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My school like a lot of other have a ton of old poles. I'm talking old school. Most are beat of though, and we are finding cracks on them, hairline to huge, or tears in the wrap which isnt quite as bad as teh crack. Is there anyway I could get them to get our team new poles for saftey issues, or would taht be risky if they would have to cut that event?

Purchasing dept's only look at investments not one year purchases.
Take the poles you have now that are safe looking, with no cracks.
Set up a chart to range the poles by weights. Build a support or sawhorse and get a 50 lbs weight. Measure the softest to the stiffest. The biggest deflection are the softest and the smaller deflection is the stif ones.
Look where your gaps are, these are the poles you must buy first.

Showing that you are using ones they invested in and that the ones you buy are going to have on going usage. This should establish the purchase of poles as an investment in the schools future endeavors and not just a one-year thingy.
Also buying early will get you discounts as pole manufactures want to sell as much as they can in the off season to allow more time to produce within the season.
GOOD LUCK and I hope this will help you and the readers.

I would assume that if they know they are cracked in advance, are they willing to risk the liability in the event of injury with the advance knowledge that they have???? If they don't care, then in good conscience you need to let any other vaulter that wants to use it know that it is dangerous. Maybe you should put a note taped onto them....cracked do not use....may break at any time!!!

haha, I say jump on it anyways. I had this pole that was the EXACT pole I needed nothing was wrong with it, it looked brand new, except for one thing it had a crack it, like a weight was dropped on it and crushed it, right at the top for about 6 inches. Oh well, I got 3 of the best jumps ever on it before I exploded it. My had hurt for a week, and I still vaulted, no big deal.

OAKPV2004 wrote:haha, I say jump on it anyways. I had this pole that was the EXACT pole I needed nothing was wrong with it, it looked brand new, except for one thing it had a crack it, like a weight was dropped on it and crushed it, right at the top for about 6 inches. Oh well, I got 3 of the best jumps ever on it before I exploded it. My had hurt for a week, and I still vaulted, no big deal.

I had a windshield the same way it had a crack in it. I never changed it for two years SMILE. But one day I hit a bump and the whole window come crashing in my lap as I was driving down the street.

So poles are the same way, I have seen a few that GEOFF FAIRBANKS has that had large nicks in them and he told me these were his warm-up poles and he never had a problem.

So it is always up to the owner of the poles but as a manufacturer, I cannot recommend.
LOL I am sure you guys and gals understand?

ESSX wrote:
So poles are the same way, I have seen a few that GEOFF FAIRBANKS has that had large nicks in them and he told me these were his warm-up poles and he never had a problem.

So it is always up to the owner of the poles but as a manufacturer, I cannot recommend.
LOL I am sure you guys and gals understand?

Geoff's Pacer III Carbon warmup pole is scary, but not half as scary as the pole his teammate Mike had.

I cut down a beat-up old 4.90 Spirit to make a 15' 185 15.2 - ended up being a money pole! Scary part was, right below the label there was not a nick, but a CHUNK of pole missing - like a 6" long strip that formed a channel that would hold water! Now any sane vaulter would clearly have retired that stick to pole runs, but this is CRASH we're talking about here. He put on his helmet, blasted down the runway, closed his eyes, bit his lip, and gave it hell! The pole rolled over fine, didn't break, and was a great short-run pole for him all season! Still hasn't broken to this day, hundreds of jumps later.

Note: the damage was not on the stress-side(facing the pit at plant) of the pole, but on the compression side(facing the vaulter at plant).

Yeah the key is where the damage is on the pole. Personally, I would not take a chance on a pole that was damaged anywhere! Well maybe if it was the top 3" or something... but still

That Pacer III I have works great. Its got 1.5 feet cut off it, and three big chunks of fiberglass torn out of it. I will be very upset when that ol' girl blows up. Mikes pole was pretty haggard though too, I never really looked at it real close, but it was as bad or worse than my P3.

Cracked and split or spiked poles
Other reasons for pole breakage.

I had a bamboo pole that really would bend when you planted it. Never jumped high with it, but it gave me the sinking and lifting feeling of a big bending pole.
One day I really cranked it and the thing broke and stabbed me in the upper lip. I have a scare there covered by a mustache now.
MY point here is:
When you get comfortable with a pole you transfer more energy into the implement and sometimes more than its load capacity.
Otherwords;
CONFIDENCE BENDS AND OVER BENDS POLES!
When you get that feeling it is time, right now, to move to a stiffer pole!
Do not delay!

As a manufactuer we do not recommned usage of poles that are damaged, not because we want you to buy another pole, but because it is a weak pole, one that will not store all the energy you strive to put into the vault at the plant and in swing phases.

That is why we always say the
THE BEST POLE IN THE WORLD IS THE ONE THAT FITS YOU!

[b][size=100]If it fits you properly and it has all the glass we made the pole with, you can store a big percentage of the energy you "bring down the runwayâ€Â

My high school coach had a bunch of old poles that he had jumped on back in the day, some monster catapoles that were about as big around as my fist. No one there was dreaming of even doing pole runs with those poles, so my coach took four of them and tied the tops of them together, attached a climbing rope, and stood them on end. We had a portable climbing rope, however, trying to do any kind of swinging vault drills on that contraption could be dangerous! The whole thing would fall over if you swung to far.