>>592565Only once ever stumbled upon a person using sticks that made for decent poles.
I got my trekking poles entirely for free. Found a pair of aluminum pokes that had the mechanism for adjusting the height and collapsing them break.
I JB welded the two sections together and Gorilla taped them together just to be sure. They were telescoping poles so the tape helped with the JB weld from them collapsing again.
I ditched them in the middle of a thunderstorm hiking through open fields with two days left on my month long trip.
By that time my legs were strong enough to manage the climbs and descents but it put into perspective how much they really do help.
My next project is to build my own 100% carbon fiber trekking poles for as cheap as possible. Right now I expect to spend ~$100 but am still searching for ways to source the materials I need for less.
