Black Diamond Trail Pro Shock Review

Performance Comparison

Comfort

The Black Diamond Trail Pro Shock uses a nicely shaped foam grip with decent ergonomics and foam extending a short ways down the shaft for additional gripping area. The handle was similar to the much less expensive Black Diamond Trail Back but had better ergonomics and foam extending down the shaft. The strap is soft and above average compared with the other poles in our review. The shock absorbing system is a small percentage of comfort and we liked the shock absorption system on the Black Diamond poles both because we didn't think it bottomed out to early like on some of the Leki poles and we thought it was the most durable.

Locking Mechanism

The Black Diamond Trail Pro Shock employs their proprietary Flicklock system here, which involves an external lever. Black Diamond made this mechanism popular first and they continually update it. It has been a long-time favorite locking mechanism of ours because it's easy to use and durable. Today, Leki's similar SpeedLock rivals the Flicklock, as it also easy to use.

Weight

The Black Diamond Trail Pro Shock weighs in at 20 ounces, a little heavier than average overall among all of the poles in our review, but slightly lighter than average among shock absorbing poles available today. The Trail Pro Shock actually weighs the same amount as the non-shock absorbing version, the Trail Back.

Packability

All the shock absorbing poles were among the longest, least packable poles in our review and the Trail Pro Shock is no different. It packs down to 27" (68 cm). The only poles that were longer? You guessed it, the other shock absorbing pole, the Black Diamond Trail Ergo Cork (29").

Durability

We thought the Trail Pro Shock wasn't quite as durable as the larger diameter, teardrop-shaped shafts of the Black Diamond Contour Elliptic Shock. Comparing them to all the poles we tested, the Trail Pro Shock is slightly above average in overall durability.

Shock Absorbing system

If you are just evaluating a pole on its shock absorber, this along with the Black Diamond Contour Elliptic Shock are the best. We liked its simple compression system better than any other shock absorbing poles in our review. We call it simple, because it looks simple when in fact Black Diamond uses a cool progressive 4-stage shock absorption system, that basically uses four different sections to absorb different levels of impact, from light shocks to heavy loads, and we thought it worked wonderfully. We like Black Diamond's system compared to some of the Leki models which we felt bottomed out a hair too easily.

Versatility

Unlike the Shocklight, the Trail Pro Shock can't lock out its anti-shock system, limiting its versatility. For most backpackers and trekkers this isn't a big deal, but for those users who really want that option for burly stream crossings, use on snow, or for aggressive travel where you are more actively leaning on, and using your poles for balance, this might make more of a difference.

Value and the Bottom Line

The Trail Pro Shock is a medium priced shock absorption pole that has one of the best shock absorption systems we tested. We thought it was durable and super effective and thought Black Diamond's four stage system worked great. While you can't lock the system out on the Trail Pro Shock, most folks looking for anti-shock poles don't feel the need to turn it off very often. The smaller diameter grips are some of the best for medium and smaller sized users and we found the shafts and the FlickLock mechanism easy to use and durable.