by Biggles » Wed 20 Dec, 2023 1:23 pm
If poles that can take a decent beating are your thing, then expect to get heavier aluminium or composition (carbon-alloy or cabon-resin composite) poles than what many people use (myself, I use HELINOX Ridgeline 135s). I know from my own experience even seemingly rugged poles will bend, then maybe fracture or snap at the worst possible moment (twice this has happened); the poles in question were Leki Terrano. A pair of poles long before that (c. 2007) also fractured after a mishap en route Feathertop. If all else fails, a stick from an obliging tree is a pretty good sub, though blisters and splinters may be the penalty.
Trekking poles are expensive (some ridiculously so), and should be treated with care (and maintenance as required) — put to use for their intended purpose, as supports for walking tarp/fly supports etc, but not as makeshift seats placed between two rocks (sit on the rocks!) or used as assistst for flying jumps of a ledge.
My research prior to buying the Helinox poles was fairly extensive; among bushwalkers I occasionally walk with, only one was using them; another was using the ultralight fold-up style (which appeared very flimsy); but the majority I had seen are unknown or uncommon brands with probably equally unknown reliability — that reliability question is something that is answered in perhaps the least convenient circumstances.
An outdoor shop should oblige you in extending a pole set of interest to your correct (bent elbow) height. Then further tests for excessive flexibility of the pole fully extended, with a load placed on top (similar to descending steep rocky terrain where the pole is extended outwards and down for an extended drop).
“Is é comhrá faoin aimsir an tearmann deiridh ag an duine gan samhlaíocht.”
—Oscar Wilde, 1890.