Kelty  Discovery 2.0 Trekking Poles - Pair

I bought these poles for an extended backpacking trip and they fell apart after 3 days on the trail. The twist-closed design seems to be extremely vulnerable to wear and tear, and the springs tend to pop out irreversibly when the joints jam and you try to fix them. If you're looking for cheap trekking poles I'd go for a secondhand gear exchange, or a good pair of sticks.

Pieces of the baskets broke off during my 1st hike with them. I returned these poles the next day. Kelty baskets are made of Polyurethane (PU) a slightly flexible plastic and do not flex like the REI brand baskets that appear to be made of a hard rubber. REI does not publish what their baskets are made of. The REI salesperson I spoke to said a manufactures query would be needed to be made to find out what the REI baskets are made of and he seemed uninterested in helping me find out what material the REI baskets are made of. Sadly one of my favorite manufactures, Mountain Smith, that also make trekking pole baskets claims to also have PU baskets.

The hiking poles provide added security, balance, and help with rougher terrain. I use them to provide balance on rocky, steep, and root-filled trails and also to help absorb shock on downhill sections. The poles are easy to adjust, provide some relief on the downhills, and add security to hikes. An excellent value.

I am surprisingly impressed with the quality and build of Kelty products. Long ago I purchased a sleeping bag by Kelty because of its warmth to weight to compactness ratio. Although I don't always pursue Kelty products, when my options are narrowed down it is a solid choice. These poles are no exception. I held out for years against hiking with poles. Consistently my ankles, knees, and back are suffering from maneuvering and jockeying trail positions while hiking. The poles help keep everything straight and aligned. That could be said about all poles however. It is not rocket science, the poles could be hiking sticks. What makes these poles stand out are innovative advantages, price, and quality of materials. The poles are spring loaded to absorb shock. The poles possess a design feature which reminds me of tripods from the 1970's. Instead of a folding locking mechanism, the shafts turn against each other to lock in place. This is an innovative feature. It makes me feel that I have an advantage no one else is talking about on the trail and Kelty is aware. The cork handles remind of Ivan Lendl reaching into his pocket to grab a hand full of cork shavings before he grips his tennis racket. This is proof that Kelty is serious about competing in the market place against the competition who have made cork handles available and common place. Kelty is a true competitor, Their procucts are quality. I have owned my Kelty sleeping bag for 7 years plus and it has never let me down. I feel the same confidence about these hiking poles. Also I look forward to purchasing other Kelty products in the future as they have won my respect. When I witness quality products or outstanding customer service from a company they are winning my business and respect.

One hike destroyed these poles. Both bent under rough hiking. One snapped when I tried to bend it back. Lasted about three hours before both were trashed.

I'm not sure what went wrong, but I bought two pairs of these poles because they seemed promising. On our first hike, one of the poles snapped in half and we can't fix it because it would disable the shock absorbing feature.

These pole are pretty good considering how cheap they are compared to other options. People have posted how delicate these are but, keep in mind that even the packaging for these says NOT to put all your weight on them and that they are for balance only. I took these on the Trans Catalina Trail (36mi w/ steep up and down trail), I am 5'8", about 177lbs, I had a 25lb pack, and these poles held up. The handles are pretty good and I didn't get blisters (I did NOT wear gloves). The baskets see to unscrew pretty easy even if you tighten them well. I gave these a 4 since the price is so low. I think that these are pretty good. I think their quality would become more apparent if you are going on the inca trail or doing the any of the Triple Crown trials all in one go. But at that point, you really shouldn't be buying the cheapest poles.

I purchased these for a recent backpacking trip involving multiple stream crossings and have used them ever since. Great for balance and gauging water depth.

My husband made fun of me when I came home and had bought Kelty product. I was unaware that they weren't known for the best product out there. But these have been fantastic. I hike with the Mountaineers and most others in the group have nicer poles, usually BD, but most were envious of my cork handles (helps to absorp sweat) I will say the twist and lock can be a little complicated in the snow or mud. They can become untwisted and when you step up and out of mud/snow they might decide to stay but that could honestly be user-error. I've been super happy with them and are great for the cost.

It's real easy to blow your budget on carbon fiber that costs 2-3× more, but unless you're counting ounces for an serious alpine expedition, that's kind of overkill. I've put these through about 100 mi. of fairly rugged SoCal mountain terrain so far, and they're holding up great; I suspect the people claiming breakage acutely overtaxed them. (They're meant for support and balance, not catching entire body weight or pole-vaulting obstacles, for example.) I also really like the twist-lock mechanism; it strikes me as having fewer moving, breakable external parts than a lever-lock. (Just be sure to keep the joints clean and never pull them apart past the "STOP" warning mark.)