Leki Meridian

These poles seem like a great idea until you actually start using them. This ia premium-priced product in the Leki lineup, and you supposedly get all the advanced features, plus some unique extras such as a camera screw etc. However, for the premium price you somehow get one of the heaviest poles in Leki line-up.

The monopode is nearly useless as the pole is too flexible to support any decent camera-lens combination. The "avalanche probe" is useless, as no one would dare to ski with a pole with an anti-shock system in any dangerous terrain (if you take the Meridian there, carry a real probe with you!). The anti-shock system is also a source of endless grief as it tends to disengage every time the pole tip gets stuck between the rocks and rotates a bit. Meridian is longer than the rest of Leki's poles, yet, the monopode does not come to the eye level.

Finally the "functional graphics" is completely useless -- the scales are so coarse that you might as well do a ballpark conversion in your head. Overall, if you want to take pictures in the wild you can buy a pair of Leki Ultralights and a mini-tripod for the same price which will together weigh almost as much as the Meridians and function much better. A bad design choice by Leki.