# Ski pole recommendations



## Edd (Dec 26, 2014)

My ski poles are so beat up it's ridiculous. Some frozen crust ripped off a basket at Wildcat recently so they're looking kind of sad. Anyone have a strong recommendation? Adjustables would be nice.


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## twinplanx (Dec 26, 2014)

Google, composite ski poles. There are plenty of choices, choose the ones that fit your budget/needs.


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## Edd (Dec 26, 2014)

Indeed, yes, I have a passing familiarity with Googling things. I was looking for recommendations from AZ members. Some feel strongly about a product they've purchased. Although, it's tough to get excited about ski poles.


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## deadheadskier (Dec 26, 2014)

The poles I have been using thus far this season I actually bought for really cheap at Wildcat.  Only brand they had in the shop, Swix I think (in car).  $30 and they work great.


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## skiNEwhere (Dec 26, 2014)

Yea, I don't notice a difference in poles, I feel like they are there for mental rather than physical reasons. 

Bought some 50" swix aluminum poles at the ski expo.  Only thing I care about is attachable powder baskets


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## deadheadskier (Dec 26, 2014)

That would be the only deficiency in the poles I got.  They would be better with powder baskets.  That really only bothers me when I'm really shoving down on a pole while traversing in soft snow.  While skiing downhill the race baskets don't bother me.


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## deadheadskier (Dec 26, 2014)

Actually Edd, I've got a set of I believe 48" Scott poles in great shape.  They're all yours if you want them.   Too long for my liking.  I prefer clown poles.


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## Brad J (Dec 26, 2014)

I have Swix composite pole for groomer days , very light and good swing weight, and Soul bamboo pole with powder baskets for soft days and natural snow trails a little heavy but tough as hell. Deadheadskier's poles sound like the offer to take if 48"is right


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## Scruffy (Dec 26, 2014)

If you like your poles, The baskets should be replaceable.

I bought a pair of Goody Carbon poles ~20 years ago, they're still trucking. Good in the bumps. I replaced the baskets a few times. For back country or out west, I have a pair of adjustable Black Diamond Flint lock poles with powder baskets.

If you go adjustable, don't get the twist lock type, they usually don't hold position, get the lever lock or flint lock type.


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## Edd (Dec 26, 2014)

deadheadskier said:


> Actually Edd, I've got a set of I believe 48" Scott poles in great shape.  They're all yours if you want them.   Too long for my liking.  I prefer clown poles.



No, but thanks very much. I use 50" which is obviously close but I'm thinking pure carbon if I'm going to bother with it. My current poles are aluminum and a friend gave those to me. I'd like to feel the lighter swing weight. Getting old.


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## Scruffy (Dec 26, 2014)

Go with Carbon, it's more than the swing weight. Take an aluminum pole and stab the ground, you'll feel all the vibrations right up to you hand and arm. Take a carbon fiber pole and do the same thing, it absorbs the shocks. May seem like a small thing, but after a day of pole planting it adds up. I do understand that most times your suppose to be just tapping the snow lightly with the pole, but there are time when an assertive pole plant is necessary.


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## deadheadskier (Dec 26, 2014)

Should I edit the thread title to read: "Old man ski pole recommendations.". :lol:


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## Edd (Dec 26, 2014)

deadheadskier said:


> Should I edit the thread title to read: "Old man ski pole recommendations.". :lol:



How dare you, sir? You can make it up to me with two expensive pints.


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## Edd (Dec 26, 2014)

Scruffy said:


> Go with Carbon, it's more than the swing weight. Take an aluminum pole and stab the ground, you'll feel all the vibrations right up to you hand and arm. Take a carbon fiber pole and do the same thing, it absorbs the shocks. May seem like a small thing, but after a day of pole planting it adds up. I do understand that most times your suppose to be just tapping the snow lightly with the pole, but there are time when an assertive pole plant is necessary.



Yeah, that sells it for me. I also read something about less wind resistance, which must be a matter of the diameter.


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## deadheadskier (Dec 26, 2014)

Well its Christmas.  If you're not skiing, I'll be around town Sunday


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## Edd (Dec 26, 2014)

We will too. There's a 5PM show at the Church. One of the members of the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Should be good.


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## deadheadskier (Dec 26, 2014)

On Sunday?  Hmmmmmm.....


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## jack97 (Dec 27, 2014)

clown pole adjusters,


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## Savemeasammy (Dec 27, 2014)

jack97 said:


> clown pole adjusters,



My poles recently went from 48" to 44" by way of the tube cutter, er...  "clown pole adjuster".  It works pretty well.


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## Savemeasammy (Dec 27, 2014)

Scruffy said:


> Go with Carbon, it's more than the swing weight. Take an aluminum pole and stab the ground, you'll feel all the vibrations right up to you hand and arm. Take a carbon fiber pole and do the same thing, it absorbs the shocks. May seem like a small thing, but after a day of pole planting it adds up. I do understand that most times your suppose to be just tapping the snow lightly with the pole, but there are time when an assertive pole plant is necessary.



My poles (aluminum) have always ended up bending at the bottom, so I would love a pair of poles that would absorb more of the shock.  Is there a reason that carbon absorbs the shock better than aluminum?


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## Glenn (Dec 27, 2014)

Swix TC9 Carbon Plus. I grabbed a pair at a tent sale a few years back. Great poles.


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## drjeff (Dec 27, 2014)

Glenn said:


> Swix TC9 Carbon Plus. I grabbed a pair at a tent sale a few years back. Great poles.



Swix carbon poles kick ass! (And I'm not just saying that as a friend of Glenn!!) My wife is on the TC9's too and I have a pair of the Mach 1 eliptical shaped race poles! Love them!! Easy swing weight, tough, and great shock absorption !!


