Pole material?

[amanda]

Last weekend I took a digger in thigh deep powder and bent my pole - life is so tough So now I need new poles, and I was wondering if anyone has preferences or advice on pole material. The ones that I bent were aluminum so I'm looking to upgrade to avoid future bending. I thought that I would upgrade to graphite poles but I'm having a really hard time finding them. Does anyone have thoughts on the composite, carbon, and fiberglass poles? How do these compare to graphite in terms of durability?

 

[Jilly]

I have carbon fiber. I like the light weight or swing weight. As for durability, the last pair were 4 years old and someone thought they were still in good shape - stolen. Hubby has his over 10 year old ones stolen last month. I understand the jibbers like them. Mine were short and they spring better for them. I broke my lock on Saturday, so on Sunday I made DH lock my poles with his stuff. I don't care about a pair of 4 years skis - don't steal my poles again.

 

[volklgirl]

Goode carbon or composite all the way. Mine are still in excellent shape after 20+ years of use.

 

[Lori_K]

Seconding the Goode ski poles!

I have a pair of the G-max. https://www.goode.com/skipolemodel2.html#G-MAX

I've had these poles for... six years now? I go through skis and boots faster than I do poles!

These poles have been through everything, and don't bend. It can be hard to find them in the shop sometimes.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Another Goode vote - Goodes are good. But, like Jilly, DH got his swiped at Sunday River last March - probably 10 years old minimum, not the point. So apparently they're somewhat of a hot commodity - heads up. Or---don't bring them to the east! We are mindful of where we bring ours now, have back-up crummy, cheap aluminum for the, shall we say, more theft-prone resorts...

 

[volklgirl]

Fortunately theft doesn't seem to be as much an issue here. Could be because they're made right here in Michigan and are therefore readily available.

 

[veggielasagna]

Love my Goode G-Max...going strong after a year. Actually gave Mr. VL a pair for Christmas as well, and he likes them too. They're pretty reasonable price wise for a composite I think.

-veggielasagna

 

[Jilly]

I couldn't get my size to replace them, so they're "ODE" poles. We had to cut that much off.

 

[amanda]

Thanks so much for the help ladies! I just ordered a pair of Goode composite poles from Level Nine Sports for only $27.