Founded in 1948, LEKI has been making trekking poles for ages. While the company started making aluminum ski poles, they now make nearly every type of outdoor pole under the sun. The Carbonlite AERGON is LEKI’s top of the line, ultra-lightweight pole that competes against the likes of the Black Diamond Alpine CF that we reviewed earlier. At 385 grams (per pair) for the non-antishock model we tested, the Carbonlite comes in as one of the lightest trekking poles on the market. These poles are nearly 100 grams lighter than the BD Alpine CF; a rather remarkable achievement.
We tested these poles for a couple medium length hikes around the Seattle area and really liked them. The tips rarely slipped on any surface we came across and the grips were quite comfortable. Some people prefer cork grips (which LEKI also makes), but I’m a fan of the felt-like grips on the Carbonlite. The tops of the grips were nicely shaped to fit in the palm of your hand for easy descents down steep terrain.
Length adjustments are a simple matter of twisting the pole to loosen, adjusting, and then twisting to tighten. I personally liked the flip locks on the Black Diamond poles a bit better. LEKI is coming out with a version of their own that the company claims is the strongest trekking pole joint in the world. However, the current twist locks didn’t slip in any conditions we encountered and the carbon fiber held up extremely well under weight.
The hand straps were the only area I wasn’t 100% satisfied with. I personally prefer a bit more padding, but the straps that came with the poles didn’t cause me any issues. The advantage to these straps is they tend to trap less moisture and thus are a bit more comfortable in hot climates.
With a MSRP of $179.95, these are expensive poles. For that price, I would have liked to see these come with snow baskets, but carbon fiber trekking poles are never cheap. Over all, we liked the Carbonlite AERGON enough that they are going to replace an older pair of Komperdell poles on our regular hikes. If you’re in the market for an ultralight trekking pole, I would give the Carbonlite a look. LEKI also makes a version of the Carbonlite with antishock for $199.95.
[...] pole models. The pair weighs in at 15.8 oz, just shy of 2 ounces more than their top-of-the-line Carbonlite model. They feature LEKI’s Soft Antishock System Lite, AERGON grip, and utilize an Interchangeable [...]