Black Diamond

Trail Pro Shock Trekking Poles

Wicked strong poles

Used these all winter in the White Mountains of NH - hiking, snowshoeing, and backpacking. The combo of FlickLock and SmashLock features make the poles quick to set up without compromising on strength. I've put my full weight on these while navigating ice, with no problems. Trustworthy!

Amazing

Have been using these for 2 weeks and they are by far superior to the poles I was using! The ”shock” action is great and the pole straps provide almost a lift feeling. Very stable. It’s definitely improved my daily hikes.

Excellent poles!

Fantastic poles - they are lightweight and durable, and they have been perfect for my Alpine mountaineering treks. The shock is a bonus.

I used these poles for one trip to Jackson Hole. I had a few times where when stabbing the poles into the snow to be able to use my hands for something else, they collapsed slightly in the length. The clip doesn't seem strong enough to grab the pole tight enough. When collapsed they are convenient to carry in or on a bag. The powder baskets are a good size to work well in deep snow.

great poles

I am new to the trekking pole arena so i'm speaking from inexperience. My only gripe with the pole is the vibration laterally with each pole plant. Im 6'5" so they are extended more than normal. Otherwise, the grip is comfortable, the strap length is perfect and the weight is minimal. For me they compact into a very manageable length. I would love to have had additional tips added to the package but otherwise i'm happy with the purchase.

Durable hiking poles that make a big difference on steep climbs and descents at elevations. I have 2 sets of poles, so I let my wife use these on our Yosemite trip to help alleviate knee pain issues. She was thrilled with how much steep hiking we did and the fact that she experienced minimal knee discomfort. Would purchase again.

Decent, but why?

I've tried these poles exactly once, on a 14km hike featuring steep ascents and descents, boulder fields, and loose rocks. They were fine, comfortable, and behaved like a trekking pole. The question I found myself asking was "why would I take this pole over the basic 3 segment BD trekking pole?" I didn't have a good answer, so while I was satisfied with the performance, I'm not sure I'd recommend it over any other similar BD pole. Ok, the good. The grips were comfortable. I mean really comfortable, with a long padded grip that allowed me change hand positions according to terrain. Further, I found these grips better than what I have on my two- and three-segment aluminum trekking poles. Also, the flick-lock was strong, secure, and didn't allow slip across the length range of the pole. And that's it. What keeps me from recommending these poles are a few factors. First, they are heavier than the non-shock poles, by about 50g per pole. Second, while they collapse to almost the same size, the *shortest* extended length is 105cm, whereas, at 5'8" (173cm) I sometimes shorten to 95cm and do a majority of my hiking at 100cm. Obviously if you are taller, or only hiking flat terrain, this is not a concern. Finally, there's the shock absorption feature itself. It definitely absorbs, but will it make a difference. With only one hike on it, it's hard to say, so take what I say with a grain of salt. However, I didn't like two aspects of the shock absorption, the first being the "rebound". When the pole tip gets stuck in the dirt or between rocks, I can feel the pole stretch and then snap back into place when it finally comes free. Other than the odd feeling that produced, I worry about the stresses this puts on the pole. More on this in a minute. The second concern I had was that at longer lengths, like 115cm, the pole felt more unstable than the non-shock pole. You can feel it wobble with each pole plant, again giving me an odd feeling in the handling of the pole, but also adding to my concerns about the longevity of the pole. In short, the pole behaved like a pole, but the main feature of the pole - the shock absorption - doesn't seem to give much benefit to justify my admittedly subjective feeling that this feature is just an additional failure point.

The best

Strong and lightweight. Easy to use, shock absorber works great. Baskets can be swapped for different seasons.

Great addition to the gear

I was always against trek poles until my brother made me try them on a backpacking trip. I never felt right without them after. A must have for serious hikers looking to make longer and consecutive days

Seems to working so far

I’ve used these a few times, on dry and snowy terrain with no issues