These poles arrived very quickly and were as advertised. I have used trek poles for years in doing archaeology in the Flint Hills and I wanted poles to use for urban walks on concrete and asphalt. I got these poles because they were advertised as "shock absorbing". Maybe I should have done a little more research. Shock absorbing can barely be felt with the poles, which I have not tried out in the field yet. So the 3 star rating is less the capability of the poles as the description being less than I felt would have told me that when we talk about absorbing shock, we are talking about a "give" of 1.0 to 1.5 cm. These poles are a little heavier than my old ones so I'm not sure what my arms will feel like after a day in the field with them. I am sure they will give me the same service in the Flint Hills of Kansas and Oklahoma that my old ones have done. For anyone who has not used trekking poles before, be sure and do your homework. 3 stars

My son ans i used these for a 60 Mile backpacking hike on the Appalachian Trail and they were great. My son is about one third my size and we each had a set of these poles. Height adjustment was easy and they stayed locked in. Grips were comfortable and the adjustable wrist straps made going down hill even easier. 4 stars

These are amazing. I am an obese woman and walking just half a block causes me severe pain. I bought these as a present to myself for my 39th birthday. I can honestly say its the best present I could have ever gotten myself. I can walk up to 5 blocks with these without being in pain it is amazing. That may not seem like much but it is only the beginning for me. I recommend these for anyone young old in shape or like me completely out of shape. 5 stars

I was really disappointed with the performance of these poles. They are supposed to have an adjustable shock system but the "give" is virtually none (maybe a few centimeters). They come without instructions so I had to email the manufacturer for instructions on how to adjust the shock. They did reply quickly but unfortunately, the adjustment was still no help.

Second, and most upsetting is that the snow baskets are not securely fastened to the pole. They screw on (are all plastic) and are impossible to tighten (they just strip) enough so that they don't keep falling off in the snow. If you've ever tried to snowshoe with poles that don't have baskets (the pole sinks deeply into the snow) you know how frustrating this is; you are better off not using the pole at all.

Overall these are poor quality. Save you're money and buy a really good set.
1 star