Black Diamond Syncro
It’s not hard to decide whether you need trekking poles or not. You do. And you really should go with two. You’ll want poles with comfortable grips, easy adjustments (think flick-lock), padded wrist-straps and, if you are especially tall, look for extra length options.
Round poles are usual, but the supplier told us most of the returns he gets are this kind of pole: it isn’t strong enough to withstand getting jammed in rocks, unless it’s the expensive carbon-fibre kind. He recommended the Black Diamond Synchro elliptic poles because he’s never had a broken one of these returned. The ovoid shape is apparently twice as strong.
What’s super nice about them is that, while the upper extension has a flicklock (easier to adjust than the screw type), the lower extension is even snappier: you just squeeze and pull to extend, or squeeze and push to collapse. It locks in place automatically, which means less time spent mucking about trying to get your poles to equal lengths and more time standing looking at where they’ve helped you get to.
A word on wearing your poles: put your hands into the straps from below and then hold the grip over them. This way the straps will do most of the work of carrying the pole, and you won’t have to tighten them so much (a bother if you’re wearing gloves). The Black Diamond poles have straps that have been designed with this grip in mind and are padded specially for it.
Weight: 302g each
RRP: R445
