Recently, while at Costco, I came across a killer deal: Costco is selling carbon fiber trekking poles for $27! So I bought a pair, stripped them down (removed the strap, basket, etc.) and weighed each pole in at 7.1 oz. Although they are no longer offered at Costco, they can be purchased on Amazon.com (click here).
If you have any thoughts of using poles for hiking and backpacking, these are a great find and probably worth checking out.
I use trekking poles to help take pressure off my knees on the down hills, makes the uphills easier, helps me balance, especially on tricky trails and stream crossings. They also serve as my tarp/tent poles, monopod for taking photos and is a handy duct tape dispenser. Talk about multipurpose! Here is a review from Andrew Skurka>>