How to Clean and Maintain Your Nordic Walking Pole Tips
Pole tips are the most exposed components of your equipment. They rub on asphalt, sink into mud, scrape against stones. Yet we rarely think of maintaining them, until the day they slip on tarmac or no longer grip in the earth. Here is everything you need to know to keep your tips in perfect condition.
The two types of tips and their uses
Most Nordic walking poles come with two types of ends:
- Tungsten carbide tips: an extremely hard metal, designed for natural surfaces (earth, grass, gravel, snow). It is the reference tip for Nordic walking in nature. Bevelled versions offer better penetration in soft ground.
- Rubber pads: for hard surfaces (asphalt, concrete, paving). They protect your tungsten tips from rapid wear on these abrasive surfaces, and avoid unpleasant clacking noises in urban settings.
Why your tips wear out (and how to slow it down)
Tungsten carbide is one of the hardest materials there is: it resists wear remarkably well on natural trails. But asphalt and concrete eat it away quickly. A tungsten tip used without a pad on asphalt loses its effectiveness in just a few outings. The golden rule: put your pads on before taking to the road, even if you only cross a few hundred metres of tarmac.
Cleaning your tips: simple steps, lasting results
Tungsten tips need no complex maintenance, but regular cleaning after muddy or sandy outings significantly prolongs their effectiveness:
- After every outing on heavy ground, rinse the tips in clean water to remove dried mud residue
- Use a hard brush or an old toothbrush to clean out the crevices of the bevel
- Dry the poles before putting them away: standing moisture around the tips can encourage corrosion of the metal fixing parts
- Regularly inspect the fixing of the tip to the shaft: a screw fitting that loosens mid-outing can cause a fall
Maintaining the rubber pads
Rubber pads wear out faster than tungsten tips. Check their condition before every urban outing: a pierced or split pad loses all its non-slip effectiveness and can scratch the asphalt. Replacement is simple and inexpensive. Always keep a spare set in your pole bag.
When should you change your tips?
Tungsten tips are changed when the bevel is blunted, when the tip no longer "bites" into the ground and you lose grip on climbs or wet surfaces. In practice, depending on the intensity of use and the surfaces covered, replacement comes every 6 to 24 months.
Storage: the right habits
- Store your poles in their bag to protect the tips from accidental contact with other objects
- If you transport your poles by car, check that the tips cannot pierce the bag
- Never leave your poles planted upright in damp ground for a long period
The MØNARC® Arcs de Marche come with tungsten carbide tips, and the rubber pads are bought separately. Spare tips are available from our shop.
The MØNARC® Arcs de Marche®
Curved 100% carbon Nordic walking poles, 140 g per pole, designed in France and assembled in France. Delivered ready to walk with straps, tungsten carbide tips and a made-to-measure bag.
Disclaimer. This article provides general information. It does not replace the advice of a doctor or health professional, nor supervision by a qualified instructor. Before starting or stepping up physical activity, especially if you have a health condition, pain or ongoing treatment, consult your doctor. Exercise according to your fitness, on suitable ground and with equipment in good condition. Each reader remains solely responsible for their own practice and for the decisions they make based on this information, and MONARC SAS cannot be held liable for their consequences.
