 8+ years now. Still using my original poles regularly though I did introduce a new pair last year solely for extended backcountry hunts, just in case. They have supported up to 350lbs (myself/pack) without failure.

I highly recommend adding the Wiser precisions quick-stiX to any pair of poles you end up with.

I’ve gotten excellent service from the BD Alpine Carbon. They’re gone through some stuff that I thought for sure should have broken them, and they can (and have) support all my weight with loaded pack many times. Great poles.

If I were you I’d be looking at Leki or BD.

I bought a set at Costco, used them all around Colorado, MT and WY, cheap, light weight and durable. I think they were something like $29. I'm 6'4", 225 lbs, I was not easy on them.

I’ve gotten excellent service from the BD Alpine Carbon. They’re gone through some stuff that I thought for sure should have broken them, and they can (and have) support all my weight with loaded pack many times. Great poles.

If I were you I’d be looking at Leki or BD.


yup.

The costco ones (cascade mountain tech) are great for the price. As long as you don't scratch the carbon, they are quite sturdy. Loose, large rocks are what break them. Likely you won't be in those conditions in a caribou/moose hunt.

I think the Black Diamond poles are the best out there. Have had excellent service from each pair of mine - all of them have been AL, but have buddies that run the carbons and like them. My Leki experience was not good, but I'm an outlier there.

Whatever you get, realize that the locks are likely adjustable, and you will want to adjust and test them with your full weight before you go anywhere.

Be sure to bring suitable tool for locks on long treks.

Joe--what tool are you talking about?

Either a Phillips or blade screwdriver.

I have two sets of Leki’s The first set I bought are aluminum then I figured I would try the lighter weights. I use both but I prefer the heavier aluminum set. They fit my hands better and its probably only in my head but I am more confident in them. Im no little fellar and clumsy as heck.

Thanks guys, I'm still deciding, a lot of good suggestions. Do you guys prefer cork or rubber handles? I'm leaning rubber which leaves some suggestions out. I had a couple of cork handle fishing rods get beat up in travels.

My wife has BD Carbon poles, but really dislikes the cork handles so I got her cushy foam handles, which she prefers. When I use my BD Carbon poles, the cork doesn't bother me. You'll likely have to sort that for yourself.

We've owned a lot of Komperdell poles over the last decade. Austrian made, and excellent. I got her something similar to these (if you're an REI member you can get another 20% off these right now):

https://www.rei.com/rei-garage/prod...nture-powerlock-foam-trekking-poles-pair

The cork on my poles has held up well to a bunch of use/wear and tear. I wouldn’t worry too much about that. But cork vs. foam is a preference thing. I’ve owned both, and prefer cork. It seems to wick away sweat and provide good, firm traction.

The only issue I have seen with cork was on the cascade mountain tech poles, and that was only one set out of probably 10. Cork vs foam makes no difference to me, they both work fine.

Eta: I had a couple sets of komperdell poles back in the twist lock days. No interest in going back to twist locks, but I had no complaints about the quality of the poles.

As to the adjustment, all of mine adjust easily without tools.

Komperdell's no longer have twist locks.

Leki lightweights here. After many years I had a partial sporadic failure with one. CS asked for a few pics and promptly mailed the correct replacement part free of charge.

Black Diamond Carbon Cork - 25% off:

https://www.rei.com/product/147512/black-diamond-alpine-carbon-cork-trekking-poles-pair

I just threw my set of leki cork lites up on the classifieds. Might work for you

I'm assuming they would be the same price at all the Costco's, but the other day the Cascade brand was on sale for $15. Nice poles at $30, for $15 you can't go wrong.

Another vote for BD Alpine Carbon. That being said, I haven't tried others. I stopped with these bc they worked well and saw no need to look further.

I've tried several different poles over the last few years. Most of my hunting is steep and slick ground going up/down mountains. Lots of rocks and wet ground covered with leaves. I put a lot of weight on them, especially when going downhill. Several of the poles either bent or the latches broke. The following have been the best for me. They are strong and light, I've not broken one of them yet. I prefer the feel compared to all the others I've used. ....the downside....they aren't adjustable. In use, they seem stronger to me than any others I've used. Not sure if they have the size you need but the price is right on these:

https://www.backcountry.com/ultimate-direction-fk-carbon-trekking-pole

I've been very happy with my Leki and BD poles. And BD's CS is exemplary, in my experience. Some of the best. But they went all in on BLM and will not get any more of my money.

Costco internet price id $53, are you guys getting them cheaper?

Leki, Cascade and a West Mountain maple staff here. I use only a single pole in my dominant hand.

