It was on this trip that I really noticed the effect of the shock absorbers on the descent.  When I leaned forward to make a steep down-step and put most of my weight on the poles, I could really feel them snap back when I took my weight off on the landing.  Though I cannot tell how much stress they are reducing in my wrists during this type of use, it must be quite a bit for me to be able to feel the relaxation of the "springs" in the poles.

Linda Vista/Pusch Ridge

The Linda Vista trail is a local favorite of mine. It is a nice little loop on the bajada that descends from the canyon behind Pusch Ridge, and I normally just do the loop.  This time I decided to do as much of the ridge ascent spur trail as my legs would allow, as I had already done a good run at daybreak.  The trail turned very steep, at times requiring me to hold both poles in one hand and use the other to grasp the rocks for a handhold.  The picture at left shows the view back down the canyon.

The poles did a great job gripping both the rock and gravel on the trail.  They did not slip once.  On this hike I extended the lower segment to the maximum length, and extended the upper pole segment just enough for comfort.  I experienced less vibration of the poles when striking the ground this time.  I am going to have to play around with different amounts of extension of the upper and lower segments to see where the maximum and minimum vibration points are, but certainly a longer extension on the lower segment greatly diminished the horizontal vibration I had noticed before.


On descents I have made very effective use of the shape of the top of the pole handles.  I use the poles almost as "crutches" to minimize the strain on my knees when stepping down from very high steps or rocks.  With the straps around my wrists, and using my smaller fingers to hold the handles as much as possible I can walk almost indefinitely using the poles as shown in the photo at right.  In the photo I did not have the straps around my wrists, as I had removed them to use both hands to access my camera, but in normal use I would have the straps on.

This technique has been very effective for me on descents, as I can switch my hands to the top of the handle without breaking stride.  This gives me maximum extension of the poles, and allows me to put most of my weight directly over them.

The foam extension below the shock absorber has been less useful to me so far.  I have tried using them when ascending steep areas, but I don't like taking my hands out of the straps as I have to break stride to do so.  Most of the trails I have been on do not have long enough stretches of steep inclines to warrant using the extensions.  I will continue to look for opportunities to use them.

Pima Canyon

I seem to be returning to Pima Canyon about every six months, and did so with the Trail Shock poles in mid-November.  It is a trail that screams out for pole use: lots of elevation change, large boulder steps, and areas of gravel and scree that make it easy to lose footing.  On the flip side the brush impinges constantly on the trail, making it difficult to swing poles without catching on something.

During the ascent the FlickLock on the lower segment of one of the poles slipped several times, indicating that I really should have tensioned the phillips-head screw before the hike, or brought a tool that had such a screw driver with me.  Unfortunately for me, I had done neither of these tasks.  The photo at left shows the two poles after a few slips, where the difference in length is about the size of the pole handle.

On the descent things got worse.  As stated above I often use poles as "crutches" on descents and put a lot of my weight on them.  By the time I returned to the trailhead I had to re-adjust the pole length about a dozen times.  In several cases the slip occurred when I had my full weight on the poles, causing me to lurch forward, not something I like to do.

By the time the hike was completed I was feeling very aggravated.  I was angry at myself for not being better prepared with a multitool on the hike.  I was angry with the manufacturer for designing a product that required me to be prepared with a tool.  In my opinion, the FlickLocks should either have a thumbscrew on them that allows me to tighten them without a tool, or a small phillips screwdriver should be embedded in the handle or some other location so that the user always has the means to tension the FlickLocks.

On the descent I also used the foam handle extensions.   I began my descent by extending the upper and lower segments of both poles to their maximum length to minimize my forward lean.  When I encountered a trail section where it looked like I had to ascend for 30+ steps, I removed the wrist straps and choked up on the poles using the handle extensions.  When I completed the short climb, I re-inserted my wrists into the straps.  This worked just fine, but I found as time went on I had a tendency to just tough it out on short ascents and simply stretch my arms out in front of me using the straps & handles.  I am accustomed to this type of motion from many years of cross-country skiing, where long poles are the norm.

Alamo Springs Trail in the Tortolitas

This time I came equipped with my trusty Swiss Army knife with its phillips screwdriver.  At the beginning of the hike I tightened up the set screw until I could no longer close the FlickLock that had been slipping, then backed it off a bit so it functioned properly.  I had no more issues with slippage in that section.  However, at the very end of the hike I had one last hill to climb and used the poles aggressively to propel me up as my legs were getting really tired.  Another section slipped!  Before I set out on my next hike I am going to take the time to tension all the FlickLocks.

Other than that issue the poles performed flawlessly.  The Tortolitas are smaller mountains on the Northwest edge of the Tucson valley, just a 15 minute drive from my house.  I had never taken the Alamo Springs trail before, but it's a sweety with nice elevation, lots of statuesque saguaro cacti, and a soft and easy return down the Wild Burro wash.  I was very pleased with the poles in the sandy wash area, allowing me to keep a good pace in the soft ground despite my fatigued legs.  I found that extending the poles a bit longer than usual gave me maximum propulsion in the level sand.

