I’m a terrible shi^H^H^H magpie and I hate throwing anything away if it might be useful. The other week I managed to ruin a walking pole… it got bent when a big fat lump fell on it, me! In my attempt to gently straighten it out, it bent back and there is a fold/crease in the aluminium tube. It’s gubbed to use a technical term.
I had an old pair of Leki poles… much heavier than these so I have dug them out of the store (back of the old shed) and cleaned them up. The mechanisms now work and they collapse when I want not when they want. I only bought the new ones as I had a voucher to use at an outdoor shop.
So I have one used but functional pole and one that is bent/folded in. Given that all the parts on the Lekis are available if they break, the old poles wont be used for Leki repairs. So what can I use the other one and half for? There has to be some SOTA device that can be made from the bits?
Come one, someone must have a done something with walking pole parts?
I’d be keeping an eye on eBay to see whether someone else had done the same “fall on pole” trick and were offering them for spares. I can see why you now live up in GM. With so many GM summits under the belt, the Scottish mentality has rubbed off on me as well. I now bathe regularly in WD40.
the 3 sections of many poles from different manufacturers are the same diameter. I have hybridised / cannibalised many old poles to make working pairs. Even finding old poles or sections on the hill sometimes.
Which section (ground, middle, hand) did you customise and I’ll let you have a spare!
As I bimble my way through life, I have been pleasantly surprised at how often Murphy’s law fails when it comes to finding random things that can be assembled together in projects.
I suppose that designers of all things tend to use stock sizes, or at least specify sizes in “round numbers” of the units they work in. For walking poles, I guess the designers will be calculating on very similar load bearing requirements, and it is encouraging that they arrive at the same end result!
Well what a fine generous offer Colwyn. I took the really bent one apart to inspect the damage before stashing the parts where the boss wouldn’t see them and bin them… I’ll have to go and check and let you know.
What I did notice is the difference in the size of the friction fittings in the Leki vs the cheap poles. The Lekis are Makalus from at least 2007, that’s when I bought them second hand. The cheaper ones are TrekMate Tradlites. The adjustment mechanisms in the Lekis must be twice the size of the TrekMate. Now I’ve cleaned all the aluminium oxide, soil and grot out of the insides and cleaned the friction fittings, they adjust nicely. Well a bit jerky because even the Lekis have suffered some bending forces!
I recall I did once use the contoured handle from a broken walking pole for an acoustic guitar case. It worked quite well threaded with some old 11mm climbing rope, and the case is still in use, although it is a bit heavy.
I’ve been refurbishing old Android devices. I have an old Gen 1 MotoG 4G which was on Android 5.1 and a Nexus 7 2012 tablet on 5.1 as well. The Nexus 7 was rendered unusable by the 5.1 upgrade… well it worked but would freeze for 30-60secs at a time. The phone worked but there were so many security holes in the software I was relecutant to rely on it.
I’m happy to say that installing LineageOS 14.1 on the phone gives me an Android 7.1.1 phone with all the updates to March 2018. The tablet has a 7.1.1 Android as well and the lock ups have gone but it’s a less up to date image. The important thing is everything works fine on the phone, 4G, wifi, Bluetooth, GPS, camera etc. and has given me the confidence to bring my main phone up to date the same way.
If you have an old Android phone that works but no longer gets updates etc. then installing LineageOS is as straightforward as following the instructions in order. I was suprised how painless it was and will bring the phone up to date. Certainly cheaper than an Iphone X upgrade. It also means you can buy an oddball Chinese phone for pennies and update it to a European version of Android without the built in PRC spying software
Recycle them so they can be melted down and turned into something useful, like beer cans. Then buy a new set of Leki’s, the only light weight, collapsible walking sticks worth the beer cans they replace.
Ah yes, trying to straighten a bent pole without heating it first. Classic error. When I was a ski patroller we used to collect bent poles, repair them, then sell them to raise money. We even had a special vice for it. Anyone encountering the same issue would be well advised to wait before attempting to straighten them.
As for what to do with the bent one, depending on where the bend is you can saw off the bent part and just keep using it, albeit at a shorter length. Maybe somebody not as tall as you might appreciate them.
I was bored so scanning eBay to see if there was essential tat I need to buy to make my life complete and spotted a pole similar to my remaining good one. Careful examination of the pictures showed it was identical and the buy-it-now price plus p&p was cheaper than I could buy something new. So I punted and it arrived today. Not sure why it was sold as used… it is brand new with not a mark on it.
Why spend money on a “used” pole to complete a pair when I have my Lekis that are still going strong 2+ years on? Well I have a car and a pickup and depending which one is used to go SOTAing in means I have to play musical-walking-gear and transfer stuff back and forwards. I solved the problem of forgetting the antenna support by leaving it with the poles in the car. Then I solved the problem of forgetting to transfer it by using a short pole which can stay attached to the rucksack. Now with 2 sets of poles I can leave a set in each vehicle.
Oh how good it is to solve 1st world problems like these
Teach me to point out my 25+ year old Lekis were going strong. I came to collapse them and the bottom section just rotated. Some vigorous application of force removed it and I found the fitting the rubbery bit screws onto was rotating in the aluminium tube. I remember we worked on this at Geoff G6MZX’s house once. I applied force with a vice and some repeated hammering but it’s only just holding and once it starts supporting my lardy weight it will fail. Boo!
Lucikly there was YAWP (yet another walking pole) in the junk store, the bottom section is a perfect fit. So back to 2 sets of poles again. Albeit with a different coloured section. But, when they’re covered in mud again who will notice?
Yes, I had looked at the UK supplier of Leki spares and then sat down till my heart rate recovered. A single lower section for my old style pole is £21 +£3.50 post. That’s not cost effective as I would still have poles made from components with 25 years of wear.
It’s less value when you factor in Leki now make retro or vintage style poles again for quite cheap prices compared to the modern versions. A pair of Leki Eagles are only £37 and look near identical to these old Makalus. Modern Lekis are lighter and have the quick locks but are seriously pricey. But you can get carbon fibre or Titanium. I’m not sure that £160 just because the material is high tech is justifiable.
I shall keep another watching brief ob eBay and see what turns up and in the meantime use the odd replacement part.
