Thanks everyone...sounds a bit like BD...and they are on sale right now which means left over money to buy new silk undergarments...nice!

BrianLe: What caused me to go through a pair of poles is that the spring inside broke in one of them and the top part of the pole would come off the bottom part regularly. I still think they were probably my best item for any long trip...and certainly well used...even broken! But 2 years seems a short life-span compared to other things I use both in the back country and in my general life. I am actually pretty light on my things...and tend to keep most of what I own past the lifespan usually given for them. So...this surprised me. But to be fair...I used them a whole lot.