Aluminium, cork grips, and they will not snap
Black Diamond Pursuit Adjustable Trekking Poles
Aluminium bends where carbon shatters, and a bent pole still walks you down; you carry about 100 g more per pair than carbon for that insurance, and cork grips beat foam once your hands sweat.
Skip it ifGram-counters. Take carbon and accept that a fall on rock can end the pole.
About the links on this page.Some go to Amazon, and as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases — at no extra cost to you. It does not change what we recommend: every card here also says who the item is not for, and a few things we think you should simply rent in Kathmandu or Pokhara instead, which earns us nothing.
The rest of the shelf
Best overallWhat the porter actually carries
Mountain Hardwear Camp 4 Duffel 65 L
Weatherproof, takes a bus roof in rain without complaint, and 65 litres is the size that keeps you inside a porter weight limit. Take this rather than the 95 L version: the big one is a trap, because you will fill it.
Skip it ifAnyone tempted by a 95 L duffel. Our porter limit is 15 kg for two trekkers combined — a bag you cannot fill is a feature, not a compromise.
Best overallThe right size when a porter has your duffel
Osprey Talon 33
Thirty-three litres holds a day layer, water, snacks and a camera with room for the down jacket you take off at ten — it is a frameless-ish pack, so above about 9 kg it stops being comfortable.
Skip it ifIndependent trekkers carrying everything themselves. You want 50-65 litres and a real frame.
Best overallSleeping bag dry, clothes sorted, one bag for the wet things
Sea to Summit Lightweight Dry Sack (set)
Colour-coded bags turn a duffel from a heap into something you can find things in at 5 a.m., and they keep your down dry when the duffel spends four hours on a bus roof in rain — they are not submersion-proof, so a river crossing still needs care.
Skip it ifAnyone on a tight budget. Two heavy-duty bin liners do eighty per cent of this for nothing.
Best for carrying your own loadFor independent trekkers with no porter
Osprey Atmos AG 65
The suspension genuinely makes 18 kg feel like less, which is why it is the default independent-trekking pack — buying one for a supported trek means carrying 2.2 kg of empty pack for two weeks.
Skip it ifAnyone trekking with us on a standard guided itinerary. A porter carries the duffel; take the Talon.
Better than a rain coverWaterproofing from the inside, which actually works
Osprey Ultralight Pack Liner
A rain cover fails the moment wind gets under it or water runs down your back; a liner does not — the cost is that you unpack through a roll-top every time you want anything.
Skip it ifDry-season Khumbu trekking, where it may never rain on you.
LightestFolds to 40 cm and disappears into a daypack
Black Diamond Distance Carbon Z
So light and packable you actually carry them on the days you were not sure you needed them — they are fixed-length, so you must buy the right size, and carbon fails suddenly rather than gradually.
Skip it ifHeavy trekkers or anyone hard on kit. Snapping a pole above Thorong Phedi is a bad day.
Best to carry yourselfDuffel that works as a rucksack for the airport
Osprey Transporter 65
The harness is good enough to walk a kilometre with, which the North Face straps are not — you pay for that in weight and in a slightly less bombproof shell.
Skip it ifPorter-carried loads, where the harness is dead weight and something to snag.
Best budgetEnough for a short trek and the Kathmandu days either side
Osprey Daylite Plus 20
Light, cheap and fine for a five-day trek where you carry a jacket and two litres of water — the hip belt is a strap rather than a belt, so it will not carry weight.
Skip it ifA high-altitude trek where you carry a down jacket, three litres of water and a camera. You will run out of space by Namche.
- If you are unsure
For people who have never used poles and might hate them
Trekking poles, rented in Thamel
Some people find poles transform a descent and others find them an irritation to be carried; a dollar a day answers that question before you spend a hundred on your own.
Skip it ifAnyone with a knee problem they already know about. Buy your own and set them properly.
Rent it in Thamel — about usd 1 per day per pair. We take nothing.