Black Diamond Distance Z Trekking Poles Review
Featherlight Z-fold poles that collapse small enough to forget they're in your pack.
These are the poles you bring because you can fold them down to the size of a water bottle and stop thinking about them. Featherlight, fast to deploy, and built for people who hate fiddling.
What the Distance Z actually is
This is Black Diamond's fixed-length, Z-folding pole. Three aluminum segments held together by an internal cord, so they snap into shape like a tent pole and collapse to roughly 13-16 inches depending on your size. They come in set lengths (100, 110, 120, 130 cm), which is the first thing to get right. There's no adjustment dial. You buy your height and that's the length you get.
The whole design is about packability and weight. A pair runs in the neighborhood of 10-11 ounces, which is light enough that fastpackers and trail runners actually carry them clipped to a vest. The trade-off for that fold-and-go simplicity is the lack of length adjustment, which matters more than the spec sheet suggests.
How they perform on the trail
Deployment is the selling point and it delivers. Pull the cord taut, push the segments together, and you've got a rigid pole in about two seconds. Owners consistently praise how little they think about these once they're up. They collapse small enough to vanish into a daypack lid, which is the real-world payoff: you stop debating whether to bring poles at all.
On moderate terrain they're plenty stiff for their weight. The EVA foam grip is comfortable bare-handed and extends a few inches down the shaft, so you can choke up on a quick climb without resetting your hand. Where the fixed length bites is steep, sustained ups and downs. Adjustable poles let you shorten for climbs and lengthen for descents. You can't do that here, so you adapt by gripping lower. For rolling trails and travel it's a non-issue. For technical alpine work it's a genuine limitation.
Durability and the honest cons
These are aluminum, not carbon, which is the right call for most people. Aluminum bends before it snaps and survives the kind of rock-strike that shatters a cheap carbon pole. The internal cord is the wear point over years of hard use, but Black Diamond's reputation for replacement parts and warranty support is solid.
The real gripes are predictable. No length adjustment. The fixed-length tax means you commit at purchase, so measure correctly. The carbide tips are fine but the included rubber tip protectors love to fall off and wander away forever. And while they're light, the dedicated Distance Carbon FLZ exists if you want both folding and adjustability. That model costs more and adds a few grams in hardware, but it solves the one thing this pole can't do.
Who should buy it (and who shouldn't)
Buy the Distance Z if you want a pack-and-forget pole for travel, day hikes, trail running, or as a tent-pole substitute for an ultralight shelter. It's our pick for people who value simplicity and packed size over fine-tuning. Frequent flyers love it because it disappears into a carry-on.
Skip it if you do long alpine days with big elevation swings, or if you're tall-and-then-short between trips and need one pole to serve different uses. Get the adjustable Distance Carbon FLZ or a twist-lock pole like the Leki Makalu instead. Also skip if you're on a tight budget. There are competent telescoping poles for half the money if you don't care about the fold.
The verdict
The Distance Z earns its strong reputation by doing one job extremely well: getting out of your way. Light, fast, durable enough, and small enough to forget about. The fixed length is a real constraint, not a dealbreaker, and most hikers will adapt to it in a single outing. If packability is your priority, this is one of the easiest recommendations in the category.
Frequently asked questions
- What length Distance Z pole should I buy?
- Black Diamond's general guidance: roughly 100 cm if you're up to about 5'1", 110 cm to about 5'7", 120 cm to about 6'1", and 130 cm for taller hikers. Because there's no adjustment, measure to where your elbow sits at 90 degrees holding the grip with the tip on the ground, and size from there.
- Are the Distance Z poles good for backpacking with an ultralight tent?
- Yes, with a caveat. Plenty of trekking-pole tents are designed around adjustable poles to hit an exact pitch height. The fixed-length Distance Z can work if your shelter accepts your pole length, so check the tent's required height before relying on it.
- Distance Z or Distance Carbon FLZ, which is better?
- The FLZ adds length adjustment and uses carbon, making it better for steep, varied terrain where you want to change length on climbs and descents. The Z is simpler, cheaper, and a touch more rugged thanks to aluminum. If you mostly want packability and don't need to adjust, the Z is the smarter buy.
Marcus has spent over a decade testing consumer tech and gadgets. He cares about whether a product earns its price in real life — not on a spec sheet.
