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 93g, 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.
Innovation
Folding poles (to substitute for trekking poles) have typically been treated as an afterthought by most tent companies. Almost all existing folding poles are built from traditional tent pole tubing (that are designed to flex) or generic carbon tubing (heavier than need be) resulting in a pole that is unnecessarily flexy and heavy and rarely adjustable (important for fine tuning your tent pitch).
With the Z-Flick poles we started from scratch and applied our first principles philosophy to design a truly optimal folding pole. We are confident the Z-Flick poles are the finest available because they are:
- ultralight - These are the lightest adjustable poles on the market at just 93 grams. We accomplish this with premium carbon fiber 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.
- adjustable - 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.
- stiff - The Z-Flick poles are the stiffest poles in their class for reliable use in rough weather. We achieve this in three ways: (1) we use carbon tubing that is designed to be highly rigid (as opposed to tent pole tubing that is intended to flex), (2) we use precise tolerances between the sections to avoid slop, and (3) we use slightly larger diameter tubing that gives greater strength for the weight (12 mm vs 9.5 - 11 mm typically).
- high quality - Our goal is to build the highest quality outdoor gear, which is why we 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 aluminum or carbon tubing that offer lower performance and reliability.
- compact - A compact pole is important for bikepackers and many users, which is why the Z-Flick pole uses 5 sections to achieve a short 31 cm packed length.
Versatility
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).
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.
The Z-Flick poles set the standard for folding poles, as they are not only the lightest adjustable poles on the market, but also the stiffest poles anywhere near this weight, compatible with almost every tent, and the only pole to have continuous external adjustment. Any pole that is lighter has a fixed length and is quite likely much less stiff. Whether you own a tent from us or someone else, almost certainly these poles are your best choice.