Craig Gillette Online Upload & Sell: Off
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Haven't shopped for a hiking staff/pole recently but at the time, assuming it wasn't a traditional wood staff, many had removable knobs/grips of some sort and came equipped with a 1/4x20 threaded stud which would be compatible with most cameras and heads.
A few thoughts. Reviews on forums are what they are. One experience brands a brand or type as forever unsuitable, no one should ever buy that model, etc. Lots of comments on the locking mechanisms and some come set up to be fixed or sprung/shock absorbing. Of course lots of different materials. (Much like the discussions on tripods as to materials, etc.) I have a Tracks Sherlock. I finally punched another hole in the long foam sleeve as it can be hard to find the spring button or get it lined up correctly.
Trekking poles seem (maybe?) to be set up slightly differently when it comes to length. Optimal hiking length may not be an optimal monopod length. The Sherlock is a little short as a monopod (for me, I'm 6'2" tall.). I used it for a while with a Manfrotto pistol grip head. Pretty much the right length but then it was awfully top heavy and just heavy. (The head is not light but when used as a monopod head, the squeeze grip offers some advantages over a traditional ball head. Did I mention it was heavy?) Most photo monopods have multiple sections and can be collapsed to a fairly short length for packing or carrying. The Sherlock and I'd expect many other trekking poles or staffs are more limited in the number of sections and adjustability. I'm guessing it's for several reasons and strength may be one of them. I wonder about how well a monopod will take the stress of a fall without slipping, the Sherlock, with spring button length settings doesn't depend on the strength of a squeezing fliplock or twist collet to hold it's length. But monopods aren't designed for use as trekking poles as a first priority.
The longer poles may not retract enough to fit easily in some types of luggage or as carry-on ittems. Note that ski poles are not (last I looked anyways) as cabin carry-on for air travel in the US. The Sherlock looks a lot more like a ski pole than a monopod. It also has a fixed fairly sharp spike under it's rubber tip. You might want to look at that if needing to travel with it/them.
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