 Poster: A snowHead
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Required: 1 x pair of poles for touring. Should be adjustable and have a powder basket.
Should retail in a shop in London this weekend.
Your recommendations, please.
Fang Yow!
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Mmm... for touring I'd steer you away from adjustable and powder baskets.
Utterly reliable and light should be your aim.
We've all gone back to fixed poles and, in many cases, carbon fibre with ordinary baskets.
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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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altis, really? I'm surprised. The reason I'm looking for new ones is that the lack of adjustabilty of my normal poles is a bit irritating when touring, and I'm bored of getting no purchase on the snow when my pole just sinks into it!
Perhaps I should avoid powder and stick to breakable crust? 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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hmm.. i use black diamond flick-lock poles for touring and they are very reliable - in fact they are the only bit of kit which has survived my relentless gear-whorery; poles which twist to lock are not recommended IMV because they have a habit of loosening then giving way when you least want them to
that said, i never alter the length of my poles when touring so the adjustability is moot
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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.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I got some Black Diamond poles at the start of the season, can't remember the model but they were just over £50 (I think) and are orange and black - the flich lock system thing works superbly, easy to adjust and solid as a buffalo, I use them for everything. Comes with powder baskets too.
Edit: was these from Lockwoods
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zammo, similar. you can turn mine into a probe which was attractive to me when i bought them but now i wouldn't say that the probe is *very* useful (i usually carry a probe separately). those ones of clarky999's look good, with the additional grip on the, er, shaft
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zammo, I use those BD Razors - half carbon, adjustable and decent baskets , and I love the. I only tour occasionally. Nice and light and easily flickable, they don't bend, and I tend to ski with them at 125cm off piste and 122cm on. The adjuster locks seem bomb proof. They are the same as the ones clarky999 mentions except with carbon lower bits. I looked at the lifelink pole/probes but couldn't get a probe together easily in the shop - let alone in the field.
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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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Yer, the only adjustable poles I would consider use a Flick-Lock mechanism. Black Diamond are the obvious choice but also look out for Komperdell.
http://www.komperdell.com/en/poles/
Their Titanal II is light and has foam a long way down the shaft - handy for those quick traverses.
They are sometimes available as own-brands too, eg:
In fact, I've a hunch that many of BD's poles are actually made by Komperdell.
As for snow baskets - IMHO they need to be unfeasibly large to be effective in powder. In fact, offpisteskiing uses the tiniest of baskets for touring.
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The BD flik-loc is pretty good as long as you carry a screwdriver to tighten it up, but that aside that mechanism works well.
I have broken two DB carbon poles so I have gone back to fixed carbon poles as I know these ones are solid with all the abuse they have had.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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I finally broke a BD (alu) adjustable this year after three very hard seasons abusing them (including my mad, base over apex tele steeze). I love them, they rock. (Spare part on it's way - woohoooo!)
I adjust them all the time. When I tele('d) with them I would ski with them at 115cm and make them 135cm for any pole'ing out / skinning. I also adjust them every time I skin, I have one short and one long for traversing - this alone in terms of ergonomic comfort "outweighs" the disadvantage of the extra weight of the pole IMHO.
If you are using a fixed length pole of long tours you're doing something wrong IMO. I'm 6'1" and like my poles somewhere between 120-125cm depending on the terrain I'm skiing but I need them to be at least 130cm for skinning.
The BD 'powder basket' is quite light for it's size - half of it is missing! 
Komperdell poles look awesome and can be very light but I'm put off by the price given that I would eventually break one / have them stolen.
altis, you need to start doing some body awareness exercises. Pilates would also help with your coordination / proprioception and general strength.
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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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zammo, another one I'd recommend is the Leki backcountry style one.
I've got the aluminium one. Pretty tough. And it barely weighs more than a non adjustable one.
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zammo, More love for BD. Personally I prefer the Traverse pole which only has one flick lock adjuster, as opposed to the dual adjustment on the Expedition. I borrowed the Expedition off a snowboarder who obviously needs them to pack as small as possible but I found them a bit 'swingy' when actually skiing. The Traverse is plenty adjustable for my needs when skinning, and goes pretty short, which is handy if you need to sling your skis on your bag and boot up some super steep shizzle.
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You know it makes sense.
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'Nother vote for BD Traverses here. Only one downside that 2 of us managed to strip the basket and ferrule off a pole 3 times over a particularly heavy wet snow weekend (safely found and no repetition).
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