UKC

Alpkit CarbonLite Trekking poles.

© Alpkit
CarbonLite Trekking poles  © Alpkit
CarbonLite Trekking poles
© Alpkit

Carbon Fibre Technology

Our trekking poles are made entirely from carbon fibre reinforced resins giving the pole compression strength and rigidity. The advantages of a carbon fibre walking pole over an aluminium design is greater stiffness, lighter weight and greater vibration absorption.

Weight saving

The carbon pole sections are up to 30% lighter than equivalent aluminium pole sections, however once you have added up all of the other fittings the actual weight saving over high quality aluminium poles will be between 10%-20%. Since the majority of the weight is in the handle, and this is in your hand during use, the kinetic energy produced when using the poles is much lower, making them feel much lighter to swing around. This weight saving converts into greater manouverabilty and less muscle fatigue.

Absorbing the shock

The whole point about using walking poles is to keep you moving into the late evening with as much energy as a Duracell bunny. Our CarbonLite poles are 'unsprung', there are no hidden springs inside the handle or in the shafts which would make the poles heavier. So what about the shock? Fortunately one of the specific properties of carbon fibre is that it has a greater capacity to absorb shock than aluminium. The shock absorbtion is all there, it is just all tied up in the fibres. Pretty sweet. Another reason why some people shy away from sprung poles is a slight feeling of instability when pushing off from a pole. Here again carbon poles appear to exhibit some advantages, their greater stiffness providing a more assured platform.

These are version 2 of our Carbonlites, so here's some changes we made.

Handles

The handles are now a single piece contoured EVA foam grip. They are lightweight and provide a good grip in wet conditions. A comfortable grip adds up to less fatigue in your hands and more enjoyment on the trail.

Basket attachment

We have changed the press fit style baskets to a screw-on style. A short section of the plastic tip is threaded allowing the basket to be screwed on until it reaches an unthreaded area. At this point the basket is able to rotate freely without pulling off. This system also allows you to easily change your baskets mid season.

More compact and 4 section option

A lot of people asked us for a more compact pole. In response to this feedback we have reduced the minimum size of the 3 section pole by 5cm to 60cm. We are also thrilled to be able to introduce a four section unit. Since the single pole sections are shorter the combined compressed pole length is shorter still, just 55cm. This is a great advantage in transit.

Fresh paint job

Ok so it is not a critical issue but we thought they could do with a fresh lick of paint!

  • Full carbon fibre shafts
  • 3 or 4 sections (4 Section poles are £65/pair)
  • Single piece EVA handle
  • Weight per pole: 3 section. 200 gm. 4 section. 220 gm
  • Length: 3 section. 60-131 cm. 4 section 55-131 cm

For more information Alpkit



27 Jul, 2009
They should invent some Duracells for your legs really. Will be good for the arms as well for us climbers.
27 Jul, 2009
I have some of these poles, they are tres good!

Product News at UKC presents climbing, walking and mountaineering equipment posts that will be of interest to our readers. Please feel free to comment about the post and products on the associated thread.
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