As my question below points out, i've never used poles before. Always used trees for tarp tents, etc. But gettin ready for an AT thru hike I figured they couldn't be a bad idea. However, I simply could not see spending more than a hundred bucks on some trekking poles. Even a hundred seemed insane to me. At any rate I had been drooling over these simply because of the weight. Just as I was getting ready to purchase a 65 dollar pair of Lekis these carbonlites popped up on SAC and I got a steal for $110 shipped. I simply couldnt believe it cuz I religiously watch SAC and have never seen poles on there and as soon as I go to buy some other cheaper ones these $200 poles show up half off. Anyhow, I took these for a stroll thru the FlintHills in KS and they seem to be pretty good at helping distribute weight and keep balance over sketchy terrain. The twist locks seem to be of heavy duty caliber and easy to set lengths. I haven't tried it with frozen fingers but was wearing gloves when I used them and had no problems. I have to say that I am slightly impressed and do see this as being a very wise investment for the future. I don' have a good pair of digital scales to get an exact weight but given the shipping weight was exactly 2 lbs. I would imagine that these poles truly are somewhere around that 14 oz (per pole) advertisement. Thank heavens for the SAC lords as I would have wound up with some heavier, cheaper poles had it not been for the Gods of SAC!!!! I (heart) u BC.com!!!! keep it up!!!!

I, like Daniel, have been drooling over the LEKI Carbonlite Aergon Antishock Trekking Poles for a while. Finally, after dancing around the idea of becoming a pole person, I decided the benefits were there and bought them to try it out. As an ultra-light junkie, I had to get these poles, as they were the lightest I had seen.

I have used the poles about 10x now, and I have to say I am very pleased with my purchase. Yes, they are probably the most expensive poles that I think Backcountry.com sells, but they are worth every dollar. First, the weight - I love the fact that they are so light, yet feel so sturdy. I've never felt like durability was sacrificed to save weight. Second, the lock system makes it very easy to adjust to your height desired. Once locked, I haven't had any problems of the poles coming unlocked while in the middle of a hike.

Like some of the other folks that have written questions/reviews on this page, I own a tarp tent, and these poles work perfectly for it. Easy to adjust, sturdy, etc. Finally, when I bought these poles, I had never used a pole with the "antishock" feature. I thought it was kind of a bizarre idea, but I can now attest that it definitely makes a difference. When walking with these poles, it has a "softer" feel than you may find with other poles without this attribute.

I rarely go backpacking or hiking without these poles... they are definitely expensive, but I have tried about 5 different brands/kinds of trekking poles in the past and these poles ride the best. The Rolls-Royce of trekking poles by far! I'd recommend these poles to anyone.

I bought these over the summer, and they are the lighteset poles in existance! Well if they are not they are close, hence the price. Everything you want from your trekking poles, they are extremely light, seriously light, and very strong. The locking mechanism works well, once you adjust to your personal size, you simply twist and the poles are set to trek up mountains or for a little extra levarage on strenous walks. Overall fabulous, my suggestion is to try to get them on sale. I see these bad boys on sale time to time, my only regret was not getting a better price, but definitely worth 2 benjamins.