High Trek Premium Ultralight Trekking Pole Review

​Who Is This Product For?

​With a range of 25 to to 55 inches, High Trek Premium Ultralight Trekking Poles are good for short-to-tall hikers.

The quick lock design simplifies changing the height of the poles, creating a user-friendly way to fit them for your needs. 

With five color options, they are suitable for men and women. In fact, couples can easily keep track of their own poles when they choose two different color options.  

Due to their sturdy construction, these trekking poles can ease walking for people who have difficulty navigating pathways on their own. Their simple design helps to improve mobility for individuals dealing with joint issues.

​What's Included?

​Sold as a streamlined hiking stick option, your High Trek Premium Ultralight Trekking Poles include only the essentials.

Your purchase comes with replaceable rubber tips designed to strengthen your hiking sticks, tungsten carbide tips and protective covers, and mud baskets designed to prevent the poles from slipping into the ground.

If you opt to buy the accessory kit, which can be purchased separately, you get a set of snow baskets, monster feet, and a carrying bag.

Your purchase also includes a one year manufacturer's warranty on defects.

​Overview of the Features

​High Trek Premium Ultralight Trekking Poles are crafted from lightweight aerospace-grade aluminum, which gives them their strength and durability.

They easily support your body weight, minimizing the risk of fatigue and cramping on long treks for fit individuals and short ones for walkers with injuries or limited mobility. 

Each pole weighs only 10.7 ounces each when the protective tips and snow baskets are attached.

An easy flip motion is used to collapse the poles for easy storage, transport, or height adjustment. Despite being simple to use, the quick lock provides a secure placement for your pole height, even while trekking on uneven terrain. These easy-to-use lever locks prevent accidental retraction.

The flip locks assist you in retracting your poles to 25 inches for easy storage in a carry bag or backpack. The poles fold easily for quick storage. Just pack up your gear and you are ready to go in minutes.

The sweat-absorbing EVA grips keeps moisture at bay. They are large and comfortable, adding to the fun of your journey. You can easily prevent accidental drops by slipping your hands through the wrist straps each time that you use your trekking poles.

The tungsten tips are suited for difficult terrain. and the rubber tips for softer ground. Both types offer an added layer of protection for the bottom of your poles, and they are easily replaced.

If you are one of the many hikers who want a touch of color for their trekking poles, you won't be disappointed. High Trek Premium Ultralight Trekking Poles are currently available in five attractive colors, including Cloverfield Green, Sky Blue, Pink, Purple Sky, and QuickSilver.

​How to Use

​Even if you are new to hiking, High Trek Premium Ultralight Trekking Poles are easy to use.

Once you receive your poles, use the twist lock device to adjust their height. The lock stays in place, preventing accidentally collapsing your poles.

You may need to adjust the height of your poles throughout your trek, depending on the inclines and terrain that you encounter.

Be sure to place your hand through the wrist strap and wrap your hand firmly around the padded grip for a secure, comfortable fit.

When needed, mud and snow baskets attach easily to the feet of your poles.

​Alternative

​Maybe you aren't sure that High Trek is offering you exactly what you want in your walking sticks.

If this is the case, consider Foxelli Trekking Poles. They have the same length as the pair described here, and they are extremely lightweight.

You will pay approximately twice as much for a pair from Foxelli as you would a set from High Trek. 

However, a number of accessories are included in your purchase, including mud baskets, asphalt tips, rubber tips, and snow baskets.

​Final Verdict

​If you enjoy adventures in nature, you should take advantage of a pair of trekking poles offering affordability, portability, and stability.

High Trek Premium Ultralight Trekking Poles provide one of the longest heights available today along with a lightweight construction delivering strength and durability.

The wide variety of colors adds personality to your poles.

Both men and women can use these poles, which provide an easy quick lock system to adjust the height with ease. It's important to note that this style of trekking poles is better suited to moderate hiking conditions rather than to extreme ones.

​Alpine Summit Trekking Pole Review

​Who Is This Product For?

