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When it gets steep in the mountains or the backpack is pulling hard, then hiking poles are used with pleasure. The days of thick wooden sticks with souvenir plaques are over, now hikers and trail runners work their way up and down with (foldable) aluminium or carbon poles. Our running expert Mirko Schohn from the Sport Conrad store in Wielenbach tested a pair of the brand new Black Diamond folding poles made of carbon.
First impression
When receiving the test poles, it was noticeable that the Black Diamond Distance Carbon Z expresses one thing above all else through the designation Carbon: ultra-light. With a length of 120 cm they weigh just 150 g per pole. Two different tips are included in the delivery. One made of carbide and one of rubber. I had the opportunity to test the poles extensively in the Ammergau local mountains, under the most diverse conditions. First of all, I notice that the grips are nice and soft and, no matter if it rains or my hands sweat, the poles give excellent control and don’t slip.
Practical test
On the trail the handling is very easy. The Distance Carbon Z can be moved from sleep mode to active mode in seconds. One hand movement while running and the poles are ready for use. This foolproof handling means that frequent switching between packing and unpacking is possible. This gives me a bit more safety when walking. Only to find out which pole belongs in which hand is a bit tricky. The inscription for this is a bit hidden on the loop. After a short period of getting used to it, I knew which pole was meant for which hand. Sometimes I would liked to make the loop a little smaller in order to exert more pressure, especially when uphill. In my opinion, the pole offers a too little room for adjustment here. The material of the loops consists of synthetic fiber and is very breathable. I really liked the long grip of the Carbon Z. This way you could get out of the loop and shorten the pole in difficult terrain and on traverses. This gave me more safety in some situations and therefore more speed on technical sections.
The tips of the Black Diamond Distance Carbon Z only convinced me halfway. The rubber tips were a bit too skiddy for me on solid ground, so that I occasionally lost my grip on fast uphill units and couldn’t push off properly. With the carbide tips the whole thing looked better. These bored themselves into each ground and gave the full power. On rocky terrain, however, the tip had to be set more concentrated in order not to lose control. In the long run I would therefore choose the carbide solution.
If you don’t want to use the Distance Carbon Z for a moment, the small push button is pressed, the elements can then be pulled apart and folded into three parts. They can then be stowed away perfectly. For this purpose there is a notch on the plate of the poles to fix the poles a bit tighter, so that they don’t rattle so much. The packing size is very small and does not bother.
result:
The Black Diamond Carbon Z is a very light and robust trail running pole. It can be folded and unfolded into three parts very quickly.
Pro:
- Minimum weight
- Lightning-fast handling
- Large grip area
Contra:
- Loop size little adjustable
- Rubber tip with little grip