Bent ski pole, fix?

Shock · Dec 17, 2009

So I bent my ski pole last Friday while skiing (I took a bad dump).

About eight inches from the bottom it's bent about 15 degrees. Is there anyway to fix it or should I buy a new set? I don't want to stress their structural integrity, but I don't want to buy a new set even if they were $20.

Grassi21 · Dec 17, 2009

Leave it bent. It adds flair!

WJenness · Dec 17, 2009

composite poles ftw.

They don't get cold and they don't hold a bend... they're either straight, or broken.

-w

andrec10 · Dec 17, 2009

Composite poles get sheared off! Either leave the pole with some character or get a new set, when you bend it back, it "may" break.

Shock · Dec 17, 2009

Leaving it bent isn't going to make it harder to use? :-?
How much are composite poles usually? Not going to get new poles right now but for future reference.

snoseek · Dec 17, 2009

I heated mine up with a propane torch and laid it in a vice with a couple of boards while still hot. Definately weaker now, still a little bent, and the paint is black but they still work. I don't recall ever in my life buying a pair of poles

salsgang · Dec 17, 2009

I have had no luck repairing poles. I always break em. I usually try to buy a couple of extra used pairs at the start of each season at ski swaps.

jaja111 · Dec 17, 2009

Another trick in addition to heating them, assuming you don't love the paint on that one, is to fill the pole (tube) with dry sand before you bend it back while its hot. This is additional insurance against any crimping or kinks forming, which render the pole useless as it will break at those weak points. This can be done. For me thus far its success rate has been 50/50. I guess it depends on how bad the original damage is - kinked or just bent a bit.

mondeo · Dec 17, 2009

Shock said:
Leaving it bent isn't going to make it harder to use? :-?

15 degrees at 8 inches? Sounds about where mine are. Don't notice a thing. I've definitely used worse. Changes the position of the tip 2 inches off-axis, about a quarter inch in length. Nothin'.

Depending on how often you bend them, stonger poles are a good investment. Either carbon or high strength aluminum will work; I went from bending a pole every few days with the cheap ones to probably close to 40 days on my current pair, with just a minor bend.

This reminds me. I haven't been bringing my backup pole stock with me so far this year.

RootDKJ · Dec 17, 2009

See if your home mountain has a 1 pole bin. Find the one closest to yours.

Greg · Dec 18, 2009

Composite. I'll never go back to aluminum.....

Glenn · Dec 18, 2009

Don't bend it outside when it's cold. I did that in Utah once and broke my pole. Luckily, we were skiing with a group and someone had extras.

I have composite poles now. For the most part, I love them. The part I don't love...they flex a lot. So skating on the flate or skating up hill causes a lot of bending.

Geoff · Dec 18, 2009

Shock said:
How much are composite poles usually? Not going to get new poles right now but for future reference.

MSRP is usually around $100. The time to buy graphite poles is in April/May when everything is half price. I bought 2 pairs for $100 this summer.

I managed to go a decade on 2 identical pairs. The 2 surviving shafts are now out in a ski bag in my Denver office. Hopefully, I'll have the same track record this time.

Greg · Dec 18, 2009

Geoff said:
MSRP is usually around $100. The time to buy graphite poles is in April/May when everything is half price. I bought 2 pairs for $100 this summer.

I managed to go a decade on 2 identical pairs. The 2 surviving shafts are now out in a ski bag in my Denver office. Hopefully, I'll have the same track record this time.

I scored some K2 V8 composites on www.evogear.com for $30 last year so you can score deals. You can also buy larger if that's all that's available as they're easy to cut shorter.

WJenness · Dec 18, 2009

Greg said:
I scored some K2 V8 composites on www.evogear.com for $30 last year so you can score deals. You can also buy larger if that's all that's available as they're easy to cut shorter.

That's about what I paid for my K2 3speed poles I grabbed off of sierraskis this summer. (quick look at my order history shows they were $25)

My last pair was $6 from the Building 19 ski sale... I've moved on from those because the grip got uncomfortable after a while. They now reside in my buddy's ski locker just in case someone needs them.

Edit: Was just looking at the sierra site, they have K2 5speed (Carbon) poles on sale for $30. That's a pretty good deal for carbon poles.

-w

wa-loaf · Dec 18, 2009

Just take them inside, let them warm-up. Bend it back some, won't be perfect. Keep on using them till they break. I'm still using 15 year old poles that have a few bends in them. It doesn't make a difference.

drjeff · Dec 18, 2009

Greg said:
Composite. I'll never go back to aluminum.....

+10!!!!!!!!

If you buy a cheap aluminum pole, chances are you'll bend/break it, and bending them back and not screwing it up/breaking it is usually a 50/50 proposition) If you want to get a decent aluminum pole (look at places like reliable racing.com/ski racing design.com, etc) where they have race quality aluminum poles for $50 to $60 (much better grade of aluminum and hench much more resiliant)

Composite, same thing, the cheapies, are more likely to splinter/snap (although less likely than with an aluminum) the good ones, are pretty damn tough. I'm about to start my 4th season with a pair of Swix Viper's, and aside from a little paint scrapage (especially around the basket area when I'll clip the pole with my edges every now and then) they're great. Between the lighter swing weight and far superior shock absorption on a hard pole plant, I'm never going back to aluminum.

mondeo · Dec 18, 2009

wa-loaf said:
Just take them inside, let them warm-up. Bend it back some, won't be perfect. Keep on using them till they break. I'm still using 15 year old poles that have a few bends in them. It doesn't make a difference.

If it were closer to the middle, this would work. But 8 inches from the end, you're probably going to end up just adding another bend closer to the middle. 8" isn't that much to work with for bending.

mondeo · Dec 18, 2009

drjeff said:
+10!!!!!!!!

If you buy a cheap aluminum pole, chances are you'll bend/break it, and bending them back and not screwing it up/breaking it is usually a 50/50 proposition) If you want to get a decent aluminum pole (look at places like reliable racing.com/ski racing design.com, etc) where they have race quality aluminum poles for $50 to $60 (much better grade of aluminum and hench much more resiliant)

Composite, same thing, the cheapies, are more likely to splinter/snap (although less likely than with an aluminum) the good ones, are pretty damn tough. I'm about to start my 4th season with a pair of Swix Viper's, and aside from a little paint scrapage (especially around the basket area when I'll clip the pole with my edges every now and then) they're great. Between the lighter swing weight and far superior shock absorption on a hard pole plant, I'm never going back to aluminum.

Incidentally, yield strength for the higher end aluminum is around twice that of the cheapos. If you're not actually breaking cheap aluminum, you won't bend the strong stuff. Likewise, cheap composite is simply fiberglass, you'll just end up breaking those. Composite does not mean good, it just means it's a non-uniform material. Plywood is a composite, but I wouldn't want to use it other than as a building material.

Incidentally, I'm still boycotting Norther Ski Works from the time I bought my poles there and the guy told me the strength of the good poles was 98,000. I knew he was making stuff up (98,000 psi is way beyond what any standard aluminum can do,) but still bought the poles as they were half off.

snoseek · Dec 18, 2009

I wonder why I've skied so many days in my life and can only recall breaking one pair of poles when I was a teen. Am I just lucky? I busted up several pairs of skis.

Bent ski pole, fix?

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