TAG

They were $15 even the other day for the Cascade brand in the store. They also had the same Cascade stix that some attachment where you could use them as a selfie stick, but those were $39.

$33 in the store here. I bought another pair just to have backups.

$37?!

Guess I should get a set of these too. Ultimate Direction sounds like a boy band, but those look like good poles.

This is an interesting thread. In the past, if I needed a walking support I just found a suitable stick as needed. And threw it on the ground when I was done. I never carried a fancy trekking pole or staff, but that was in forests where you can find numerous makeshift walking sticks all around you.

Now that I know better, and hunt where there might not be sticks handy, I have been interested in trekking poles. Awhile back I started to follow Skurka and Adventure Alan, and both recommend the Costco poles. Actually, I think Skurka recommends the Black Diamond at the high end or Costco at the other extreme, and to skip everything in between. I thought that was intersting.

I now have poles with twist locks and others with lever locks. And I bought two tents that use trekking poles for setup. I actually like the lever locks better.

4th,
There's no comparison....every set of twist locks I have owned failed when fully loaded, and every set of levers I've owned (when adjusted correctly) has held.

This is another case where I'm happy to pack the weight because it pays back many fold in climbing efficiency, stability, and then 10x while descending without killing your knees.

lol @ the boy band. Same "band" had a pair of collapsible, non-adjustable, poles:

https://shop.opticsplanet.com/ultim...iOm8tFWWyWC08p3PCS-4QIwPPyhoCBt8QAvD_BwE

I've used those a fair amount and they've worked well. At least they haven't broke. Mixing and matching one of the take down and one of the fixed is something I did a little of last year. Rough places or moving quickly I used both poles. When still hunting. moving slow, and/or on easy ground I liked being able to take one down and attach it to the pack, while using the single fixed pole alone. Using one while still hunting allows me to set my foot down quieter on sticks and dry leaves and just move slower. I didn't do the mix/match enough to have a true opinion on it other than it was nice to do. It's hard to beat the "feel" of the one-piece as they're really strong, light, with a lot of feedback on the ground/terrain...maybe I'm just getting in touch with my inner female teenager?

Lol. Something tells me that ain't it.

I ordered a set of the fixed nsync's.

For the longest time, I used an old set of ski poles that I had purchased at a Yard sale. Unfortunately, I seemed to have lost them in the last major move I had......

I'm also a happy alpine carbon cork camper.

I can also offer up some advice on not what to get- any of their (Black Diamond) adjustable z- poles. The concept is great, but there is a design flaw somewhere. I broke a pole during the Bob Marshall Open on a stream ford- it's possible any pole would have broken- not sure. Anyways BD graciously sent me a new pair (for some reason they don't have singles????). Six month later during a snowshoe trip my buddy said one of your poles in bent- yup sure enough it was- right at the same spot the other broke. Called BD and that said hmmm- we'll replace it. This time I went with a heavier aluminum pole (but same adjustable z pole design). A year later on a trip I broke one of those- same exact spot. I told them this was the third pair and they all broke in the same spot, so they suggested I go with the alpine carbon corks and so far, so good with these. They've been through some hellacious talus too where I would occasionally jam one between two rocks and put more pressure on the pole than I wanted, but they've held.

Interestingly I have one of the original pairs of carbon z-poles- fixed length though, that I used to use for running and they're still good to go, BUT they don't get subjected to the same abuse as traveling off trail through rock. So unsure if it's all z-poles, or just the adjustable length z ones?????

They break/bend at the push button lock hole right? Same for the lekis of the same design.

it's not actually a button hole, but right where it locks nonetheless

Interesting! Haven't seen that failure.

Jcm, the backstreet boys showed up and they are everything you said they would be. Crazy light, larger diameter, nice abrasion coating (we'll see how that holds up) and stiff as a prom night prick. i even like the no bs wrist straps, at least in theory, but if that velcro fails they might have to get reworked. Anyway, thanks for the heads up and I look forward to trying them out.

You're very welcome. My favorite in use with nothing else close....but have to live with the not in use size tradeoff.

Anyone tried these? They're pole attached hardware that twist together for shooting stick action. A friend of a friend mentioned them. I grabbed a pair and a deeply discounted set of BD aluminum poles to try it out. Thought it might be of interest. YRMV

https://www.wiserprecision.com/products/quick-stix

Nashville recommended them in the second reply to this thread.

I also think Huntsman22, Don, is a fan. While I've always just interlocked wrist straps, I ordered a set out of curiosity.

Just FYI.

Optics Planet has BD Alpine Carbon Corks for 137.99 with free shipping.

https://www.opticsplanet.com/black-diamond-alpine-carbon-cork.html

Yep, same here. Got mine at the Goodwill.