 Poster: A snowHead
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Need opinions on ski poles as A) My old K2 carbon poles have always felt a bit bendy, the grips are split and the (piste) baskets knackered and B) I've just collected a nice set of Whitedot Rangers and intend doing more off piste (and possibly try touring at some point).
So the questions...
Do I put new grips and (bigger?) baskets on the bendy K2 poles or go for new ones?
If new...
Fixed length or adjustable?
Ally, carbon or carbon/ally mix?
Extended grips, powder baskets or not?
Even is matching colour to skis cool or not?
Too many choices and not enough knowledge... and I haven't even started looking at avi' trancievers, probes and shovels yet.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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If you're planning on both off-piste and some touring I'd recommend adjustable length and powder baskets. Piste baskets are a waste of time touring.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I've gone full circle twice, on the adjustable poles. I started with ordinary poles with tape wrapped around them to make a handle lower down for touring. Swapped them for some adjustable ones which were very nice except they occasionally adjusted at a critical moment on steep ground while I was attempting a kick turn. Used some fixed touring poles for a long time which had an extended grip, finally broke the tip adjusting my binding. Now I've gone back to some BD poles with a new technology clip that looks very reliable. We will see.
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@adithorp, I have had Black Diamond Carbon, Leki Tour III Carbon and G3 Carbon adjustable poles. You may have noticed my carbon fetish 
Black Diamond Pure Carbon - Stiff and strong, not that light, not compatible with BD snow saw, not very short pack length.
Leki Tour III Carbon - Stiff and strong, not that light, 3 piece short pack length, long but poorly shaped foam grips with no support to push against when holding the main grip.
G3 Carbon - Stiff and strong, fairly light, not that short, removable clip on/off straps for off-piste, excellent grip shape, binding adjustment hook on grip. I have found the triangular baskets to be a marketing feature, as they tend to spin round in use, which is something you don't notice with round baskets.
I have not had any of the length adjusters slip in use.
There are arguments both ways on whether touring poles should be Carbon or Aluminium, with the hardcore preferring Aluminium, for the it bends rather than breaks viewpoint, which is only true up to a point. If you look at your current poles and the lowers are covered in scrapes and scratches from your edges, then maybe a carbon upper with aluminium lower is the way for you to go.
Some of the latest poles have a scraper built into the grip to clear top sheets, bases, skins as appropriate.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
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@spyderjon, nice, but only up to 120?
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I never found I gained very much from adjustable poles (mostly just shifted my hands up and down) and went to fixed poles with long grips on them (and still mostly shift my hands up and down on them).
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@spyderjon, forget that, I've just spotted the other length
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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In my experience the pack length is largely irrelevant. When skiing or touring if your poles are in/on your pack then so are your skis! It's only an issue if they will also be walking poles.
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Fixed poles for me too - lower weight and they don't collapse.
If I were buying again I'd look for ones with long grips.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I agree on fixed poles, but you can put long grips on any pole. I bought some child's buggy hand grips from ebay, added them to my normal ski poles (I needed to use Fairy liquid to slide them up from the bottom of the pole), and suddenly I have long grip touring poles, for much less that the normal premium you pay for touring.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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The colour is very important ...
Its a scientifically proven fact that colour co-ordination improves your velocity.
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You know it makes sense.
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For me it is not about shortening, which you do by moving your grip down the pole, is it lengthening the downhill pole for long traverses (or dare I say it pushing/skating on the flat bits). Adding 10-15cm to the downhill pole makes a big difference to your posture. Just swap poles for the return of the zig-zag.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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For me its about those quick trips where I want to rent and often find the skis are top end but the rental poles are hideous. My telescopics fit in my hold bag. And yes, @DrLawn, this means colour co-ordination can be maintained as well.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I used bicycle handlebar tape to make longer grips on my poles which works brilliantly, but if I'm doing a long traverse then I do still shorten one pole.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| PowderAdict wrote: |
| For me it is not about shortening, which you do by moving your grip down the pole, is it lengthening the downhill pole for long traverses (or dare I say it pushing/skating on the flat bits). Adding 10-15cm to the downhill pole makes a big difference to your posture. Just swap poles for the return of the zig-zag. |
+1
I like being able to make my poles longer (giggity) for long flatter approaches etc than I want for skiing. I normally just move my hands up or down the shafts (giggity) rather than swapping poles over when switching directions though.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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+1 for these, ace bit of kit and a great price too 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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giggity:
interjection, exclamation expressing sexual excitement 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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| Quote: |
For me its about those quick trips where I want to rent and often find the skis are top end but the rental poles are hideous. My telescopics fit in my hold bag. And yes, @DrLawn, this means colour co-ordination can be maintained as well.
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Now that is properly anal! kudos!
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I've got one piece ally poles with big powder baskets and foam grips that extend for 20 cm below the normal rubber grips. They are utterly no faff and nonsense and were cheap as chips (well Euro 25 in the telemark Pyrenees sale at some point). To my mind the foam grips are the most efficient way of "shortening" the uphill pole when traversing. I don't use straps off piste so it is very easy to make adjustments on the fly. I've never felt the need to have a longer pole on the downhill side - I don't really ever lean on a downhill pole when traversing. Naturally when you leave the traverse for the fall line I do but then you'd want your poles at skiing length?
Must admit I hadn't really considered the idea of lengthening poles for long flat skins but I can see the point, after all cross country poles are pretty long aren't they?
Best argument for adjustable poles for me is that you need less pairs rattling around your ski locker to sort out friends and family (particularly the growing kind!).
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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My old, fixed Swix carbon fibre poles fitted with new EVA foam fishing rod grips from the eBay link above:
The grips are incredibly light - under 30g each. I removed the tips and baskets and then slid them up the poles with a dash of Hellerine. Washing up liquid will probably work too.
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Is it just me, I find big baskets a pain skiing in trees - catching on bushes and branches?
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FAQ
) were on my list of possibles. Also seen the 
