I am quite impressed with my Montem trekking poles, purchased for my backpacking trip in June. I'm larger than the average (active) man and experienced no failures of the equipment during more than a few treacherous segments. The telescoping pole did retract once when I fell through some ice, but it was good that it did because it was on my uphill hand. However, once re-tightened they didn't budge any more the entire trip. The tungsten tips are durable and gripped all surfaces well. I removed the rubber feet at the trail head. At first I did not use the baskets, as when they are installed they don't slide easily through the strap on my pack where I prefer to store the poles. But, because our first day included numerous snow field crossings I screwed on the baskets and left them on for the rest of the trip. Without the baskets the poles did pierce deeply into the snow, and sometimes too deeply into dirt and rocks between roots. With the baskets the poles did not get stuck between roots and rocks and they worked well on the snow/ice. While I've not tried it, I think they could be used for skiing. The aircraft aluminum used is VERY VERY strong!For years I thought trekking poles were excess equipment or for old people. Whether I was wrong, or whether I've just become an old person, hiking with poles is a much different, and more pleasant experience. I do agree that using poles uses more energy. So much was evident based on the lactic acid build up on day two and three. Going uphill I was able to maintain almost as fast a pace as descents. The poles were invaluable for two wide, fast river crossings. But the most value I got out of them was for foot/blister control and end-of-day cramp management, particularly during descent. The grips have very comfortable pommels on the ends of the handles. There were no sharp edges and the rubberized texture gave me an excellent grip (even though it would twist sometimes - the wrist strap helped keep the poles straight on longer downhill reaches). Also, grasping the poles by the grip pommel extended the effective length of the poles such that I didn't have any need to extend either section of the pole for descent. Held in this manner, for each step taken downhill my alternate-handed pole would be placed far out in front of my next step giving me a virtual brake on my velocity while putting all of the pressures from doing so on my arm muscles, taking significant stabilizing effort away from my legs. When hiking uphill, instead of shortening the poles, one can move their hand down on the cork grip to the foam lower grip. I still had leverage and did not need to stop for adjustments. (which also made the poles more reliable, because with the extended grips I didn't need to readjust the pole segment flip-locks, which meant that I wasn't at risk of having loose segments each day)The synthetic cork-like grips provided good grip on bare hands and gloves. They did not absorb sweat from my hands, were easily cleaned with a damp cloth. The grip shape was comfortable in my both hands, are not left/right preference, but fit either hand. On a later trip I hiked with only one of these poles (having given the other to a hiking companion) and found that I changed hands occasionally based on switchbacks and other obstacles. Employing one pole was was almost as beneficial as using two poles: sped up the uphill hiking speed and gave me increased stability going downhill.The hand straps are a thick nylon strapping with padding inside the straps. The odd part, and a little irritating, is the nylon strap hand protector, meant to protect the hand from the nylon strap. I would have expected the protector strap to have padding on it too, on the side facing the hand. I didn't experience any actual harm (no rash or blister) but I did use gloves more than half of the time. I suppose I don't have any real complaint about it, other than the design seemed a little underwhelming. The poles do not have an anti-shock system, but honestly I like being able to feel the ground beneath me. Plus, if I'm trying to carry load on the poles, why would I want a suspension system that is likely to wear out over time? I am confident that these poles will last me a long while!