LEKI Super Makalu COR-TEC Antishock Trekking Poles - 1 Pair - 2009 BCS

I've used these for 4 summers and they've helped me a lot on cross-country treks especially while carry heavy weight on rocky terrain. The cork handles are really nice for sweaty hands. The carbide tip really does grab and hold onto whatever you plant it on. I probably need to replace mine as they are 4 years old now and I noticed that they don't stick as well. Personally I don't feel like the anti-shock makes a different. I'm not totally sold on the super lock system. They have collapsed a few times while hiking. Also, I would warn to not uses these poles for winter activities because of the super lock system. After skinning with these poles because they were all I had, I collapse them to put them into my pack and snowboarded down. At the end we had to skin out back to the road. The poles for the life of me would not lock no matter what I did. I felt like it might have been because it was so cold out or maybe the poles got wet from snow where it slides into each other? I don't know what the reason was, but skinning without poles when it was already getting dark was not fun. Since then I've gotten different poles for winter backcountry touring/skinning. These will strictly remain as a summer tool for me.

My LEKI super makalu anti shock trek poles are really a life saver for me. I use them daily to walk in the park with my dogs. They help me keep my balance and don't allow me to fall. The only thing i don't like is that sometimes the bottoms get stuck in the snow or mud and if they get stuck badly it causes the poles to be pulled out longer than they should be. In all other aspects poles are very comfortable to use and hold. Changing the length is also simple. I would definitely recommend these poles.

I really like using poles and use them everywhere unless it's just too steep. I don't notice much benefit of having the antishock, the cork grips or the angle of the grips of these compared to my Black Diamond Traverse poles which I use for winter that don't have all that. Sometimes they take awhile to lock when you want to adjust the size, so I don't fool with that as often as I might, like on a steep side hill, where I do with the BD fliplock setup. I've complained to Leki about the problems with the locking and some splits in the lower sections before and they've promptly replaced either the whole pole or the section, so any potential purchasers out there can be happy for the good service from them.

I would probably rate this a little lower, but in the end I really like these poles. They're lightweight, cool looking, the grips are great (don't get funky or slippery) and the shocks are nice. My only real complaint with these poles is the locking mechanism. One more than one occasion it slipped and the pole collapsed. Really annoying when you actually really need it and it gives way. I've never used any other poles to compare them to, but I will probably check out Black Diamonds for my next set.

These are the first set of trekking poles I have used, and I have to say that I will never go hiking or backpacking without them again.

I have always wanted trekking poles, but the price of them was a deterrent until I saw these on SAC for only $70. I was the only one with poles on the first trip that I went on, and right away noticed what a difference they make. The first day we did 10 miles and gained over 1k feet in elevation change, these helped out significantly with going up and down switchbacks. On flat ground, I was motoring on much faster than the rest of my group, to the point that someone asked me to put them away, because I was killing the vibe. Needless to say, I am totally sold on trekking poles and will never go without them again. To anyone with knee problems, I would highly recommend them if you are doing any climbing or long descents. They help out significantly on descents by taking the weight of your body, rather putting it all on your knees. On the way up, your upper body does most of the work by pushing off of your poles as support. I messed up my ankle on the first day of my last trip, climbs hurt the most, and the poles helped significantly in reducing the pain by bearing my weight.

These poles pack down nice and small when disassembled for transporting. They are easy to expand, lock and collapse on the go. They did not slip at all in 10 days of hiking. The carbide tips will grip onto any, I mean literally any surface, with ease. The first day out I was testing them on wet rock, and they stuck with no problem.

I didn't notice that the anti-shock made a difference. One of the anti-shock mechanisms stuck after only a few miles and I had to disassemble the pole to free it up. Also, the paint wears significantly after very little use, making it difficult to see the mark for proper height adjustment. I fixed this by marking over the line with a Sharpie marker. Also, these things get DIRTY. Without the baskets on, they collect a ton of mud in the threads above the tip of the pole. This isn't really an issue, until you try to put the baskets back on, I had to clean them in order to do so.

These were an excellent purchase and I would recommend trekking poles to anyone, as they allow you to move much faster with them. These are on SAC all the time, as well as other Leki poles.