Foldable poles with shock absorption sought

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Foldable poles with shock absorption sought

Postby speed_pit » Tue 25 Dec, 2018 2:02 pm

Hi everyone,

I am looking for foldable poles that fold to no longer that 40 cm which also have a shock absorption system. The reason I want foldable poles is so I can fold them and pack the away in a backpack or better still in side pockets of a backpack without breaking stride. Alternatively I back put them in a belt mounted holders like these ones: https://www.amazon.com/High-Stream-Gear ... poles+belt

The reason I need shock absorption is because I went on a hike a week ago, which featured a long modest gradient descent and my knees have been hurting ever since.

So far I found one model that fits my requirements -- https://www.leki.com/us/trekking/poles/ ... arbon-dss/

However a review I found says that the DSS shock absorption system in Leki poles is inferior to Black Diamond shock absorption: https://www.outdoorgearlab.com/reviews/ ... -pro-shock

It mentions that the Leki shock absorption "bottoms out" too early. I'm wondering what "bottoming out" means. I would appreciate any opinions on what is the best shock absorption system and how poles can be carried in a way that makes it easy to take them out and put them away without stopping.

I would also appreciate if someone knows how to insert hyperlinks on this forum. I tried two different HTML formats, i.e.
<a href="url">link text</a> and [url="url]link text[/url] but neither worked.

Thanks!
Last edited by speed_pit on Wed 26 Dec, 2018 8:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Foldable poles with shock absorption sought

Postby ribuck » Tue 25 Dec, 2018 6:28 pm

speed_pit wrote:The reason I need shock absorption is because I went on a hike a week ago, which featured a long modest gradient descent and my knees have been hurting ever since.


Hi speed_pit, Shock absorbing poles can help if your elbows hurt (due to repeatedly plonking the poles down hard onto hard surfaces) but won't do anything to help with your knees.

speed_pit wrote:I'm wondering what "bottoming out" means.


The shock absorption is provided by a spring. When this spring reaches maximum compression, it can't provide any further shock absorption until you lift the pole again and the spring can uncompress. At maximum compression, we say the spring has "bottomed out".

On the Leki web page, you can see a photo of bottoming out. Next to the "DSS" headline, there are photos of two pole tips. The one on the right has the spring fully compressed and has bottomed out.

As for the hyperlinks, just paste them into your post without any tags. If you're having trouble, put them on a line by themselves. The link that's not working in your post is because it's smashed up against your text without an intervening space (after the word "requirements").

Personally, I don't feel the need for shock absorbing poles, although at times I have used them. I don't think I place them forcefully, and I don't have any problems.
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Re: Foldable poles with shock absorption sought

Postby ChrisJHC » Wed 26 Dec, 2018 8:14 am

I have Leki poles with shock absorbers and don’t think there is any real advantage in having the shock absorbers.

Mine are the sliding type rather than folding but it only takes a few seconds to collapse them and put them into the loops on my Osprey pack. A little longer to pull them out and prepare them for use as you have to be precise with setting the length - I would guess about 30 seconds (while still walking, of course) and you’re good to go.

One thing to note is that they are noisy when you’re on rocky ground as the tip has to be moveable and hence it rattles around a little.

I also feel that I’m slightly faster on flat ground without the poles, however they are definitely worth it for steeper uphills and essential for steep downhills.


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Re: Foldable poles with shock absorption sought

Postby neilmny » Wed 26 Dec, 2018 8:41 am

I always use shock absorbing poles and at one stage my RH pole had a shock absorber failure. I persevered with the broken pole for a while but really noticed the impact through my forearm and shoulder. Since getting a new set of poles all is well again. The shock absorbers don't look like they do much but they do reduce the impact of repetition. I don't think that the shock absorbers don't do anything to help my knees.
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Re: Foldable poles with shock absorption sought

Postby Gusto » Thu 27 Dec, 2018 9:55 pm

I don't think much of shock absorbers. But as Neil mentions, some do like them.

But the shock absorbers aren't for your knees.

Helinox have several folding poles that are shorter than 40cm https://www.helinox.com.au/walking-pole ... king-poles

As do Black Diamond https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en/trekking-poles

but neither has shock absorbtion and folding capacity.

What's your interest in shock absorbers?

I think Lecki have about 4 models that suite your interests https://www.leki.com/us/trekking/poles/ ... 7C54%7C722
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Re: Foldable poles with shock absorption sought

Postby speed_pit » Fri 28 Dec, 2018 8:29 pm

Thank you everybody for their replies.

This was only my second ever hike and it seems from the replies that the assumption I made that shock absorbing poles will lessen the impact of the knees was wrong.

I used a fallen tree branch as a staff, alternating between left and right arm, and my elbows hurt after the hike too, so I guess that's where the shock absorption poles would come in handy.

@ChirsJHC: I'm also eying the Osprey pack-sliding pole combination, but I thought the the poles, when folded and attached to the pack would be hitting/rubbing against your arm. I might go into a store and try out that combination.

One of the reasons I am interested in foldable poles is that I bought a very cheap ($25) set of poles for my first ever hike just to see what they bring to a hike and they were a nightmare to collapse and extend and actually completely broke down after the hike, so I couldn't even bring them to my second hike. Since then I tried a Fizan telescopic pole at Kathmandu and now I realise that a proper, more expensive, set of poles are a breeze to collapse and extend.
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Re: Foldable poles with shock absorption sought

Postby Gusto » Sun 30 Dec, 2018 5:17 pm

These aren't the absolute best poles in the world, but I reckon they are pretty good.
https://www.helinox.com.au/walking-poles/causeway-walking-poles
I prefer the DL145 with two lever locks and no suspension.

But by the sounds of it. you may be better suited to the GL145SA with the Shock Absorber
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Re: Foldable poles with shock absorption sought

Postby ChrisJHC » Tue 01 Jan, 2019 2:50 pm

speed_pit wrote:I'm also eying the Osprey pack-sliding pole combination, but I thought the the poles, when folded and attached to the pack would be hitting/rubbing against your arm. I might go into a store and try out that combination.


I don’t find it an issue.
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Re: Foldable poles with shock absorption sought

Postby speed_pit » Wed 02 Jan, 2019 10:44 am

Seems like I need to start another topic on how to reduce impact to the knees. I would imagine that the only way you could do that is with shoes that have good shock absorption built into them.

Please check out this topic I started: viewtopic.php?f=15&t=29038
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