Update:

We tried the poles out yesterday over varied terrain that included wet and dry open forest, open plains /rangeland, and a flowing rocky creek bed with some minor ice build up on the rocks in the creek and alongside the creek in the higher sections, I have to admit that the poles helped quite a bit in the creek bed and on few steeper downhill sections in the open areas.

It took a bit to used to the poles, but after about an hour, it was hardly noticeable. I ended up only using one pole as I always carry my 3mm camera in my left hand.

As for my partner, she found the poles very useful and did not suffer as much from "sausage fingers" as she normally does after walking an hour or so. She also ended up only using one pole and switched hands every so often as it there was no need for two due to the weight of her pack (21 lbs) and the terrain was fairly easy to walk on.

For both her and I, the most disconcerting aspect that took some getting used to was purposely putting some weight on the poles especially on the downhill sections and hoping that the quick locks hold. Also feeling the poles flex more then a wooden walking stick does gave us both a certain uneasiness for the first while.

Overall, we like the poles and will use them more when we go out so that we used to them more.

There was only one issue with the poles. This model does not come with the the rubber feet that you can put on the ends. The sales person gave us the wrong rubber feet and of course we did not try them on until yesterday and they were too big. A generous wrap of electrical tape fixed this and they rubber feet held fine for the duration. Needless to say, we will be getting the proper rubber feet before our next outing...