Gripping my poles!!! now with pictures!!

A snowHead

This should be a really 'Ooo-errr missus' thread - please don't disappoint me, but some sensible comments would also be appreciated Toofy Grin

In the time I have been skiing I have gone through a considerable number of poles whilst trying to get length correct. I've tried expensive poles (>£40) and cheap poles (< a tenner) and I've also gone through a considerable number of gloves made of different materials.

Without fail and on all poles I've owned so far within about a week the material comprising the grip has worn - often with plastics like sunburnt skin peeling.

I just wondered if this was a problem unique to me or if everyone gets it, and what a solution might be please? My lovely shiny poles look super until I let go of them Embarassed

A snowHead

Megamum, Brace y'self for incoming.....

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Megamum, maybe you're overanalysing ... the poles I use most days I bought in 1989, and they get about 60 days/year use. Admittedly I've had to replace the baskets a couple of times, and they don't have straps anymore, but they are fine otherwise

My "second pair" are even older, from about 1987, and still slightly flourescent wink

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Patch, but have you worn the grips? If so how long was it before it they started to wear?

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Megamum, Perhaps you would like to try holding my pole and see if that works for you. Fnarr, fnarr!

Right, now that we have got that out of the way.......... I'd be interested to hear if other people do have the same problem. It's not something I ave ever heard of before.

You'll need to Register first of course.

My K2 poles did that this year, after like a week of having them, soft rubber on them fell apart.. unimpressed.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Previously unheard of problems no 437.

Does it really matter if the grip is going a bit - you've got big clumpy gloves to hold them with?

Secondly - multiple pairs of poles? Surely just a pair that is too long and a junior hacksaw is all you need?

Thirdly Rule 5.

Fourthly - Black Diamond flicklock - all the pole you need.

After all it is free

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

moffatross, I don't agree. Yes, they will break your bones, but they dramatically reduce the effort when poling.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

moffatross, really? i have never broken a bone due to a pole strap (or anything else for that matter) but they help me with every single pole plant I make

snow reports

nope. None of my poles have done that.

My current ones : BlackDiamond flicklock have a grip comprised of a hard rubber and polythene sections, used 5 weeks this season and no real signs of wear.
My last pair were carbon fibre with a rubbery grip (I think they were Kerma but I'm not sure) and again, no obvious wear. They were used for several years.

It sounds like you're using poles with a moulded Polythene grip. FWIW, I wouldn't class £40 as 'expensive' both my old CF poles and my current flicklocks cost a fair bit more than that.

You know it makes sense.

I've seen someone lying on their chest on top of their ski poles in 4-6 inches of fresh and unable to move their arms as their hands were strapped in to their poles. OK, they could still breath but a few inches more and that wouldn't have been so.
I don't like to be strapped in to my poles.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

admin, i once almost sliced one of my nuts off with my left ski, so now i ski without a left ski wink

A snowHead

Well that's a relief: I thought you were going to say you ski without your nuts.

A snowHead

dulcamara, It's K2 poles that have been the worst offenders - I have three sets in the house - different lengths (don't ask rolling eyes

) and all showing the problem after a single weeks use. I contacted K2 who said that them back to the shop for assessment, but considering they were bought 200+ miles away and I didn't have the receipt it was a difficult thing to do so I didn't bother.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Megamum, we both have K2 poles - 15+ weeks use each, never had the problem you seem to have

You'll need to Register first of course.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Megamum, do you perhaps secrete acid from the palms of your hands when stressed?

After all it is free

admin, that probably depends on whose neck I have them around at the time.

Megamum,

I've been gripping my poles for years now and they aren't worn out. Although I did cut the hand straps off as I just find them an irritant.

They are the cheapest that Decathlon can provide - I really can't see why you would want to pay more - the French framers will only use them as electric fence poles in the summer when they collect them from under the chairlifts.

You must be holding the pole too firmly? Surely your gloves are getting worn out before the pole handles?

The easiest solution is just to buy a load of cheap seven quid pairs from decathlon and give them the the farmers when the handles wear.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Megamum,

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

I have poles that are 10cm too long so that I can hold them below the grips and avoid the problem...

snow reports

Megamum, mine are Atomic and I have had them so long I simply can't remember when I got them - the baskets have been replaced but I don't recall anything happening to the grips themselves on the poles. I will have to have a look.

I do sometimes have to remember not to grip too hard - we had a complimentary lesson with Greg from BASS a couple of years ago and his way of describing how not to grip too hard was to think that you are carrying budgerigars, not poles, - so 'don't crush the budgerigars'.

Since January this year till the end of the season I have used them without the straps - we stopped for a chocolat chaud going round the Roc d'Enfer circuit and a guy came into the cafe in a state of shock really. It appeared from listening to the conversation amongst him and his friends that he had been using the straps on the poles, taken a tumble and his hands had really taken a bashing.

I decided then to give it a go without the straps thinking that I would probably drop the poles, leave on implanted in the snow etc but nothing like that happened and I felt a whole lot safer without the straps. My OH is still strapping - and I must say it feels like a lot of faffing going on waiting for him sometimes, and he is not slow..

I've had a pair of Scott SL poles for ages. The logos and everything have worn off so they're just plain white, I've lost and replaced the baskets a few times so they don't match; but despite a fair few falls they're still dead straight and the grips haven't worn at all. Cool

You know it makes sense.

never had that problem with many poles over 26+ years

You must have either radioactive gloves or secrete something from your palms to grips Wink

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

Just a vague thought. This peeling layer isn't just a protective coating you are meant to remove after purchase is it?

A snowHead

Ours are K2, no signs of wear of any sort on either. Only pap bit of them was the screw that holds the strap in place came out of one, replaced with an old wood screw. Must have done 6 weeks of skiing with no marks, we have several other pairs that have done a lot more than that without any signs of wear.

If you are rubbing the surface off them, just get some £8 decathlon poles. They come with a hard plastic handle that you could club a seal to death with and not mark them.

A snowHead

I'm impressed this has become a conversation, I actually considered going downstairs and taking a photo of my ski pole grips.... but i would have to give up my last cool point if i did...

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Mistress Panda, yes, I lost a screew - repaired with a screw I found kicking about the floor in the hotel IIRC

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

For the last four seasons I have used a pair of tatty old poles which were bought along with a pair of rather nice old wooden skis in a house sale. The skis are now on the wall of my apartment. I suspect the poles will outlive me. I don't use the straps. The grips are made of the sort of (no doubt cheap 'n nasty) plastic which you couldn't wear out in a hundred years.

But if I cared what my poles looked like I'd no doubt have ditched them long ago, as whilst they are nominally red, a fair bit of the paint has worn off.

You'll need to Register first of course.

I've never had a peeling grip before. Maybe I just hold them ever so gently Laughing

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Just when you think you've heard it all! You are The Hulk and I claim my £5!

After all it is free

Evidence:

I used the ones with the grey grips for a week, the black ones have had about 5 weeks use. It doesn't stop them being usable, but I am surprised that they are not built of materials with greater longevity.

The image will go bigger on snow media zone and clearly shows the surface wear.

are you sure your goats haven't been chewing the ones on the right?

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Arno, LOL Nope, that's just what happens when I hold on them whilst skiing.

Help!!

Gripping my poles!!! now with pictures!!

snowHeads Forum Index >>> Equipment Reviews/Questions