The best hiking poles for your next outdoor adventure

The Leki Micro Vario Carbon three-piece Z poles are strong, lightweight, and exceptionally stowable and packable. They were recommended to me by seasoned backpacker Jessica “Dixie” Mills. In addition to completing the triple crown (Appalachian Trail, Continental Divide Trail, and Pacific Crest Trail), she also runs the incredible Homemade Wanderlust gear channel.

What I love most about the Micro Vario is that it’s a telescoping design that’s also very strong. The speed lock system enables you to extend the poles for downhilling and shorten them for uphilling. The lightweight adjustable strap is supportive and the grips are ergonomically designed and comfortable. The Micro Vario Carbon poles pack smaller than most poles I’ve seen. These poles are ideal for long-distance backpacking and alpine use.

The Leki pole features Aergon Thermo grips, which are super comfortable and use an edgeless, rubberized and textured surface that accommodate multiple gripping positions. The wrist straps are made from breathable, lightweight, soft material and provide good support and comfort.

The Z pole sections lock together tightly, and each pole is adjustable in length via the SL2 locking system by 20 cm. The SL2 system is easy to use even when wearing gloves. The External Locking Device is super intuitive and fast and easy to assemble and disassemble with the push of a button.

Additionally, its internal tensioning cable is protected with vinyl. The carbon fiber shafts absorb shocks on hard surfaces well, and the thick shafts are both strong and durable. Each pole sports a small basket to prevent sinking into soft surfaces and protect the lower shaft. The baskets are easily exchangeable without tools. Finally, the flex tips feature tungsten carbide end tips for superior grip in all terrains.

In 2015, I bought the Black Diamond Distance Z Trekking Poles at the recommendation of Brian Smith, an internationally certified mountain guide and lead guide at Exum Mountain Guides. Over six years, I put more than 600 miles on them along the Appalachian Trail. I wore out a set of tungsten carbide tips and replaced them, and wore out the wrist loops and replaced them, too. I’d still have the poles today if I didn’t destroy one tumbling down the Muir Snowfield last summer. It bent into a complete U, but it kept me from bashing my head open on the rocks — so they did their job.

The Black Diamond poles are relatively light at 402 grams per 130 cm pair and are ideal for everyday use by trail runners and day hikers. They are the company’s most affordable Z pole with shafts made from lightweight 7075 aluminum. Since I bought my first pair, they’ve changed the grips from cork to lightweight EVA foam, improved the SlideLock technology, and increased joint durability. The wrist straps are light but supportive and wick away moisture on those high intensity days. The internal tensioning cable is protected by vinyl at the joints and the tips, which feature a small integrated basket, and accommodate both carbide and rubber tech tips. They are also snow basket-compatible and available in seven sizes.

Simply put, these poles performed excellently, especially at a mid-range price point. Plus, Black Diamond offers an excellent warranty. When I destroyed mine five years past the expiration date, they gave me a 40 percent discount on a new pair. While they’re designed for running and fastpacking, I’ve used them on alpine ascents and they held up well.

After I bent the shit out of one of my Black Diamond Z poles, I contacted the company to see about my options. Since they were long past warranty, Black Diamond instead gave me 40 percent off a new pair. Looking to upgrade, I grabbed the Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork poles because they were popular among climbing guides, and I instantly fell in love.

The Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork trekking poles are made from 100 percent carbon fiber and built to withstand four-season use in alpine terrain. The cork grips are comfortable and ergonomically designed. They insulate a bit on cold days and also don’t feel slimy when your hands are sweaty. The rubber tops of the poles are convex and comfortable when pushing off with the palms of your hands. The grips also feature adjustable wrist loop straps to allow you to simultaneously retain your poles and use your hands, and provide your wrists a bit more support when using the poles.

The carbon fiber shafts are durable and lightweight and constructed of three telescoping sections kept in place with aluminum FlickLock Pro locking mechanisms that enable adjustment from 100 to 130 cm (39 to 51 inches). The shafts are marked in 5 cm increments to enable quick adjustments and to ensure both poles are the same length. I like the adjustability of these poles much better than the fixed length Z poles because I can shorten the length when ascending hills and extend them when descending.

