On Dec 5, 1:20*pm, gr wrote:
On 12/1/2010 9:11 AM, Jeff Potter wrote:

On Nov 20, 10:58 pm, *wrote:
So today I actually compared alum poles to some low end graphite and
they really are a lot *lighter! But for touring in the woods where poles
get stuck on things occasionally, or fallen onto, are graphites really
strong enough or are they prone to breakage (instead of bending like alum)?

Knock on carbon... I use carbon poles for touring but I protect em
with my life. They're great and needed for huge day trips. But I bring
duct-tape and a pole insert, etc. If you hit carbon with your knee
while it's planted you get to hear a "pop!" Yet if you don't bend it
and give it that fatal sharp blow it's supertough. When I first used
carbon 20 years ago I broke a pole. I have maybe broken one more since
then. Other ski racers break a pole every year. I've fallen maybe 100
times with my best poles and they're still fine! (Praise be!). Still,
I know how to fall -- I sacrifice my body, kinda. Also, there's a way
to lift/swing a pole when you're falling on it to PIVOT it out of the
way instead of LEVERING it. It's a lot like clearing a slalom gate. I
do stay aware when skiing in settings where there might be pole
entrapment in brush -- then I'll just not plant em. G'luck! --JP
outyourbackdoor.com

I guess I will just stick with my alum poles. I am always getting them
hung in brush, or half stuck in frozen mud that grabs a pole out of my
hand (sometimes pulling the handle off!). Not so much falling on them
(don't fall so much anymore!)
Is there a lot of difference in non-metal materials (carbon,graphite,
fiberglass, etc), or is it really the epoxy/resin that is so fragile?
gr

metals are pliable unlike plastics and fibers. If you bend an Al pole
you just bend it right back against your knee. I have no trust in
carbon in the wilderness (as well as up in the sky as in the new
Boeing dreamliner). I don't fall much either but you just never know.