Has anyone else actually BENT a Leki pole..?

[Splintercat]

This was a new one for me: I slipped on a steep Gorge trail last week, and while catching my 225 lbs self and 40 lb pack, I bent one of my hiking poles! Okay, gotta lay off those milkshakes, I know (and unload some of that camera gear), but I have never bent a trekking pole before.

They are Leki ultralite poles, and less than six months old. Beyond whether it's reasonable for them to bend (I didn't even hit the ground, thought it was a pretty big lunge) from downward pressure, I haven't been able to get a reply from Leki on the warranty. They were also a gift, so I don't have any purchase info. Worse, the model has been phased out.

So I think I'm going to be buying new poles, but wanted to hear if anyone else as been down this road..?

Tom

[RobFromRedland]

Interesting timing.....I was reading another post about a trip to Crater Lake, and he had the same experience with Leki poles:

The trekking pole ended up in two pieces (Leki Ultralight; this is my second broken pair so I'm taking them back to REI to get something else as I don't trust these now).

Here is the thread, where you can read his great trip report:

Crater Lake, Mt. Scott - June 21-22, 2008

I'm still on my cheapie poles I got at Next Adventure.....I've used them for 4 years now, and they are still functional!

[Excursionista]

I just "broke" my Leki's. The springs on both poles came loose somehow and the extensions won't tighten down. I have no idea how it happened; I discovered it at the truck just before hiking Hamilton Mtn last weekend.

That said, I've never bent one - even while hiking the Olympic Coast. I was crossing a headland over a wet, slimy boulder field, and I started to fall backwards. My pole wedged between two boulders and took all my weight as I straightened back out. The pole was curved like a bow... but held.

I'm 165lbs, and had a 30+ lb pack. Lekis are tough, in my experience. If I can't get mine fixed, i'll buy another set.

[zombie]

I have Leki ultralights as well, and they have held very well thus far...and I am not a small guy. I'm 240ish and usually loading about 20-25 lbs and I actually use them to pole vault across streams and muddy zones, both feet off the ground. I've had em about 2 years.

-aaron

[Grannyhiker]

Have you telephoned Leki customer service? Email is not a good way to communicate with most firms, it seems--probably because they get so much spam.

[BCJ]

In my Crater Lake report I mentioned that I fell down an ice slope when my Leki Ultralite pole bent and then snapped when I put some weight down on it. This was the pair that replaced the first pair I had that also bent...I thought that was a freak accident so I got a replacement pair of the same kind...I'll take them back to REI and get a different kind as a replacement this time.

[jeffstatt]

My first set of poles I bought were $15 brand-new at Walmart on the advice from someone who said "hey they're going to break in a year anyways whether you spend $15 or $115". Well, that pair did last about a year - one of the poles bent coming down Starvation Ridge.

I replaced them with a $99 pair of REI ones which went about 6 months before one of the tighteners wouldn't tighten on the way up the Grouse Vista Trail.

REI replaced the set with the same set no questions asked - When talking to the guy at the return desk he said that those REI poles get returned all the time and recommended Leki instead. Had the right Leki poles been in stock I would have taken his advice. I still have these set of REI poles and they're fared me pretty well so far - although neither the poles nor me have actually made it out much this past 6 months or so.

[Water]

after about 1300 miles of hiking with a pair on the Appalachian Trail, I lost my balance crossing a blowdown in Southern Maine (around mahoosuc notch if you want to read about an interesting mile to "hike").., put my weight on the pole and bent the lower shaft - they are a TI aluminum ultralight pole and i was able to bend it back, mostly, and am still using them today.

that was the only issue I had with them, and have abused these poles very very much otherwise...

Almost everyone on the Appalachian Trail who doesn't just get cheapo poles sticks with Lekis because shafts (not tips) are replaced for free anywhere along the trail as a courtesy to thru-hikers/honoring of their warranty-they even bring a booth to trail days (maybe akin to ADZPCTKO) That is the case out east, which I saw/witnessed...Any outfitter that carried Lekis honored this policy.

speak with someone at leki and i'd see what you get.

i sent a backpack to 'high sierra' that had been dragged by a bus for a mile in venezuela, among things, and they sent me a brand new pack. there were a few things that had blown out defectively before this happened, but they accepted it without questions. nothing to lose..

[Delfiin]

When I was buying trekking poles a couple years ago, too many people that I knew had problems with Leki poles, so I went with Black Diamond. I have had the poles for 5 years so far and they have suffered some definite abuse. I have never had a problem with them.

[BCJ]

I traded in my Leki poles for Black Diamond yesterday at REI...my brother and friend have been using them for a while without any problems so I'm looking forward to using them. I like the locking design on them as my Lekis would loosen after a while (especially in snow) and, on a few occasions, collapsed on me in a bad spot. More than anything, I'm looking forward to having trust in my poles. I'm sure the heavier Leki models are solid, but the Ultralites were just not strong enough for someone of my size (6'2", 230).