The end tips of the poles feature a small 38 mm basket to help keep them from over penetrating soft dirt or snow. They will also accept 100 mm powder baskets if you want to use them for snowshoeing or skiing. The ends are removable and come with carbide tech tips to increase durability and minimize slippage on rock and ice. Grippy rubber tips can be purchased separately.

While these trekking poles are on the more expensive end of the spectrum, they are tough, lightweight, very sturdy, and versatile. While not the lightest trekking poles on the market, they are some of the strongest. Considering I weigh about 215 pounds, I’ll trade a few ounces for the stronger poles as I already destroyed a lighter aluminum pole while tumbling down the Muir Snowfield with a 65 pound pack on my back.

The Ultimate Direction FK Ultra poles are designed for trail running and are some of the lightest I could find on the market. The FK — meaning “fastest known” (time) — are meant for people who do a lot of trail running.

While the handles aren’t the most comfortable and not made of cork, they do offer two different grip zones for two-handed single pole use. The tops of the handles lack rounded ergonomic palm pads, which makes them less comfortable when pushing off. The excessively branded wrist leash straps are thinner than most to save weight, but are very comfortable. The poles themselves have a really light swing weight, making them nice for running.

They come in seven different sizes from 105 cm to 135 cm and are collapsable for easy storage and transportation. The lowest third segment contains an internal custom tensioner to adjust the shaft rigidity. The tapered shaft is designed to increase the strength-to-weight ratio and provide increased rigidity at the joints. The FK Ultra poles also come with two styles of interchangeable baskets for use on snow or dirt. Finally, the pin-style locking mechanism is fairly straightforward and easy to use although it sounds a bit creaky when deploying.

While I prefer adjustable poles, these collapse into a fairly small, stowable package. The light swingweight and grip and wrist strap combination work very well when climbing hills. While these poles excel for trail running, they wouldn’t be my first choice for heavy loads, rugged terrain, and off-trail movement.

The Mountain King Trail Blaze Carbon Ultra Poles are minimalist four-section fixed-length poles specifically designed for ultramarathoners. Ultramarathoners are insane, so I wanted to find the lightest poles available for those gram-conscious maniacs.

The Mountain King Trailblaze poles are very functional and 100 grams lighter than the Ultimate Direction FK Ultras. Plus, they’re easy to deploy and dismantle. But they do have some drawbacks, specifically with the connecting cord and handles.

To deploy the poles, you have to pull up on the internal cable and lay a knot in the cord into a groove in the top of the handle, which leaves about 10 inches of excess cord out of the handle. The designers built a Velcro strap below the padded handle to secure the cord, but it still flops around below the Velcro. I could see how deploying these would suck with cold or gloved hands.

The handles themselves aren’t the smoothest, and some users have noted that they got blisters from the material while using them for extended periods of time, so it might be good to wear thin gloves while using them. The wrist straps are not adjustable (boo!), so you can’t customize the length and fit. Also, the shafts aren’t the burliest, so they’ll flex on you a bit, especially when heavily loaded. They do come with decent mud/snow baskets and tungsten carbide tips, though.

When you’re running 50-plus miles in a day, every ounce matters and these are so light you might forget you are carrying them. Use them for masochistically long ultra trail races, but don’t take them backpacking.

Zpacks is a company well-loved by long-distance backpackers for their exceptionally lightweight equipment, so it’s no surprise they make a pair of well-made, lightweight telescoping poles that are also fairly affordable.

The Zpacks Carbon Fiber trekking poles are made with 100 percent carbon fiber shafts and feature foam or cork grips that offer two grip positions, padded wrist straps, sturdy adjustable clasp locks, a small snow/mud basket, tungsten carbide tips, and rubber road tips for use on pavement.

What I particularly like is that Zpacks sells these poles individually, so if you just want one, you have that option. Of course, you get two poles for a slightly less price per pole. They are also designed to serve as main poles for some of Zpacks’ lightweight tents.