vaultdad wrote:As frightening as this may sound, I agree with Bruce wholeheartedly on the subject of inspecting the pole carefully when purchasing a new or used pole.
I officiate PV for a high school here in Missouri, and this year I have seen a number of poles break. After watching how some athletes (Male and Female) treat their poles it's not hard to understand what shortens the life of a pole. Knowing how the pole was treated would be critical information for me. I've seen poles angrily thrown on the ground after a poor vault, tossed on fences as make-do pole stands, thrown on school buses under the seats,stepped on by non-vaulters with needle spikes, and young women who are seniors in high school who are still using 100# poles. You show me a 100# female senior in high school, and I'll probably show you a girl whose too belimic to vault. Whatever the reason, if the tape is 70%chewed off ,or there is dings or dents in the pole body, or has cracks at the top don't buy the pole. Why should you risk your limbs because of someone elses stupidity?
The pole tubes such as Essx ships the poles in have been excellent in deflecting shipping damage compared to the paper tubes my earlier poles have been shipped in. This year, we made more tubes to fit out the schools new Gill poles and gave each pole a nickname as well. The idea was to foster caring for the equipment instead of treating it like the rest of the schools property. After this past season ended, I inspected the poles and surprise! Very little to no damage.
Sorry about the long post, but I couldn't pass this one up
YES we think the paper tube is a poor way to ship and protect the delicate vaulting pole
We used to at fibersport have PAul at Altius stick a label at the top of the pole with a nick name of the pole. We sent out poles to Joe Dial once with BIg dog on them and etc.
DO YOU NICKNAME YOUR POLES?
WHAT HAVE YOU NICKNAMED THEM?
NICKNAME_______________________
BRAND__________________________
SIZE POLE _______________________
FLEX____________________________