View Full Version : BD Alpine Carbon Cork vs Leki Corklite Trekking Poles
Sorry, I know it's a common ? but have googled it and the last I found specific to these two at the current price of $159 was 2010-2012. Mountain Crossing only sold Leki, my local outfitter only sells BD. Reviews are split. What ever a person buys they like, so I know I won't go wrong with either and am splitting hairs. Both have a great lock systems. Leki goes to 165 cm while BD tops at 160; so is that a major factor? For some reason, I get the feeling Thur Hikers like Leki, possibly because of customer service but again I am looking for this years thoughts. Have waited for two years and it looks like this may be my Christmas Present with money saved going to Spring Underquilt/TQ so every $ counts...lol. Thanks for another same as the others (thread). :D
Odd Man Out
11-24-2014, 21:25
I have the BD ergo alpine carbon cork. On these the handles are angled slightly. Supposedly more economical. I do like them a lot. I'm 6'0" and set them at 125 cm. You would have to be very tall to use them at 160 cm. I especially like the straps. They are asymmetric (right and left handed) so they fit very well, well padded. Have not use Leki so I can't compare. They are fairly heavy so probably not for the UL crowd.
I like my Black Diamond Alpine Carbon Cork poles. They are quite strong but one of them broke early on my Colorado Trail thru hike. However, I was able to rig the broken section so that it was still usable for the rest of the trip. Black Diamond replaced the broken segment under warranty after my hike even though the break was kind of my fault ... I used it to break a fall and in the process put a lot of weight on it...
Thank you both for the responses. I really appreciated the stat of being 6ft because that is my height and one reason I questioned the 160 cm vs. 165. Coffee, your story of the use on the Colorado Trail and their warranty added to my confusion. :) I almost went with the BD's however; the weight and the need to purchase alternative rubber tips swayed me to the Leki poles. I will also use the poles to set a hammock tarp into porch mode and felt the 5 cm may make a difference. One review on Amazon came from an AT hiker that hit the key aspects of durabiliity (especially the cork handles) dependability, bendability (from falls), and usefulness of the tips as well as the ease that both poles offer in the quicklock systems. As stated, it is really splitting hairs and either would work. Just happy to get the wife to order any set of Trekking poles for Christmas!