What Does It Mean When Something is Marked as "Refurbished" on Our Site?

If you’ve spent any amount of time perusing this blog, you’ve probably noticed sustainability is important to Diorite Gear. As a B-Corp, we think about our environmental impact constantly - especially when it comes to the materials we use. One of the ways we mitigate our material waste is by selling discounted but entirely functional products that have something going on that might cause another company to throw them out. In comes our refurbished and blemished trekking poles.

And if you spent any amount of time perusing the Diorite online shop, you’ve probably also noticed our discounts page is full of items marked as “refurbished”. While you likely know what the word refurbished means, what exactly goes into refurbishing each product you can find there? In the interest of helping all our customers make the right, educated purchase for them, this blog will break down every refurbished and blemished product we sell - and what exactly the product you receive might look like.

Refurbished trekking poles

We often find ourselves in possession of trekking poles that have an issue with one section and two other entirely functional sections. Whether the carbon fiber has snapped in one area or a bonding failure happened in another, refurbished trekking poles consist of a combination of new and used sections to make a new, fully functional - if somewhat scuffed up - pole. Our fabricator Brett inspects each piece carefully before deciding to use it - most often we decide the section is too used to be resold and it gets recycled. The refurbished trekking pole you receive could be any combination of new and used carbon fiber sections, but the grip, the tip, and the hardware (the screws and fasteners that hold each section together) are always brand new. These are a good option for folks on a budget or folks that would like to lower their consumer carbon footprint.

Blemished trekking poles

Unlike refurbished trekking poles, blemished trekking poles aren't used - quite the opposite actually: they are brand new. Because all our poles are hand made, sometimes things happens in the manufacturing process. It’s a shame and a waste to throw away a perfectly good set of poles that has some visible drops of bonding agent or a slightly smeared label so when that happens, we sell them on our site at a discounted price.  Due to the nature of their creation - obviously, we try to prevent errors in the creation of our poles - we don’t always have them in stock. When we do, they’re a great option for folks on a budget that don’t care about the aesthetics of their poles.

Next time you’re shopping with us, consider checking out our discounted section! You’ll save money while lowering both your carbon footprint and ours.