REVIEW: MSR Talus TR3 Walking Pole

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 UKC Gear 10 Apr 2015
MSR Talus TR3, 4 kbWalking poles are great opinion dividers. There are those who think they are cumbersome wastes of time, and those who swear by them...

Alan James tests the MSR Talus TR3:

"An excellent robust and lightweight pole with an innovative compression system..."

Read more at http://www.ukclimbing.com/gear/review.php?id=7213

 USBRIT 10 Apr 2015
In reply to UKC Gear: I am one who swear by hiking poles . However one wonders if the cost of high end hiking poles is any advantage to some of the cheaper models.. I got a pole on sale from Adi's marked down from £5 to £2.50. An expert in the field of hiking poles took them apart and found they were the same construction as the very expensive Leki poles ....maybe Aldi's are made in the same Chinese factory ??. I now wonder if 80% of the price of expensive poles is often just for the brand name.

In reply to USBRIT:

Well there may be something in that although most of the cheaper poles will inevitably be copies of the more expensive branded versions, using cheaper raw materials often, even if they are made in the same factory. You do pay a bit for a brand, but it is the brands that do most of the innovating hence have higher costs.

I have used four sets of poles over the years (not because I wear them out, but for other reasons) and two have been big brands, two cheaper copies. One of the cheaper copies (Decathlon) was pretty good actually, the other was a terrible heavy copy with a bad handle. One of the big brands was okay but had a bad fastening system, and by far the best were these from MSR - lightest, best collapsing system, best grip and strap. Whether they were 4 times better than the ones from Decathlon is unlikely, but they are three-section hence they fit in my sack ( which the two- section ones don't).

Alan
 TobyA 11 Apr 2015
In reply to Alan James - Rockfax:

Yeah, similar experiences. I bought a pair from Tesco once for a less than a tenner. Remarkably good value until they broke, low quality plastic tightening widgets. I also had an appalling quality pair from that brand Trekmate (IIRC?) that I got cheap from TK Maxx. They just bent then snapped in the lowest sections. Seemed to be made of warm butter.

I've had two pairs of Leki's both have lasted over 20 years. One pair I left last summer outside of a tiny church in deepest darkest Shropshire, but hopefully they've found a good new home. My two piece ones are my ski poles and I'm lousy skier who relies on poles to make up for bad skills at times, and they are still going strong. Unbelievably strong actually. Like my original thermarest, which is 25 years old and still good, going for quality poles seems to work out over the very long term!
 Pedro50 12 Apr 2015
In reply to UKC Gear:

Interesting. I had some Leki poles and grew to hate the twist lock joints, always seizing up and corroding. Bought some Black Diamond Ultra Distance which weigh 278g the pair, since I really only carry them for times when knees or hips begin to hurt, since I really prefer wandering along with my hands in my pockets.
 Doug 12 Apr 2015
Maybe the 'big names' are more robust (I have a pair of Leki sticks which are close to 20 years old although as they are two section they aren't used much for walking) but I did have a Black Diamond 3 section stick break for no obvious reason when skiing (very 'clean' break at one of the joints).

But as someone with knees which seem somehow to have aged more than the rest of me, I find ski sticks almost essential for long descents when walking

 Babika 12 Apr 2015
In reply to UKC Gear:
"Cumbersome waste of time"? Says who?

Flogging up to the Cromlech last weekend in the heat with a sackful of rope and heavy gear my foldable Black Diamonds were brilliant for easing the strain on the lower back.
And coming back down that steep scree they do the same to protect the knees.

They're the 3rd, and best, pair of poles I've had. I wouldn't be without them now.

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