Italian company Fizan have been making ski poles since 1947 and I’ve successfully used a number of their trekking poles in the past. The Leader model is made from 7075 aluminium alloy and has a standard twist-lock system. While not the lightest trekking poles on the market they are not the heaviest either, weighing-in at 450g for the pair.
I’ve enjoyed using these trekking poles and although the twist-lock system is pretty standard, at no time did I feel the poles would shorten under pressure, a problem I’ve found with a number of other poles that use a similar system. What I didn’t particularly like about these poles was the anti-shock system. Although this is a better anti-shock than most, in that it didn’t rattle or appear to add too much weight to the poles, I just find such systems a bit pointless. It’s only fair to point out that this particular anti-shock system can be switched off easily enough, but I believe it’s far better to have a bit of stretch in the straps. In this case Fizan uses adjustable neoprene straps with an EVA handle which I found to be quite comfortable.
Even when packed down the Leader poles are still quite long at 67 cm although they do offer complete adjustability by stretching out to 140cm, ideal for taller users. If you’re looking for a reliable, robust pole with full adjustability then you could do a lot worse than consider these.
First published: Sept 2013
