Black Diamond Approach Trekking Poles Review

Product:: Black Diamond Approach Trekking Poles (company site)
What's Good:: Light. Packable. Price.
What's Bad:: Locking Mechanism Constantly Fails.

For those of you who don’t know, hiking with poles adds balance and reduces leg fatigue. Some people don’t like it. They prefer the natural walking style of hiking. I am not one of those people. I will not hike without hiking poles. Once you get used to using poles you cannot go back. They reduce the knee jarring of downhill climbs. They provide balance while dancing across boulder fields and streams and they are always there to lean on while you’re standing around. I won’t go back.

A year ago I purchased a pair of Black Diamond Approach Trekking Poles. They are a lightweight, highly packable, hiking pole. They aren’t meant for much more than hiking and light climbing. That is all I usually do so I thought they would be the perfect pole for me.

When my two poles arrived I immediately took them out of the box and tried them out. I extended both poles, locked the four locking mechanisms (two per pole) and put a little weight on the poles. Shunk! One of the poles collapsed at its lowest locking point. I extended it again. Added less weight.. Shunk! again. I tried my best to see what was going on with the lock. I couldn’t see much. I returned the pole to the retailer, who promptly confirmed the problem and replaced the pole with a working one.

Over the course of the single season I used these poles they gave me problems on every trip except for one. Each time it was the same lower locking mechanism. It became so unreliable that I could not trust the poles with any weight, making them pretty much useless. After the last trip of the season I was cleaning up my gear and noticed a rattle in one of the poles. The locking mechanism had completely broken inside the pole and was now traveling freely up and down the tube. I packaged the poles up and sent them back to the retailer.

I do not recommend these poles. They have given me nothing but problems.

Comments

Toby Rockwell - April 17, 2005 9:13 am

Agree about using poles.
Have had good luck with Leki Ultralite Ti poles. With two sets between us, there has been a problem with the locking on one pole. From bashing around, I am not sure how long they will last, though it's been nearly 3 years so far. Angled handles are great, much easier on the wrists on a long day. Price isn't cheap, but Leki has a whole range of products, and I think light weight, is worth a lot at the end of a long day.

Lee-anne - March 3, 2008 2:50 am

HI,

I need some assistance Pplease.

I recently purchased a pair of Leki Makalu anti shock Poles, I can not for the life of me figure out how to keep one of the poles from slipping! I am sure it is something I am doing wrong.

I need to get this sorted asap as I am off to Kokoda begining of April.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you Lee-anne

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