Spirit vs. Pacer

[Siros]

I'm really interested in finding out why spirit poles are so awesome. Can someone elaborate on this for me?

[michaelcantu88]

ok ive been vaulting for a few years now and im lucky to have a wide variety of poles. but the thing is all we have are ucs poles and 2 pacer poles. personaly i like pacer alot more than ucs. too me i can grip the pacers tighter and alot more comfortable and not only grip but they are lighter wich help my run out alot. i can constantly get up on pacer poles and i like the more powerful bend and throw that it gives u not like the softer huge bend that a ucs pole gives u. to me ucs poles are jus harder to get up on. im the number 1 vaulter in our district with a pr of 14 wit a pacer and everyone else uses spirits and cant even clear 12. so from what ive seen so far its all about them pacers!

[Schnalan]

I have used Spirits my whole career, which granted it's only 4 years of vaulting. I am currently using a 13' 145 Spirit and blowing through it, so my school is ordering me a 13' 7" 150 Pacer FX and a 14' 150 Spirit. The reason I'm telling you this is because I would like to know how the Pacer FX will differ from a Spirit. Will it have a faster/slower recoil(snapback, whatever it's referred to as), are they heavier/lighter?

[rainbowgirl28]

You're not going to notice the difference in brands, you will notice that your new pole feels about 15 lbs stiffer

Check this out http://www.skyjumpers.com/articles/pvpr ... table.html

[Schnalan]

Thanks. Now what will I need to work on when i get a stiffer pole?

[VTechVaulter]

know whats fun? reading the dates of the last 2 pages of posts. thread sits for 3 or 4 years, and comes back to life, 3 or 4 years sitting again, back to life. nice

[PoleVaultGovs]

haha ikr! this topic seems to fuel us all. I currently use a 14' 150lb ucs spirt. i also had a 14' 145 pacer lll. i could not get in on the 14 145lb pacer. i am getting plently of penetration with this ucs spirit. maybe its the feel? maybe its in my head? im not sure but to me spirits are the way to go. maybe my timing is slower so pacer is too fast for me? these are all questions i ask my self everyday trying to figure out the answer but i never get a solid answer that i am comfterable with. oh the joys of pole vaulting

[atlegu]

For my two "micro vaulters" i.e. 10 and 11 years old, we have tried four different companies: Nordic, Essx, Spirit and Pacer Mystic. All of them works great (for small kids the small differences is not the most important). The problem is that most companies does not make small enough poles. However thanks to Essx that made two 9 feet poles (one 55 and on 66 lbs). They are great for my 60 lbs 10 year old.

However when my oldest blew through his 10 feet 70 (mystic) he tried a 10'6'', 80 and blew through that one as well. He then tried his UCS Spirit 10'8 75 and had no chance. We then got the pole measured and realized that it was much stiffer than the weight suggested. According to experts that pole should be at least 100 lbs. So the companies measurement is not always perfect.

[PoleVaultGovs]

maybe the pole was old and sat in the sun for awhile? usually mis calculating the weight isnt an issue. i am only 5 8 and 125lbs and im on a 14 155 ucs spirit.
spirit poles are usually a softer bend then most

[rainbowgirl28]

The shorter the pole, the less consistent the brands are. All brands are very close for 13' and longer poles. Poles 12'-12'9 tend to vary by as much as 10lbs between brands (and that's with new poles, some older poles vary more), and poles 11'6 and shorter vary even more. Most manufacturers don't put a sailpiece in the really short poles (length varies by brand, but generally a pole less than 11' doesn't have a sailpiece).

[atlegu]

Our spirit pole is just half a year old and was definitively wrongly labelled (or measured). It seems that some brands are better at measuring small poles than other. My problem with a wrongly labelled pole is twofold, first: It was stiffer than planned and not usable when we thought it should be, second: since it is labelled as 75 lbs it is not possible to use it for high school kids. A 10'8'' 100 is perfect for some of the smaller girls. I might try to get it relabeled though.

Small kids also need good poles !

[PoleVaultGovs]

definitly... i am vaulting tomorrow for 14 feet as a sophmore in highschool. I am jumping for the record also... wish me luck!