[cascadeclimber]

The Leki poles I bought summer of 2013 have now had four tip failures, where the metal tip pushes through the end of the pole and rattles around in the shaft. The first failure they sent a new tip. The second failure I pulled a tip off another pole. The 3rd and 4th happened on the same 3/4 day hike. I submitted a warranty claim on October 13. On the 14th they requested and I sent a picture of the failed tips. They went silent and did not respond to additional emails after that. I called today and they told me that "due to abuse of the warranty by AT hikers" the tips are not covered. I suggested that if they are having that many failures it's not a warranty issue, but a design or materials issue and that I've never had the metal tip push through the end of a pole made by any other company. So, caveat emptor with Leki. I'm done with their products.

[RichardJ]

My daughter received some Leki poles for her birthday. She hates using poles, but she is going to take them on parts of her PCT thru hike next year. Cascadeclimber, can you tell me which model you have that failed plz?

[DIYSteve]

People still buy Leki poles? Who knew?

[Slide Alder Slayer]

Viewing CC's post it appears the poles did not fail. The tips are a universal piece to any Leki pole. I use BD Spire Flintlock and Leki Khumbu Speed Lock and prefer the Leki. That being said what happened to CC sounds like a bad run of product that Leki should stand by but if Leki isn't going to do the right thing I might not throw the baby out with the bath water and consider purchasing the tips myself.

[cascadeclimber]

[ranger rock]

Do you have pictures? How did the tips fail? I mean did they break off?

[Bryan K]

[Edgewood]

Depends....Didn't buy one but got one.

[cascadeclimber]

[Magellan]

I was unaware you were an AT hiker. Way to go, Leki.

[cascadeclimber]

[Schenk]

I have had Leki poles for years. Komperdell, BD, and a number of others too. The 2 brands that have proven most durable for me are BD and Leki. Leki poles are fine. I use them like poles, not spud bars. hahahaha Tips on high quality poles are designed to break away so you don't ruin a shaft section if you jam a tip between immovable rocks while moving fast. Tips are cheap and designed to be replaced...like brakes and tires on a car.

[cascadeclimber]

[Schenk]

Yes, you do have a problem. My point was mainly that the tips were designed to be replaced. I have lost my balance and slammed every bit of my weight behind my Leki poles into hard granite and not had the failure you have had. Your experience is indeed puzzling. Any chance those things were getting hot enough at some point to cause the plastic to weaken or deform a little around the carbide stud? Like in an automobile trunk or something? Are you getting your replacement tips from the same store? could there be a bad batch of tips out there? Hmm...regardless; one must have confidence in their gear. If you feel it is the fault of the poles and you have done what you consider to be reasonable to avoid the problem and it still happens. then switch brands. I haven't tried it but it looks possible...use BD tips on your Leki poles?

[tigermn]

Well all I can say is I've owned several pairs of BD poles over the years and never had a tip failure..... Now I've bent them myself, and did have the handle come unglued on a pair of 5+ year old poles when hiking in Hawaii in the heat/humidity. Other than that the BD poles have done the job and at least never had any failures that might have caused a fall or accident. The only Leki poles I owned were the screw type that no matter how they were tightened would come loose after a few hours of use and almost caused falls on two hikes. After that I returned them to REI and went with the BD flick locks instead (and the BD poles were significantly cheaper as well, go figure).