Will pile on that I'm a convert and am especially grateful to have them on steep and rocky trails.

Something to add on their use is to have a quick way to stow them on the go so as to free up your hands when doing class 3 scrambling, crossing creeks on logs, etc. It's annoying to have to take off the pack and lash them.

I prefer carbon to aluminum both for the weight and the better vibration damping. They used to be expensive but last time I was in Costco they had a pair of collapsible CF for something like thirty bucks. Quality seemed fine.

Cheers,