Personally, I haven't paid for a pair of poles in about 8 years or so. Well, last year I had to throw $5 to this chick in rentals who didn't know me...
and to those of you who do pay for poles, how much are you spending, and what's the life expectancy of said poles? 'Cause I mean, I go through like 3 to 5 pairs a season. Why you'd drop $50/pair on something that will break on you in a month I have no idea.