Super stoked to share my new homemade 3-section folding trekking poles. Full gallery of the build process with details in the image...
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The original was posted on /r/Ultralight by /u/pretzlstyle on 2024-08-15 04:29:02+00:00.

Super stoked to share my new homemade 3-section folding trekking poles.

Full gallery of the build process with details in the image captions:

And a video of the pole assembly:

Specs:

  • weight: 3.9 oz per pole (without strap)
  • Length: 120cm
  • sections: 3
  • total cost: ~$120

Materials:

I made these for my <5lb SUL kit. It’s easy to make poles this light if you don’t need them to fold, but I wanted them to fold up in a 3-piece Z-style so that they can be used with small fastpacking packs and running vests. After researching and considering the design very carefully, I was hoping for sub-4oz, so that they were a worthwhile substitute for my 120 cm 5oz BD Distance Carbon Z poles.

I was particularly inspired by this post by /u/AndTheIronyIs and this post by /u/vanCapere (Montmolar). The trickiest part of a folding design is how to lock the pole together once it is assembled. Both of these users emplyed a central cord which runs the length of the pole, and is pulled to tension. This is similar in principle to the mechanism that BD Distance poles use, and the exact same mechanism as is found in some cheaper UL folding poles like the Aonijie E4204.

I thought that this mechanism seemed like a pain to install, a pain to calibrate to the right tension, heavier than necessary, and a potential failure point of the pole. In looking for something simpler, I came across this genius design by David Hoyer at BPL. Most of what he presented here is the same as Montmolar’s design, but on page 2 of the comments (from October 7, 2016), he detailed a simpler mechanism, which I ended up employing.

Essentially, each of the two pole joints are locked in place via a local mechanism involving just zip ties and shock cord. It’s very simple, and it works.

Afaik, no one has ever tried this design on a 3-pole section, so I gave it a go. In addition, I wanted the pole sections to stay attached to eachother by some kind of cord, as the BD poles do, even in absence of a central cord as in the more common design described. I came up with as simple but rather specific way of allowing this with small sections of cord, and a few pieces of hardware. See the Imgur captions for full details.

I’ll also note that in trying to nail the sub-4oz goal, I used thinner carbon tubing than others. Both Montmolar and David Hoyer presented very light designs using 10mm tubing, but both of them said that these poles later failed (Montmolar’s snapped, and Hoyer’s bent). Evidently, 10mm is just too thin. David Hoyer reported that switching to 12mm (the width that BD uses) resulted in poles that have lasted for years.

As a compromise between these choices, I opted for 11mm tubing. Time will tell if this performs more like the 10mm horror stories, or like reliable 12mm poles.