[at-l] Rubber tips for Komperdell poles

[Phil.Heffington@oc.edu (Phil Heffington)]

Jim wrote:

"I've got a pair of Komperdell's (by REI) which I like quite a bit.  To
alleviate the possible problem of trail damage, I got a pair of rubber
tips.  These didn't come with the poles, but REI carries them.  With the
tips, the poles make no discernable impression on a hard-packed trail
surface.  The pair of tips weigh one ounce."

I have also used the rubber tips for the Komperdell poles which I also bought from REI.  Unfortunately there is a difference between the effectiveness of the Komperdell rubber tips and those which I also bought for the set of Leki poles my wife uses.  

The Komperdell tips are pure rubber.  This means that they stick onto the end of the pole and sort of contour to the pole.  This sounds good, but after a few miles of use the rubber tips are perforated by the poles and the tips begin to ride up further and further on the pole, thus making them ineffective.  I've tried to solve this problem by inserting a small, and I mean very small, washer in the bottom of the tip, but this will make the tip too loose to fit the pole unless the carbide tip of the pole is removed, or the end of the pole is cut off.

The Leki tips have an internal metal restrictor build into them to prevent this from happening.  Unfortunately, they will not fit the Komperdells.

I am either going to use my second set of tips on my Komperdells or use my wife's Lekis for my hike this year through the worst rocks at the north end of the AT in Pennsylvania.  I'm sentimentally (although certainly not logically) attached to my Komperdells, but I no longer expect the rubber tips to work on them for very long.