[pct-l] Hiking sticks.

[Diane Soini of Santa Barbara Hikes]

I have a friend who had some trekking poles with the holes and puh-in/ 
pop-out thingies. They lasted forever, probably 10 years of 1 or 2  
hikes a week plus occasional backpack trips. I think one of them  
finally broke but it wasn't the locking mechanism that broke.

I have poles that are fixed. I hated readjusting them all the time  
and about the height for my tent is a good enough height for walking  
so I ordered them to fit my tent. The only drawback is I can't carry  
them on my Vespa so I have to keep my older poles around for days I  
drive my Vespa to the trail.

I've never found the twist lock kind to be dangerous. What is  
dangerous is not having the strength and flexibility to recover from  
a slip. You should not need to rely on your poles. They should merely  
assist.

On Mar 5, 2013, at 10:00 AM, pct-l-request at backcountry.net wrote:

> From: "Brian Lewis" <brianle8 at gmail.com>
> Subject: Re: [pct-l] [John Muir Trail] Hiking sticks.
>
> "After running our own tests of twist-lock poles vs. cam-lock poles  
> on our
> video-instruction tour of the southern JMT in early May, June, and  
> July of
> 2010, we were thoroughly disgusted with twist-locks and raved about  
> the
> cam-locks. "
>
> Ned, I always wonder if you're using the royal "we" ...   :-)
>
> "So, buy poles that will stay put and not collapse just when you  
> need them
> the most! Cam-locks are the best!"
>
> I did fine with my twist-locks on the PCT, but then the same poles  
> began to
> slip in a way that I couldn't seem to field repair along the AT.   
> And then I
> slipped on ice and snapped one of the (carbon fiber) suckers, but  
> that's
> another issue.
>
> So I generally agree that a flicklock is a better option all things  
> being
> equal.
>
> Note, however, that there's now a third option --- MSR trekking  
> poles use
> what they call a "surelock" system with little holes at fixed  
> intervals on
> the outer and a push-in pop-out locking unit the holds the pole in  
> place.
> My wife has a pair of these, and I like them --- pretty light and  
> very easy
> to get to exactly the same length each time, albeit within the  
> limits of
> where the pre-existing holes are.  Here's an image of this simple  
> locking
> mechanism:
> http://static.shop033.com/resources/5F/6495/Image/ 
> poles_surelockInfo.jpg
>
> What I don't know about these is how durable they are.  A good set of
> trekking poles should IMO last at least a couple of thru-hikes,  
> apart from
> replacing pole tips.   If anyone does a thru-hike with either of  
> the MSR
> options available, please post your results afterwards.
>
>
>       Brian Lewis / 'Gadget'