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## Scruffy (Dec 28, 2014)

Savemeasammy said:


> My poles (aluminum) have always ended up bending at the bottom, so I would love a pair of poles that would absorb more of the shock.  Is there a reason that carbon absorbs the shock better than aluminum?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using AlpineZone mobile app



The simple answer is:
Aluminum is an elemental material, as such has properties, such as, density and modulus, that are pretty consistent across the various products made with it. For ski poles, you're talk about an extruded process into a tubular form. The manufacturers can change the diameter, wall thickness, and taper to change the robustness ( strength, stiffness, flex, etc ) of the end product, but aluminum will transmit vibrations at a consistent wave length regardless.

Carbon fiber is a strand material, and thus no products are made of just those strands. The beauty of carbon fiber is it's stronger than steel, but much, much lighter. Manufacturers add other materials to form a composite material. There are low modulus ( flexy) and high modulus (stiffer ) carbon fibers. Manufacturers add polymers ( resins ..i.e. epoxy) as well as other layup materials, such as fiberglass or kevlar, to form the desired product and it's specifications. For ski poles, you can certainly get a stiff, light weight poles; think competition cross country ski poles, where you want light weight, but stiff, so the energy of pushing off the pole is transferred to forward movement. For recreational alpine skiing, you want light weight, but somewhat forgiving ( somewhat flexible ) and shock absorbent. It's the mix of the carbon fibers and the rest of the soup that make it shock absorbent, or compliant. So, we'd need to know what the soup is made of to further analyse it.


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## thetrailboss (Dec 28, 2014)

I normally use telescoping aluminum. They're fine. I have a pair of telescoping carbon and they're nice and light. 

Aluminum does bend under stress whereas carbon snaps. Consider that. In 2008 I had a nice pair of K2 carbon poles. I was in a bad crash and one of the poles just shattered. The shards of carbon fiber were sharp...not good. 




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## andrec10 (Dec 28, 2014)

The only issue with carbon fiber poles, is that you can shear them off or they can shatter...Ask me how I know. I just bought a Leki trigger pole that are aluminum and I love them. 

Here they are... http://shop.leki.com/en/product.php?product_id=55954


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## Scruffy (Dec 28, 2014)

Not all carbon poles are the same. My Goode Carbon poles have withstood a lot of abuse, including cutting them with sharp ski edges. No failures in 15 years. In fact, I don't think I can destroy them if I tried.


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## andrec10 (Dec 28, 2014)

Scruffy said:


> Not all carbon poles are the same. My Goode Carbon poles have withstood a lot of abuse, including cutting them with sharp ski edges. No failures in 15 years. In fact, I don't think I can destroy them if I tried.



I destroyed both Leki and Swix CF poles. Swix makes a Kevlar one now that is used for racing. When the Son is done with Grad school, I will have lots of Money! 2.5 more years...I can do it!


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## Hawkshot99 (Dec 28, 2014)

What kind of bindings do yiu have? 
I had some nice leki carbon poles. But with my rossi axial bindings they bent like crazy trying to take the skis off. I will never step on my bindings and mess up my bases, so I switched to aluminum poles. 
I did like the carbons but have no complaints against the aluminum lekis I got instead.


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## yeggous (Dec 28, 2014)

Hawkshot99 said:


> What kind of bindings do yiu have?
> I had some nice leki carbon poles. But with my rossi axial bindings they bent like crazy trying to take the skis off. I will never step on my bindings and mess up my bases, so I switched to aluminum poles.
> I did like the carbons but have no complaints against the aluminum lekis I got instead.



This is a good point. Rossi bindings don't play well with flexible poles at higher DIN settings. As a result I try to avoid Rossi bindings going forward. I have K2 composite poles and really like them. They are much cheaper than carbon fiber and barely more expensive than aluminum.


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## skiNEwhere (Dec 29, 2014)

drjeff said:


> Swix carbon poles kick ass! (And I'm not just saying that as a friend of Glenn!!) My wife is on the TC9's too and I have a pair of the Mach 1 eliptical shaped race poles! Love them!! Easy swing weight, tough, and great shock absorption !!



I had swix carbon poles. I don't know if it was just bad luck, but I broke both baskets off the bottom. The plastic seemed unnecessarily soft.


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## dlague (Dec 29, 2014)

I switched to aluminum ski poles.  I had a pair of telescopic pole before that were a combination of aluminum (top two section and carbon graphite (lower section)  the bottom section would flex but not break.  However, they were soft overall and wanted a pole that dos not flex as easy.  I would consider aluminum!  Overall, I am not sure how much the pole effects my skiing so it is not where I put my $'s!


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## Cannonball (Dec 29, 2014)

Bamboo is the rage this season!

https://www.soulpoles.com/the-soul-shop

http://www.pandapoles.com/


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## Scruffy (Dec 29, 2014)

dlague said:


> Overall, I am not sure how much the pole effects my skiing so it is not where I put my $'s!



Your poles don't need to be expensive, but your poles are the most underrated piece of equipment. And, your pole plant is the most underrated, but one of the most important tools in your skiing arsenal. 


http://www.youcanski.com/en/coaching/pole_plant.htm

https://books.google.com/books?id=n...AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=blocking pole plant&f=false


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## drjeff (Dec 29, 2014)

Cannonball said:


> Bamboo is the rage this season!
> 
> https://www.soulpoles.com/the-soul-shop
> 
> http://www.pandapoles.com/



I've got 2 friends who I often ski with who set their soul poles aside, and went back to their carbon fiber poles. Reasons were a combo of swing weight and overall rigidity for mandatory pole plants on the steeps


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