[pct-l] pole maintance

[CHUCK CHELIN]

Good evening, all,


I have a different view of pole section locks based upon the aggravation of
twice having lower pole sections buckle badly, then break when I attempted
to straighten them.


Over the years I’ve often had twist-locks slip a bit when I have to lean on
them heavily over rough ground.  The slippage was usually only an inch or
two, and rarely as much as 6-8 inches.  It was no big deal; I just quickly
readjusted and continued on the trail.  There was never a structural
failure.



A couple of years ago I bought a pair whose manufacturer claimed for them an
enhanced twist-lock mechanism to resist any such slipping – and resist
slipping they certainly did.  I leaned heavily on one pole on Fuller Ridge
and indeed it did not slip – instead the lower section buckled to a 45
degree angle.  The same thing happened again north of Tehachapi Pass, but
this time it was complete breakage.



I view the locks as a stress limiter; a safety valve, if you will.  I would
much sooner readjust occasionally – seldom more often than once a week –
than have the lower section suffer a catastrophic column failure
necessitating replacement of the section or possible the entire pole, or
pair of poles.

Steel-Eye

Hiking the Pct since before it was the PCT – 1965

http://www.trailjournals.com/steel-eye
http://www.trailjournals.com/SteelEye09

On Thu, Oct 28, 2010 at 6:56 PM, greg mushial <gmushial at gmdr.com> wrote:

> > Message: 7
> > Date: Thu, 28 Oct 2010 18:10:22 -0700
> > From: <ned at mountaineducation.org>
> > Subject: Re: [pct-l] pole maintance
> > To: "Amanda L Silvestri" <aslive at sbcglobal.net>
> > Cc: PCT MailingList <pct-l at backcountry.net>
> > Message-ID: <BC790FDBB2974E49AE87BF6564D654BA at PacificCrestPC>
> > Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed; charset="utf-8";
> > reply-type=original
> >
> > The twist-lock poles we product-tested this spring failed miserably,
> where
> > the cam-locks held every time we fell against them in time of need! You
> > should have seen the inventive ways other hikers used to keep their
> > twist-locks from compressing--even denting them because the duct tape
> > slipped.
> >
>
> This was the only way I found to keep the twist-locked poles from
> collapsing - which they always did at the most inopportune time
>
> http://www.harborfreight.com/150-piece-hitch-clip-assortment-96243.html
>
> either a small hole through both poles, pinning the together, or a small
> hole through the lower half, with hitch pin as a stop, keeping the upper
> portion from descending past it. Both were suboptimal, but "worked" -
> pinning them together was somewhat stronger. (a scribed line aroiund the
> bottom half at the bottom of the top half helped in reinserting the pins if
> one had to collapse the poles for shipping - this is assuming pinning the
> two halves together; with pins in the lower half as a stop this wasn't
> necessary.)
> TheDuck
>
> >
> >
> > "Just remember, Be Careful out there!"
> >
> > Ned Tibbits, Director
> > Mountain Education
> > 1106A Ski Run Blvd
> > South Lake Tahoe, Ca. 96150
> >    P: 888-996-8333
> >    F: 530-541-1456
> >    C: 530-721-1551
>
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