$20 trekking poles by Cascade Mountain Tech

As soon as I learned about hiking poles, I knew I had found an accessory that was going to make my backpacking experience a far better one for years to come, and I firmly believe that is still the case.

When I think about the first backpacking trips I ever went on, the memories that stick out the most were the incredible views from 4th of July Pass in the North Cascades, and how sore my knees felt after hiking on a few miles with a pack on.

The core benefits of hiking poles is stability and reduced strain on the knees as you now have an extra two points on the ground to keep you from falling and take a portion of the walking load. An additional benefit is keeping your arms moving which in turn keeps the blood flowing just a little better.

Now, as far as hiking pole brands go, I have become a fan of Cascade Mountain Tech. They’re hiking poles are well designed with a host of features at prices I find very reasonable. Their base pair of hiking poles are the Aluminum “Performance Walking Poles” prices for $20 on the cascademountaintech.com website.

The Performance Walking Poles boast of the following features:

1. EVA grips
2. Anti-shock handles
3. Twist-lock mechanism for collapsing the poles
4. Neoprene straps
5. Tungsten Carbide tips and extra caps/baskets for different hiking scenarios

Oddly enough, what impressed me the most with these hiking poles was not the advertised features, but some of the little things.

1. The grips are extra-long, giving you additional hand positions to handle different terrains without having to adjust the height of the poles.
2. Reflective material on the straps

 

I tested these poles under two scenarios. One was a family hike up the Dock Butte/Blue Lake trail while carrying my 18 month old daughter on my back. The second was a two night backpacking trip with my 6 year old son up a set of switchbacks taking us to Lower Lena Lake in the Olympic Mountains. In both hikes the Performance Walking Poles performed admirably well helping to maintain stability with a squirmy toddler on my back or with an extra heavy pack going uphill.

These hiking poles were the first ones I’ve ever used that use EVA as their primary gripping material, and overall I was pretty impressed. EVA is comfortable and offers excellent grip. While it doesn’t feel exactly like the cork on my other hiking poles, I didn’t feel anything to make me think that EVA was an inferior material. It just felt a bit different in the hand. Regardless of material, I really appreciate that Cascade Mountain Tech gives around 10 inches of gripping surface. I was able to set my pole length, and when climbing up some taller banks I was able to grip the hiking pole a bit lower for a more comfortable leverage point.

The Twist-lock mechanisms worked well and the poles did not slip out of place at all. Even after my son accidently pulled one section completely out, it went back in and has been operating without a problem at all. Twist-lock mechanisms are the expectation at this price-point, and it was nice to see then working well. They poles are very straightforward to adjust and the internal components give good feedback so you know that you’ve tightened them enough.

Now there is something else to note about the poles that is not mentioned on the box or on the poles themselves, and that is the ability to lock and unlock the shock absorption feature. It is mentioned briefly on the website, but I still managed to walk quite a while with the shock absorbers locked thinking that they just didn’t have much play before realizing I had locked them. It is easy enough to turn off and on. When tightening the pole a definite ‘click’ indicates that the poles are locked. Twisting in the unlock direction just past the ‘click’ indicates that the shock absorbers are unlocked. While the presence of lack of shock absorbers doesn’t play very strongly in my hiking pole decisions, it’s useful to know that it’s a feature that can be turned off and on, and may prevent a few people from locking their poles unintentionally.

While they put “Neoprene Straps” as a feature, I really didn’t notice any difference in comfort compared to my other hiking poles. What I do believe is a feature is the reflective material. A number of years ago we hiked to Blanca Lake and camped in a meadow at the top of a ridge. Our group was coming in two parties so I set up my hike poles as a couple of reference points to help find our tents. In that case I had added reflective tape to my poles, but with the Perfomance Walking Poles that is not necessary. This also provides a measure of safety should you be hiking along a road at night.

I did not put the baskets or the tips through any testing. As a general rule with budget poles I tend to shed those extras almost immediately as they frequently fall off and get lost, joining other litter on the trail. That said, I do keep them around as I want them available in the event that circumstances dictate value to be gained by adding a basket or keeping the tips on.

After using Cascade Mountain Tech’s Aluminum Performance Walking Poles, I believe these hike poles make a fantastic pair of first poles as well as an excellent pair of inexpensive backup poles that can be used in a pinch and will meet most hiking expectations without complaint. The grips are of a good quality and give lots of opportunity for your hand to move around. They are sturdy and the sections don’t slip at all. While the anti-shock does not have much springiness and tend to make the poles a bit noisier, I couldn’t find any serious deficiencies worth complaint. On the contrary I actually enjoyed the fact that I could ‘feel’ the material under the poles much more accurately and continue to focus on the trail.

Graeme A
The Outdoor Adventure Team
Disclosure: This item was received free of charge for review purposes. All reviews are what we would recommend to family and friends.