Best tips for hiking/scrambling poles?

Never used hiking poles before, aside from ski and splitboarding, but a back injury 8 months ago (ruptured L4 and L5) has me reconsidering.  I’ve gotten to the point where walking is fine, but any sort of scrambling, especially downhill, results in pain, and my legs going numb. Hiking poles seem to help.

Any recommendations from anyone with experience towards what poles and tips might be best for scrambling style hiking poles?  Some sticky rubber tips would be cool, as I’m not really looking for stability in river crossings or wet-slippery terrain, more for taking the weight off my back when scrambling, especially on those hop down jump kind of things when you’re descending through gullies or boulders.

Also, how do the spin locks compare with the lever lock mechanism for adjustment or collapsing the poles?  With my damn back, the pole suddenly collapsing under weight... total bummer.

Sorry to hear about the back, but glad you're keen on getting out! I got some awesome carbon trekking poles made by Cascade Mountain Tech from Costco 6 years ago.  They have seen years worth of backcountry abuse and are still going strong, outlasting my Black Diamond poles. They came with all sorts of tip attachments including several styles of rubber tips.  However, I find that rubber tips don't generate enough friction to be super useful unless you are really leaning on them.  The metal tips work fine for me on all terrain.

Best of luck!

The Flik-Lok is way better than the twist to tighten kind. Padded wrist straps are nice, too.  Black Diamond makes good poles.

Also, I think the rubber "tips" are for walking on the sidewalk or on slab. You want the carbide tips for the backcountry.

I remove the rubber tips always, and take off the basket unless I'm in snow or mud for long stretches. The carbide tips are better than the rubber and the baskets get snagged in between rocks and branches.

Currently using some lightweight collapsible mountainsmith poles. These particular poles have thick Lycra wrist straps too which are nice when you're sweating a lot. I also prefer cork for similar reasons and they help with blisters on week long backpacking trips.

I've used 3 section trekking poles with the twist lock for ice approaches with heavy boots and pack for a few years. Took up skiing this year, and got some touring poles with 2 sections and the flick lock. I'd take those over trekking poles any time, a bit stiffer and they have a secondary grip underneath the main handle so you can adjust your grip without dicking around with changing the length of the pole.

I love my BD Carbon Z poles. Lightweight and packable. I can deploy them from the front of my running vest for steep approaches and stash them away just as quickly for handsfree scrambling, the carbide tip has held up great and bites on rock very well. I've had them for several years with no issues except they're the older style and I can't put any other basket on them. If your hard on your gear or plan to have a heavier load and weight is not so much a concern the BD Alpine Carbon poles might be a better option. IMO

These are on sale at Black Diamond.  They get good reviews.  I still use some ancient Leki poles.  Rubber tips are good for rocky surfaces as the metal tips can skate on rock, but I wouldn't look to them to provide usable friction. Most poles you can buy rubber covers to go over the metal tip and remove as needed. Others have said they don't like the rubber covers, so I guess it's a YMMV thing.

https://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en_US/alpine-carbon-cork-BD1125143010ALL1.html#start=12

Third vote for the Cascade carbon poles. Mine have seen several hundred miles of hiking and mountain trail running, plus some backcountry skiing and even a few days of resort skiing when I forgot my ski poles. Solid quality, and when your snowboarding friend runs over one while unloading from the lift, splintering it into a million shards of carbon, you can buy a new lower section for $8. At least that’s what I heard. 

I have the three section trekking Makalu poles from Leki. They are older but what I like about them are the cork handles and the spring shock. The spring is nice on the down hill to cushion the landing. Though it does make them a bit heavier. I never use the rubber tips but I have 2" disk baskets which are nice in rocky terrain so to help keep the tips from catching between rocks.