Durston Gear Z-Flick Tent Poles (Pair)
World's Lightest Adjustable Pole
The Z-Flick tent poles are a premium folding pole that allows bikepackers, canoeists, single trekking pole users, and others to enjoy the X-Mid and other trekking pole tents. By designing them specifically for this application, we've been able to create a folding pole that is truly the world's finest. That includes being the world's lightest adjustable pole at just 88 g, the stiffest pole in its class, the only folding pole with an easy to use external adjuster, and the only folding pole compatible with almost every tent on the market.
These are the lightest adjustable poles on the market at just 88 grams (3.1 oz). We accomplish this with premium carbon fibre and larger diameter tubing which delivers more strength for the weight. There are slightly lighter non-adjustable poles but anything substantially lighter is using very weak and flexy tent pole tubing which is questionable in bad weather.
Adjustability is important for fine tuning the pitch of your tent, yet few folding poles are adjustable and the ones that are use either twist locks (harder to use, less reliable) or a pin system (harder to use, only adjusts in increments). External ‘flick’ style adjusters are quicker, continuously adjustable, lighter than a pin system, and the most reliable way to adjust a pole, which is why we are pleased to offer the first and only folding poles with an external adjuster.
The Z-Flick poles are the stiffest poles in their class for reliable use in rough weather. We achieve this in three ways: (1) they use carbon tubing that is designed to be highly rigid (as opposed to tent pole tubing that is intended to flex), (2) they use precise tolerances between the sections to avoid slop, and (3) they use slightly larger diameter tubing that gives greater strength for the weight (12 mm vs 9.5 - 11 mm typically).
Durston's goal is to build the highest quality outdoor gear, which is why they partnered with the same factory that builds premium carbon trekking poles and carbon avalanche probes for several leading brands. This quality is a clear contrast to folding poles built with generic aluminium or carbon tubing that offer lower performance and reliability.
A compact pole is important for bikepackers and many users, which is why the Z-Flick pole uses 5 sections to achieve a short 12″ packed length.
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Universally Compatible
More than just a great pole, the Z-Flick poles are the most widely compatible folding poles on the market. All other folding poles only work with a subset of tents partly because they are rarely adjustable length to match a wide range of tents, but also because other poles only have one tip style, yet the world of trekking pole tents is divided into models that pitch in two ways: handles up or tips up.
The Z-Flick poles address this by being adjustable and having tips to suit both tip up and handle up style tents. That means they'll work for any tent with a peak under the 51.5" (131 cm) maximum (almost all tents). And if you need an even taller pole (e.g. pyramids) you can add sections to change the length by lifting off the flat end cap.
We’ve accomplished this with a unique idea: the four upper folding sections can be flipped to insert either end into the external adjuster, so we provide a different tip style on each end. One end has a custom shaped pointy tip for grommet style tents while the other end has a blunt aluminum cap for handles up tents.
The result is a highly versatile pole that works with almost ever trekking pole tent on the market. They’ll work for your current tent and your next tent, and will be much easier to resell if the time comes. -
Specifications
Weight
88 g (3.1 oz) per pole
Packed Length
12.25" (31 cm)
Adjustment Range
43.5 - 51.5" (111 - 131 cm)
Diameter
14 mm / 0.55″ (bottom section)
12 mm / 0.47″ (upper sections)