What pole?

[lonestar]

[quote="PVJunkie"]To start with.....take a week or so and go read the Pacer vs. Spirit debate.

No kidding! Boy those Pacers sure do bend low!?! Whatever!!!

Back in the day (can I talk about the 80's???)

Were you on Pacer III's? My favorite pole of choice all-around!

In high school my biggest pole was a 14' 160, standing 5'10 weighing 140.

In college, my biggest pole was a 15' 165, weighing 155.

Now I vault on anything from a 14' 170 to a 15' 180 (16.1) depending on how bad my aching back feels and how much I drank the night before

[NCDiv2InjuryArtist]

"No kidding! Boy those Pacers sure do bend low!?! Whatever!!! "

Am i the only person that has bent a pole by leaning into it standing on the ground to see where the bend was. I dont have any reseach to prove this just what ive seen with my own eyes. Could anyone tell me why i see more of a bend at the top of spirits than pacers when i do that?

[jhawksteele]

I mostly used Spirit poles, but towards the end of my college career, I got up on some Pacer Carbons. I really liked the carbons, but it took a while to get used to them. They have a much quicker return than the spirits. I never managed to use a 5 meter carbon though, and the spirits gave me a better push off. Also, the carbons don't have much of a prebend so you have to be careful to get the sail piece going in the right direction.[/img]

[indestructo]

ok I've seen mention to the sail piece twice in here. Someone please explain this to me.... What is it and how that effects the positioning at takeoff as mentioned above about the Essex brand?

[wacky274]

a sailpiece is really just a thicker part of the pole (more fiberglass)....it is where the pole is intended to take the most amount of pressure....it can change take off position b/c...well for instance, if you are jumping with a sail piece that is too low, the pole is going to bend a lot at the top and thus not really do anything for you....if the sailpiece is too high, the pole will bend too much at the bottom, and probably break.....

[xtremevaulter]

Man ever since I have come down to college I have had to deal with 15 foot poles. I am so not used to those things yet. BUt that is what time will do it will get me that much higher I cant wait. I am vaulting on 15 155 to 15' 170

[UNCW Vaulter]

Yay I am glad you guys got the new factory going! I have seen Matt Merritt jump on Essx and I know he really liked them.

You know Matt, that is so funny... small world I guess. Matt was a little recruit that I took care of on his visit to UNCW (the Dub). His freshman year was after I graduated though and he is no longer on the team roster. Does anyone know what happened to him?

Anyway, I used:
6 lefts - Spirit 15' 165
7 lefts - Spirit 15' 170
8 lefts - Spirit 16' 160 or 16' 165
10 lefts - Spirit 16' 165 or 16' 170

I'm only 5'11", 148 lbs (soaking wet with a backpack on). How big a pole you use is dictated by how fast you run UNDER CONTROL & with GOOD FORM, and how aggressive you are at plant. Plain and simple.

Spirits are the absolutely the best poles available far and away! Despite whatever the Pacer sponsored test studies show, Spirits clearly have the highest bend and the highest performance as far as loading and recoil are concerned. Earl Bell's Essex pole would definitely be my next choice. Like Spirit poles, they have smooth yet powerful bending and unbending action. It is just a matter of preference that I choose Spirit, they feel better in my hands. Pacer offers the Pacer Carbon; an extremely fast and powerful pole. The benefit to Pacer Carbon is that the pole diameter is significantly smaller. For vaulters who are intimidated about moving up to the next pole due to the sheer size of it in your hand, this may seem appealing. But if you are this type of person, keep this in mind as well; the Carbon will bend and unbend more quickly then any other pole you have vaulted on. If you are not loading the pole correctly, or find yourself not completely inverted as the pole is recoiling now, then you will be even more out of position on a Pacer (this is a scary/dangerous concept. Evaluate your own skill before attempting to move up to this pole). Skilled vaulters also be weary. If you are going to make the switch to Pacer, you will have to purchase a whole series of poles so that your timing doesn't change when switching between labels. I vaulted on a 15'7" Nordic pole once upon a time as well. They are pretty cool, but before Bill Faulk/MF Athletics picked up their product line, they were more or less unavailable in the United States. If you have ever picked one up, you could swear it was a Spirit with a different logo on it. Why not just go with the real thing? I hope I helped out a little with anyones decision to purchase poles.

[rainbowgirl28]

Wow way to resurrect an old thread

[Decamouse]

Opinons are great

[SlickVT]

Pacer for life. My spirit vaults are super slow and sloppy where the pacer vaults are fast, powerful and i get more kick.

It does depend on HOW you jump that determines which you like better.

[PVJunkie]

SINCE THERE IS A HIGHLY BIASED TONE TO THIS POST I WILL BEND MY RULE OF NOT POSTING TO CONFORNTATIONAL TOPICS. MISINFROMATION IS JUST AS DANGEROUS AND DAMAGING AS NO INFORMATION AT ALL.

Despite whatever the Pacer sponsored test studies show, THERE HAVE NEVER BEEN PACER SPONSORED STUDIES ONLY RESEARH DONE BY PACER FOR PACER, MAYBE GILL SHOULDNT SHARE THE CUTTING EDGE OF TECHNOLOGY WITH THE END USER BUT I THINK KNOWLEGE BASED INFORMATION WITH ACTUAL RESEARCH IS FAR MORE IMPORTANT THAN SOMEONES OPINION

Spirits clearly have the highest bend and the highest performance as far as loading and recoil are concerned. YOU NEED TO WATCH MORE VAULTS, OF ALL THE POLES ON THE MARKET THE SPIRIT IS THE ONE POLE MOST SUBJECT TO THE LOADING EFFECTS OF THE INDIVIDUAL VAULTER, CHECK OUT THE DIFFERENT SHAPES PRODUCED BY THE STACY, SEVETLANA AND ISBANIVA (sp) FULL TO LOW ON ALL THREE

The benefit to Pacer Carbon is that the pole diameter is significantly smaller. FUNNY YOU SHOULD BRING UP THE MARKETING CONCEPT PIONEERED BY UCS, NO ONE EVER TALKED ABOUT GRIP DIAMETER UNTL UCS STARTED MAKING POLES, THAT WAS THERE MARKETING STRATAGY FOR YEARS AND IS WHY IT IS AN ISSUE TO THIS DAY

THERE ARE WHOLE THREADS ON THIS SITE REGAURDING THE "HIGH BEND" POKE AROUND AND YOU WILL FIND THEM.

[lonestar]

Great, just what we need - another "expert" with no empirical data to back up his statements - yay