Final Report and Extended Field Test Leki Ultralite TI Cor-Tec AS Trekking Poles Model # TG2138-00 Alan Dixon May 21, 200 I had the opportunity to field test the Ultralite TI Cor-Tec AS Trekking Poles on a recent eight-day backpacking trip in the canyons of Southern Utah. The trip was in early May and we encountered weather ranging from snow and near freezing temperatures to 90-degree days with blazing sun. My group covered a variety of terrain from easy trail hiking, to brushy stream bottoms of narrow canyons, to class 3 routes on slickrock when climbing in and out of canyons and negotiating pouroffs, and most everything in between. All told, I probably covered around 60 to 70 miles if you take into account all the side trips and small expeditions to find Ansazi ruins.

Looking at some nice petroglyphs while resting on my trekking poles

First, the poles saved our group a lot of weight. This, in itself, was enough to justify taking them on the trip, even if I never used them for hiking. The other two people on the trip were not ultralighters. In an effort to reduce group weight I purchased a 10x10 silnylon tarp from Oware. This with the Leki poles provided shelter for the group at around 12 oz. per person, saving each member around 2 to 3 pounds over sharing a tent. At 18 oz. the Leki poles were a major contributor to this weight reduction. Given the challenge of the terrain, and that many times we weren't on trails, the poles proved more useful than I expected for hiking. I estimate that I hiked with the poles a bit over half of the time. (Had I been on conventional trails like the AT or PCT I would have used the poles most of the time.) For a conventional trail they're great. I easily hit a strong hiking rhythm with the poles and moved quickly. On sandy washes and loose sandy sections of trail the advantage of the hiking poles was even more pronounced. And there are a lot of loose sandy sections of trail in S. Utah! The poles also helped climbing the soft, sandy banks of washes. Something that one does time and time again as you cross from one side of the canyon to the other. The standard tips work well in a variety of ground and I didn't need the baskets for even the sandiest, loosest sections. The Cor-Tec grips were very comfortable. My hands and wrists never fatigued and I didn't have any sore skin or blistering. The section collets worked well and never slipped during use or jammed when I broke down the poles to store them. The poles fit easily into the side pocket of my Breeze pack and I was glad of the tip protectors for prevent damage to the pocket's mesh material. The nice black finish on the poles is very durable. After all the rock, bush and off trail travel the poles suffered only one significant scratch.

A sandy trail without brush where the trekking poles proved very useful

A small anecdote: On our day walking out, my two friends sent me on ahead to get to the road and hitch to the car, hoping to save a bit of time and increase our chances to get a ride to our car parked at the put in point. This section of trail was uphill and fairly sandy with intermittent pitches of slickrock. Using the poles and setting my hiking speed into cruising mode, I made it to trail head at almost the same time as a group of healthy 20 something males that had left 2½ hours earlier. I then managed to get a ride without difficulty and returned to trail head just as my friends arrived. This was in part due to the trekking poles on sandy trails and that I probably carried 20 pounds less pack than the group in front of me. (My legs and cardiovascular system may have contributed as well.) An ultralight pack and a good set of trekking poles is an excellent combination. To be fair, there were many sections were I did not use the poles. In most cases I quickly grabbed the poles center shaft with one hand, negotiated the section, and then transferred the poles back to my hands and continued using them when opportunity provided. I did this so often that it became second nature to me. I stopped using the pole straps early on in the trip to allow me to quickly carry the poles for short periods as described above and because it allowed me to easily free my hands to do things like snap a photograph. There were only a few times where I actually collapsed the poles and stowed them in the side pocket of my pack. This was when we were negotiating sections slickrock that required the use of my hands. E.g. climbing down into or up out of canyons. The following are places where I did not use the poles: I found it impossible to use the poles in sections where the brush, sage, willows, and tamarisk, etc. were so thick I had to wade through them. This type of brush was fairly common along waterways in the canyon bottoms. I found it difficult to use the poles on sections of narrow, sunken trails in wet or sandy ground. There wasn't enough room in the slot of sunken trail for both feet and trekking poles and the top of the sides were too high for pole placement. By the end of the trip I was better at using the poles in sunken trails and could use them just brushing my ankles as I walked. Even then, the concentration to do this was too much sometimes, and I just picked up the poles. On many washes I stopped using the poles as soon as the rocks and boulders became numerous enough to make pole placement difficult. Ditto for rocky sections of “trail,” up or down. It was faster and easier to negotiate these sections without poles. Also on any steep descent I did not use the poles. I have strong legs, good coordination and balance, and prefer to scamper down without trekking poles. The poles in my opinion gave me little advantage and significantly slowed my descent. I would guess that this is an idiosyncrasy of mine and that many people my age would have preferred to use the poles on these descents. I could see myself twenty years from now, with less spring in my step, reversing my opinion on this matter. The poles worked well and the carbide pole tips provided good grip on slickrock but I didn't use them. I observed quite a few trekking pole scratches on slickrock near trailhead. In keeping with the leave no trace philosophy I decided to not use my poles on the slickrock. I guess I could have used rubber tips to prevent marking the slick rock but I didn't receive the rubber tips I ordered until I returned from the trip. The rubber tip wouldn't have been as useful for the rest of the terrain and changing the tips between terrain is not a viable option. For my trip I didn't find the spring feature of the poles all that useful. It was a rare occasion that I felt the springs significantly activate and even then I couldn't say that it was doing me any real good. In retrospect, I would have ordered the springless poles and saved about 2 ounces. I ordered the poles with springs because I thought they would be a help on hard trails or asphalt and because Leki's website indicated that they were the same weight as the springless poles. Subsequent weighings by BackPackerGearTest members shows that the springless poles are 16 oz and my poles with springs are 18 oz.

Here I am at a canyon rim after a very quick trip up from the bottom. I'm trying to look very rugged and serious but my near perfect farmer tan isn't helping very much.

Finally, there's something wonderful and soothing about the rhythm one hits trekking with poles. It's addictive. I find that with the poles I achieve a natural and efficient hiking pace. Many days I tend to walk much faster than is good for me. This causes me to be an inefficient hiker with subsequent problems of hunger, sore legs and blisters. For some reason the trekking poles put me at the correct speed to avoid these pitfalls while still maintaining a brisk pace. This was the first trip in ten years where my feet didn't blister. -Adventure Alan