p holley,
the clamps will last a very long time, you can extend the life by wrapping a turn or two of pvc tape round the part of the pole section where the clamps grip (usually when fully extended) or you could use heat shrink, or you could lever up and slide a blob of of super/type glue under the contact points on a periodic basis and wait till it dries.
The other factor is the anonising will eventually wear off as with the Unger poles but as mentioned you could heat shrink the sections then, but not sure if they will slide as easily as a new pole does ?