Ragged Top

I can't believe I have lived in Tucson for a year-and-a-half and  just finally made it to Ragged Top.  The Ironwood Forest National Monument is fairly new, receiving its designation at the end of the Clinton administration.  It is one of the most biologically diverse areas of the Sonoran Desert, including what is believed to be one of the two remaining herds of desert bighorn sheep in southern Arizona.  The good news: I saw their scat on this trip.  The bad news: I didn't see the sheep (yet!).  Ragged Top is the highest mountain in the Silverbell range, and is scalable without climbing gear with some moderate scrambling.  This is not a hiking area for people who are afraid of heights.

I would normally not have used poles on a hike like this.  As can be seen from the photo at right with both the pole and the saguaro cactus as inclinometers, I would judge the majority of the climbing was at about a 45-degree angle, typically conditions where I would want to use my hands to grab rocks or shrubs to steady myself.  I decided to hike with the poles to test them under the most extreme conditions I thought I could safely handle.  I didn't make it all the way to the summit, as I was hiking alone and was concerned about the descent; if I fell there was nobody around to pick up my carcass.

The Trail Shocks performed well on this hike.  They bit nicely in the scree, and did not slip on me even once.  One of the things I really like about these poles is the sturdiness; I can put all my weight on them during descents and not have any mental anguish about them bending or giving way under my prodigious weight.  I had no problems with any of the FlickLocks slipping; I think I have them well-tightened now.

A week later I returned to the mountain determined to make it to the top.  There is a popular loop hike that takes the North gully on the way up and descends on the South face.  When I hit the steep part of the gully I had to stow the poles on my lumbar pack, where I lashed them horizontally to the front of the pack.  I appreciated how small these poles do compress down with the three sections.  They protruded a bit off to my sides and snagged several times on brush, but never pulled out of the lashings.  I retrieved the poles after descending to flatter ground on the North side of the mountain, and used them to pick my way down the remainder of the bajada.

At the end of this hike the pole handles had several cactus spines embedded in them.  There is no real trail at Ragged Top, and I was constantly walking through Jumping Cholla, picking up quite a few on my pants legs.  I will have to go over the handles with needle-nose pliers to make sure I have all the spines pulled out to avoid irritating my hands.  This is not a negative reflection of the pole design; any kind of padding will pick up cactus spines.  I would rather remove them after the hike than not have sufficient padding on the pole handles.

Safford (Sombrero) Peak

Another combination of hiking & climbing.  I used the poles for about 2/3 of the trip, and strapped them to my lumbar pack for the remainder of the ascent to use my handles to scramble.  I used them more on the descent to help save my knees.  Once again I could really feel the effect of the shock absorbers, feeling them bounce back when I took my weight off the poles on the descent.  My wrists were a little sore after this hike from using them so much to support my weight, and I don't think with all the pressure I was putting on them that the shock absorbers could have prevented it.

This was the first hike that I really appreciated the foam handle extensions.  On the descent I went off-trail and followed a contour line for quite a distance, with a side slope of about 45 degrees.  I choked up on the left (uphill) pole for the whole section of the hike, and appreciated not having to raise my uphill arm so high to dig in to the ground.

Summary

Overall I am very happy with these poles.  When the FlickLocks are properly tensioned I trust the poles to support most of my weight.

Things I like about the Black Diamond Trail Shock poles:

• Shock absorbers were quiet and effective
• Comfort on my hands and wrists
• Well-designed handle tops allow me to use the poles as "crutches" on steep descents
• Sturdy: I never felt any concern about bending or breaking the poles
• FlickLock adjustments are easy to use
• With the three sections the poles telescope down into a compact size
• Foam handle extensions are handy when following a contour with a steep side grade.
  

Opportunities for improvement:

• FlickLock tension should be either adjustable without a special tool, or the tool should be provided and stored within the poles.
  
• I feel conflicted whether I like the ability to adjust both segments of the pole lengths or not.  It certainly allows more flexibility, but I found it a bit of a pain to get the two poles to exactly match up, and I had to keep four FlockLocks properly tensioned instead of two.
  

This concludes my Field Report.

This hike was about 50% wash walking, with very loose sand, almost like walking on a beach.  I was happy to have my trusty Trail Shock poles with me, as I really needed the propulsion in the sand.  There wasn't much need for the shock absorbers under these conditions, but they didn't slow me down either.

Summary

This picture illustrates how I feel about these poles after using them for 4 months, as expressed by the skeleton of a deceased Saguaro cactus: I say "yay", these are great poles.  I don't have much detail to add to the bullet points from my Field Report.  The main data point to add is I had absolutely zero slippage of the FlickLocks once they were fully tensioned.

The conclusion I have drawn is that the FlickLocks are very reliable once they have been properly tensioned, but mine did not come shipped that way, I had to tension them correctly myself.

As to the utility of the shock absorbers, that is very hard to objectively determine.  I certainly had no ill effects to my wrists and hands from the long distances I traversed on very rocky trails.  I certainly knew the shock absorbers were there on the descents.

Subjectively, I liked the shock absorbers.  The "feel" of the poles was a little softer on hard surfaces.

The poles have held up well despite the harsh desert conditions they were exposed to.  I certainly made no attempt to treat them easily.  A few scratches on the paint are the worst they have suffered.

My bottom line is the Trail Shock poles have earned a permanent spot in my kit.