Walmart Bargain!

[TinAbbey]

Just an FYI, I got a pair of walmart treking poles for $15. they used to be $10 each. And these are blue! I couldn't resist a blowout like this.

[bigboots]

No offense to Walmart but I wonder how log $15 poles will last.

[Phreak]

No offense to Walmart but I wonder how log $15 poles will last.

If they last a few trips, he got his moneys worth.

[CowHead]

I have a pair and the so far going on 9 months without any issues hike rocky PA and MD with them

[Nest]

Saw 2 pair make it on a thru hike this year. Saw some break after just a week. For $15, it's worth the gamble.

[Serial 07]

my boy snackies hiked with those things for a long time...he also had to replace'em at every walmart he saw though...sometimes they malfunction before we even left the parking lot...but that's also snackies...

[papa john]

Walmart doesn't make them, they just sell them. I have a pair and they have lasted me several years.

[aaroniguana]

The blue ones are the same SwissGear as the red ones. Target has green ones with the Coleman name on them. I would not be one bit surprised to learn that they both come from the same factory in China. I have a black pair that I bought in a surplus store in SoMD. I don't expect to get the life of a set of Lekis out of them but they work for now.

[Blue Jay]

But they don't say Leki, oh the horror.

[Low Impact]

I had a pair of the 15$ poles you are writing about last year when I hiked The Long Trail. They held up pretty well. I decided to take them out on this year's AT Thru - and they only made it to Big Bald. I ended up tossing em at Mountain Harbor Hostel.

So yea - I got about... I dunno... 500 - 600 miles out of them total. Not bad for 15$.

[weary]

If they last a few trips, he got his moneys worth.

My homemade walking staff -- with a Komperdell grip, compass and strap -- cost $12 a decade ago and has never needed repairs . Nor for that matter, has the alder pole (total cost 83 cents for a crutch tip) I used for a Georgia to Maine walk in 1993. I retired it only because it had so many memories associated with the staff, I worried it might break and cause me to sob.

We surely are a "buying society" but not everything we buy makes economic sense.

I haven't seen the Walmart version of hiking sticks, but I suspect the $15 version, is not significantly lighter than my several 8-9 ounce sticks that I make from time to time and give away.

Weary

[Manwich]

My Walmart Pair I bought this time last year has survived 2 trips up and down Mount Washington (Tuckerman/Tuckerman and Presidential Traverse) and over 200 Miles of AT

I had a pair of expensive leki poles that broke my first trip with them.

[aaroniguana]

But they don't say Leki, oh the horror.

They could say Leki if I wanted them to... I have a sharpie...

[JimM]

I like mine. It helped me deal with a tender knee while spending some time in the woods. If nothing else, it gives me a good basis for comparison with the higher priced versions. Pretty good bang for the buck.

[TomWc]

I like mine too, swissgear puts a lifetime warranty on them and walmart will replace them as stated earlier in the thread.

[Red Hat]

my boy snackies hiked with those things for a long time...he also had to replace'em at every walmart he saw though...sometimes they malfunction before we even left the parking lot...but that's also snackies...

I met Snackies at the Long Trail Festival. Hope he's doing well after his hike. Nice kid (to me everyone is pretty much a kid)

[warren doyle]

A $1 used ski pole bought at a thrift store/yard sale works for me.

[Jim Adams]

They should last long...they are about 3 times heavier than Leki's

geek

[Blissful]

(Hey Warren, good to see you again!)

Unfortunately my son's from Wally world lasted one trip before they were bent at the tips. But we started them in the Whites too.

[Wise Old Owl]

No offense to Walmart but I wonder how log $15 poles will last.

actually we as a group have discussed this before - my pair has gone two years and I modified one to accept the digital camera as a monopod. (this is the same pair campmor offered two years ago at $60)

NYKNOW