Trouble with my Black Diamond Z-poles - again

Felice said:

What do you do when the 'snap' joint of a Z-pole refuses to budge in the closed storage position?

Last time that happened, I took the poles back to the retailer, and got a new pair in exchange - the poles were only 6 months old, though they had done at least a couple of thousand km on training walks and the Frances.

This time, an exchange was definitely not an option for a 7 year old pair. So we set about trying to force the sections apart. Following the advice on an earlier thread, we used a hair dryer. But that had no effect at all.
Next, despite all advice to the contrary from people on this forum, we used a drop of solvent between the sections. After all, the poles were useless if we couldn't get them to budge. Again no effect.
Finally, we had another try at brute force. The big problem is trying to get a grip on the shiny metal to allow you to pull. So we wrapped some reinforced duck tape around one end and tried twisting the other section. Again, no grip. So carefully, we put the pole in a vice and gently tightened it until it gripped sufficiently to allow us to pull and twist the other section. And suddenly, the two sections gently slid apart!

My poles have now been cleaned, and I have wiped some bees wax on the sliding joints. I just hope I don't have a repeat performance in a couple of weeks time when I go walking on the Pembrokeshire coastal path.

I am wondering why the sections stick and suspect it might be do to one of the click buttons not being in perfect condition and so sticking if not used for a while.

Click to expand...

Felice said:

What do you do when the 'snap' joint of a Z-pole refuses to budge in the closed storage position?

Last time that happened, I took the poles back to the retailer, and got a new pair in exchange - the poles were only 6 months old, though they had done at least a couple of thousand km on training walks and the Frances.

This time, an exchange was definitely not an option for a 7 year old pair. So we set about trying to force the sections apart. Following the advice on an earlier thread, we used a hair dryer. But that had no effect at all.
Next, despite all advice to the contrary from people on this forum, we used a drop of solvent between the sections. After all, the poles were useless if we couldn't get them to budge. Again no effect.
Finally, we had another try at brute force. The big problem is trying to get a grip on the shiny metal to allow you to pull. So we wrapped some reinforced duck tape around one end and tried twisting the other section. Again, no grip. So carefully, we put the pole in a vice and gently tightened it until it gripped sufficiently to allow us to pull and twist the other section. And suddenly, the two sections gently slid apart!

My poles have now been cleaned, and I have wiped some bees wax on the sliding joints. I just hope I don't have a repeat performance in a couple of weeks time when I go walking on the Pembrokeshire coastal path.

I am wondering why the sections stick and suspect it might be do to one of the click buttons not being in perfect condition and so sticking if not used for a while.

Click to expand...

Felice said:

What do you do when the 'snap' joint of a Z-pole refuses to budge in the closed storage position?

Last time that happened, I took the poles back to the retailer, and got a new pair in exchange - the poles were only 6 months old, though they had done at least a couple of thousand km on training walks and the Frances.

This time, an exchange was definitely not an option for a 7 year old pair. So we set about trying to force the sections apart. Following the advice on an earlier thread, we used a hair dryer. But that had no effect at all.
Next, despite all advice to the contrary from people on this forum, we used a drop of solvent between the sections. After all, the poles were useless if we couldn't get them to budge. Again no effect.
Finally, we had another try at brute force. The big problem is trying to get a grip on the shiny metal to allow you to pull. So we wrapped some reinforced duck tape around one end and tried twisting the other section. Again, no grip. So carefully, we put the pole in a vice and gently tightened it until it gripped sufficiently to allow us to pull and twist the other section. And suddenly, the two sections gently slid apart!

My poles have now been cleaned, and I have wiped some bees wax on the sliding joints. I just hope I don't have a repeat performance in a couple of weeks time when I go walking on the Pembrokeshire coastal path.

I am wondering why the sections stick and suspect it might be do to one of the click buttons not being in perfect condition and so sticking if not used for a while.

Click to expand...

Felice said:

I do hope I have not done the wrong thing, using beeswax. I'll find out soon enough, I suspect.

Click to expand...

Felice said:

What do you do when the 'snap' joint of a Z-pole refuses to budge in the closed storage position?

Last time that happened, I took the poles back to the retailer, and got a new pair in exchange - the poles were only 6 months old, though they had done at least a couple of thousand km on training walks and the Frances.

This time, an exchange was definitely not an option for a 7 year old pair. So we set about trying to force the sections apart. Following the advice on an earlier thread, we used a hair dryer. But that had no effect at all.
Next, despite all advice to the contrary from people on this forum, we used a drop of solvent between the sections. After all, the poles were useless if we couldn't get them to budge. Again no effect.
Finally, we had another try at brute force. The big problem is trying to get a grip on the shiny metal to allow you to pull. So we wrapped some reinforced duck tape around one end and tried twisting the other section. Again, no grip. So carefully, we put the pole in a vice and gently tightened it until it gripped sufficiently to allow us to pull and twist the other section. And suddenly, the two sections gently slid apart!

My poles have now been cleaned, and I have wiped some bees wax on the sliding joints. I just hope I don't have a repeat performance in a couple of weeks time when I go walking on the Pembrokeshire coastal path.

I am wondering why the sections stick and suspect it might be do to one of the click buttons not being in perfect condition and so sticking if not used for a while.

Click to expand...

Charles Zammit said:

This discussion prompted me to inspect my own Diamond Distance Carbon FLZ poles .
Purchased in 2019 for the Via Francigena at almost $300. Australian .
To my horror I found this damage to the silicon connectors at the joints . Despite being stored in a dry moderate climate atmosphere they have deteriorated to the point of being difficult to trust .
$300. Over three years , during two of which I have been virtually inactive apart from an ascent of Mt Bogong during one short suspension of Covid restrictions on travel .
At times my physical security depends on poles , despite the fact that they are very nice to use I would deem these unfit for purpose.View attachment 109419View attachment 109420View attachment 109421

Click to expand...

1. the silicon sheath is a cover for an underlying cord that provides the tension to keep the pole together when in use. Provided the underlying core hasn't been damaged, the 'damage' you are seeing isn't likely to stop the underlying cord doing its job.
2. When the poles are in use, there doesn't need to be a lot of tension on the cord, provided the poles have been adjusted properly. On my wife's FLZ poles, I have adjusted the cord length so that it locks with no tension on the cord once the segments have pulled together, and then very little tension to unlock. Remember, there are very few circumstances when walking with the poles where you would be pulling on the pole in a way that would put much tension on the cord.

dougfitz said:

Charles, I don't think that I would be as quick to write these off as you seem to be. I say this for two reasons:

1. the silicon sheath is a cover for an underlying cord that provides the tension to keep the pole together when in use. Provided the underlying core hasn't been damaged, the 'damage' you are seeing isn't likely to stop the underlying cord doing its job.
2. When the poles are in use, there doesn't need to be a lot of tension on the cord, provided the poles have been adjusted properly. On my wife's FLZ poles, I have adjusted the cord length so that it locks with no tension on the cord once the segments have pulled together, and then very little tension to unlock. Remember, there are very few circumstances when walking with the poles where you would be pulling on the pole in a way that would put much tension on the cord.

Together, these two considerations indicate to me that you should get a lot more use from your poles.

Click to expand...