[Bowregard]

Trekking poles have sharp points and get dirty so I don't like placing them directly in the car. So far that has meant keeping them in a cardboard box. I found some lightweight plastic pipe and ends to make a case @ Home Depot plumbing. The 4" DIA pipe is solid (no drain hole type) and 4" PVC caps fit over it just right. One end I glued on permanently (epoxy or gel-type super glue) and the other needs to be removable. I came up with two designs (trekking poles fit in cases - shown sticking out for reference only): 1. The one with a green stripe has 4 square holes cut in the pipe and 4 matching tabs cut in the cap with epoxy bumps on the inside to fit into the holes. The cap stays on OK but could do with larger bumps. The green stripe is just to show how the cap fits on since I wasn't careful to make it symmetrical. 2. The blank white one has 2 keyed cutouts routed out of the pipe and 2 matching bumps on the inside of the cap. It is hard to see but the routed slot raises up slightly to "lock" and keep it from sliding out. I made the bumps by starting from a 4" black PVC coupler and cutting out circular bumps with a woodworkers plug cutter (3/8"). The idea was to get a fairly close match of the 4" curvature but I'm not sure it really matters. I used black PVC so the bumps would be easy to see and match up with the slots. I roughed up the PVC surfaces and glued in the bumps with gel-type superglue. It holds better than the tab-type and if I were to make another I would make the slot deeper but with about 1/2 the rotation (to stiffen up the section above the slot). The cases each fit two sets of trekking poles and I plan to add handles for ease of carrying. My questions are: 1. Any other suggestions for ways to secure the end cap? 2. Any other ideas to improve the design or added features? 3. Anybody found a better solution?

[Bernardo]

Nice work! Feel free to laugh but I keep my dirty boots and poles in Trader Joe‘s paper bags. They are sturdy enough to hold together even with wet gear and they are breathable enough to dry out. I remove the gear from the car when I return from hiking and I reuse the bags until that‘s not practical. Where do you put your wet and muddy boots?

[Bowregard]

Boots go in a cardboard box - after knocking the worst of the mud/dust off of them.

[Malachai Constant]

Boots if soaked go on a Peets boot dryer then take them off before they are totally dry and put them on a rack. Rewaterproof if necessary.

[cyrucom]

Nice solution! Sharp stuff in the car is always worrisome. I really like the notched version. I'm not sure if they make pipes like that with threaded ends, but a screw-on cap might be more secure. I've seen people strap fishing poles under the roof of the car, could be another option. In my mind, (not very helpful or the most economical) the best place to put trekking poles, ice axes, crampons etc is in the ski box I have on the roof of my subaru. can just toss stuff up there at the end of the day and not have to worry about wether it's wet or dirty.

[Gil]

Dude.

[Lazyhiker]

I put my z-poles and dirty boots in a boot tray in the way back of the Jeep. Z-poles folded of course.

[Bowregard]

I made one more for my use (other two will go to my daughters):

I increased the key "tang" to make it stronger and shortened the twist angle for closure. Then painted and added handles to all three. They hold 2 sets of poles easily (might be able to get three in but that would be tight). If the lid gives me any problems with staying on I will bond in a little foam into the top of it to add some pressure to "lock" it in the closed position. Handle is made from those plastic bands that I seem to accumulate from luggage and such. Two slots in the tube, loop the band through, epoxy it together (lap joint), then rotate the bonded joint back inside the tube before the epoxy fully hardens. Added red arrows to ease lining up lid for closure (and to make it easy to find which side the lid is on).