www.steveslongwalk.org

KIT REPORT

The following kit was used during my 1,200 mile John o’Groats to Land’s End walk that took place between 13^th July and 9^th October 2009. The route largely avoided roads and included The Great Glen Way, The Pennine Way and the Cotswold Way. The trek is fully described in www.steveslongwalk.org

Trekking poles - Leki Makalu Ultralite Titanium Antishock

These poles are light at 0.44kg per pair, and on initial use seemed comfortable in the hand and well-balanced. I used them for my practice walks in the Lake District and on Dartmoor, and was initially satisfied with them. The first knock to that satisfaction came when the left pole’s wrist strap broke at Fort William after about 300 miles of use.

The strap split where the self-tapping screw attaching it to the handle passed through it. Repairing it involved using a thermal cutter to remove the damaged piece of strap and then re-fixing it. Had a thermal cutter not been available then a sharp knife, followed by using a flame or a hot surface to melt the bared end of the strap, might have sufficed.

During this repair, I noted that the screws holding both straps were quite loose, so I tightened them (but not too tight, otherwise the self-tappers will strip the plastic).

The straps gave no further trouble, but I found myself disliking the strap-length adjustment mechanism, which comprises a hinged cap on top of the handle to clamp the wrist strap. When the cap is lifted, the wrist strap is unclamped so that it can be adjusted for length. However, when crossing bogs or sticky mud, the points of the poles would occasionally stick in the ground which resulted in the hinged cap clicking up as I swung my hand forward. The strap, now unclamped, would then lengthen. Thus, after extricating the pole, I had to readjust the strap before I clicked the cap back down again. Now, I do understand that this arrangement is also intended to serve as a safety mechanism so that the hand can get free if the pole snags, and maybe this is just what’s needed with a ski-pole, but for my purpose it was just an irritation.

During most of my walk, I left the pole sections tightened since there was no need to collapse them for stowing. This is just as well, because when I did later try to adjust the poles, some sections were reluctant to release, and others were reluctant to retighten. I am aware that this ‘screw-expander’ type clamp needs to be cleaned periodically to keep it functioning well, but it is quite hard to be meticulous over this on a long trip in poor weather when mainly wild-camping overnight.

My next problem occurred after about 900 miles of use. I noted that there was a slight bend in the lower section of the pole. When I gently tried to ease it straight the section simply broke off, destroying the pole. I continued using the remaining pole until I noted that it too had a bent lower section. On closer inspection it became clear that as the pole's antishock mechanism operates, the outer surface of the pole’s lower section is rubbed just were it enters the middle section. This had caused the tubing to thin locally, severely weakening it.

The ironic thing about this is that the attractive black, silver and red paint job on my now useless poles still looked absolutely pristine.

My final criticisms concern the rubber pads that are fitted over the points when using the poles on tarmac or concrete surfaces. The rubber from which the pads are made is too hard, which means they slip dangerously when surfaces are wet. This hard grade of rubber does give them a longer useful life than some others pads I have used, but this is somewhat thwarted by the sharp pole tips cutting neat holes through the pads after about 100 miles, long before the rubber surfaces have worn out. To get more use out of them, I stuffed a few appropriately sized washers inside the pads to space the tips out further.

SUMMARY

Leki poles have a hugely successful brand name, but this does not mean that their designs are devoid of technical inadequacies. I found the wrist-strap attachment to be weak and the wrist-strap length adjustment mechanism irritating. I also found the rubber pads lacked grip on wet concrete or tarmac surfaces.

I am not a great fan of the screw expander mechanism for clamping the pole sections. They have a habit of either jamming up or failing to tighten, usually at the most inconvenient time. Careful cleaning and maintenance may keep them working, but this isn’t always easy during prolonged treks.

The antishock mechanism causes wear and thinning of the lower section of the pole. If this wear repeated occurs in the same place, breakage at that point will ultimately result. For this reason, it may be wise to consider whether antishock is really necessary at all.

It terms of comfort, balance and weight, I enjoyed using the poles, and I commend Leki for the quality of the painted finish. Properly looked after, these poles might give many hundreds of miles good service. However, for a major trek such as mine, where maintenance was difficult, I found them unreliable.

Steve Hughes

24 Oct. 2009