Alpine Summit Explorer Edition Trekking Poles are meant for just about anybody who spends much time on the hiking trail--day hikers, backpackers, hunters, mountaineers navigating to the start of their climbs--as well as people who might want or need walking support for paved paths or sidewalks.

Certainly backpackers and climbers who carry heavy loads will appreciate the reduced strain on hips and legs that can result from using trekking poles.

Casual day hikers, though, can also get plenty of benefit: not least when contending with steep ascents or descents, hard switchbacks, or simply unstable footing, from mud to gloppy snow.

​What's Included

​This package includes a pair of telescopic Alpine Summit Explorer Edition Trekking Poles as well as accessories for the tungsten tips:

• a pair each of removable anti-shock rubber tips
• more rugged and robust "Monster" tips
• broad and slotted snow baskets
• narrower, solid mud and snow combo baskets

​The whole shebang comes with a 30-day return window and a one-year warranty against manufacturer defects as well.

​Overview of the Features

​Poles

​The Alpine Summit Explorer Edition Trekking Poles are telescopic poles made from 7075 aerospace-grade aluminum.

Though aluminum is the slightly heavier of the two most common trekking-pole materials--carbon-fiber is the other--these Explorer Editions are quite lightweight at 8.8 ounces each, and they're less prone to shattering than carbon-fiber alternatives.

Two telescoping sections allow you to adjust the length of these Alpine Summit poles between 25 and 53 inches. This means you can collapse them for compact storage inside a pack or strapped on the outside of one, and adjust the length to respond to different grades.

​Locks

The locking mechanism is lever-based: a fliplock you snap open and closed and adjust with an easy-to-twist nut. This provides quite a reliable lock as compared with those telescoping poles that twist to tighten or loosen.

Handles

The Alpine Summit Explorer Edition poles' handles are made from cork, which makes for an ergonomic grip that wicks away perspiration and insulates your hands. 

Straps

The handle straps are adjustable as well so you can support your wrist in a comfortable position; a poor grip may not seem like a big deal, but across extended hikes it can lead to major hand and wrist soreness.

Tips

These trekking poles boast tungsten tips for firm traction as well as a variety of tip accessories for different substrates. 

The shock-absorbing rubber tips cushion the poles (and your arms) when you're using them on hard-packed surfaces, bare rock, or pavement.

The rubber Monster tips serve as a more beefed-up anti-shock option.

Baskets

Broad baskets provide a snowshoe effect on snowpack, while the solid mud and snow combo baskets improve purchase on muddy or sloppy trails.

​How to Use

​While choosing the proper trekking-pole length is partly about personal preference and a bit of trial-and-error, there are certainly some basic principles to it.

Generally you'll be lengthening them when going downhill, shortening them when going uphill. On level trails, you'll usually want to keep the poles at a length that sees your forearms in parallel with the ground--your elbows at a right angle, in other words.

The most natural way to use Alpine Summit or any other trekking poles is via an alternating pattern, with the left-hand pole advancing with the right leg, and vice versa.

When going uphill or downhill, you may end up double-planting the poles and then taking steps braced by both pole-tips on the ground.

Besides serving as general walking aids, trekking poles provide all kinds of additional uses in the wilderness: from probing the depth of streams and snowpacks to supporting tarp shelters.

​Alternative

​As we've mentioned, carbon-fiber poles tend to weigh less than aluminum ones, which is a particular advantage for ultra-light hikers and backpackers.

For these pared-down ultra-light trekkers, the Alpine Summit Explorer Edition poles, light as they are, may be unreasonably heavy.

While we tend to find lever-lock poles more reliable than twist-lock versions, you may prefer the latter.

You might also opt for trekking poles with handles of different construction than the Explorer Edition cork: Rubber is another possibility--a great insulator for cold-season hiking--while foam can be ultra-comfortable and moisture-resistant.

​Conclusion

​Alpine Summit Trekking Poles are a super-solid and enticingly inexpensive option for any hiker, backpacker, or around-the-town walker looking to improve their balance and footing while reducing lower-body strain.

Their relatively light weight, easy adjustability, comfortable cork grips, and various tip accessories make them a great choice for everything from front-country rambles to extended wilderness adventures.