I also use the Black Diamond with the cork handles. A few years ago, two of us backpacked into some tough WY territory & were snow/fogged in for the first 3 days. On the morning of day 4, I poked my head out of the tent & some deer were at the edge of the fog-line. I sat in the snow in my long johns and used the crossed poles as a very firm shooting platform. I had practiced with them, and it can make for a very secure base if needed.
Yeah, it sure was. It was one of those trips where I was introducing a younger hunter to the joys of deep immersion hunts in the mountains. He actually shot a very nice 4x4, but his job put limitations of only 5 days to hunt. So, in my case it turned into a meat hunt since it took a full day to pack out the meat, and another day to retrieve our camp.![]()
Highly recommend hitting estate/garage sales for these. I have two sets of fixed high-tech poles from estate sales that cost less than $20 combined; like new, one of them is CF, both have carbide tips, etc. They morphed from ski poles to "trekking poles" when I tore off the basket on the end. Save your money for gas. My two cents, good luck buddy.
I got a pair of Mountiansmith this year for Christmas very nice. Had a cheapO pair from Sams club and they worked just fine too. Just can't see super high dollar for some things, when others work just fine for the job!