Just realized my trekking poles failed me on the Smoky Mountains loop

I was hiking the Laurel Falls to Clingmans Dome stretch last Saturday and my right pole collapsed mid descent. The locking mechanism just gave up after about 400 miles of use, and I almost ate it on a rocky switchback. I ended up using a fallen branch for the last 2 miles, which was honestly sketchy but worked. No spare parts kit, no backup pole, just me and a stick. Has anyone else had a pole lock fail suddenly and did you find a fix or just replace them?

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