Bushwalk Australia

As luck would have it on day 2 of a recent 4 day NZ trip I discovered a whopping big crack in my aluminium hiking pole.
Clearly the gods were having a laugh as that night I would be camping at almost 1400m on an exposed ridge line using it as the centre pole for my mid style tarp!

Fortunately, the bad luck streak didn’t run too deep and the winds were quite mild that night 30-40 km/h with a bit of rain.

Anyhow... I’m surprised. It’s a good quality, strong Komperdell pole and the crack is large. Its mid pole so doesn’t reach either end.

Manufacturing flaw or just wear and tear?

Pole is about 3 years old and has had no mishaps that would cause a bend or critical failure etc in the alloy.

I would say a manufacturing defect.
Aluminum tube is normally extruded out of solid but if it is tapered it may be rolled and welded.
I remember putting in some stainless tube once for a water line and it turned in to a sprinkler system as the weld was missed right along the seam.

Is that corrosion or its normal finish?

Its oxidation. According to this https://www.wileymetal.com/aluminum-cor ... n-it-does/ it doesn't effect the alloy significantly apart from appearance

Thanks MFF. I can't see any join so it seems to be a seamless aluminum.