Skypole? Pacer? Carbon? what do you use?!

[rocketman94]

So im curious about what brand of poles do you use?
I use a 145lb 13'6'' Skypole. its my second Skypole; my first one snapped after being used by the track team for the past 8 years haha

[VaultPurple]

Use what you have.. but if you get to chose, I vote UCS Spirit.

[rocketman94]

oh yeah i know, i'm just curious about what brands the general population of pole vaulters use haha

thanks i'll take that into consideration

[LHSpolevault]

Spirit, preferably. But I try to steer away from Altius since the poles' weights are generally heavier than the others.

[tsorenson]

On the contrary, I believe Altius poles are the best for beginner/intermediate vaulters. The heavy weight of the pole helps (forces) kids to learn how to carry the pole properly and let gravity accelerate the pole drop.
Plus they are a great value.
Plus they are durable.
Plus the lesser impact at the plant helps teach not to block out.
Plus the slower recoil allows beginners to swing into the right position in time to "catch the ride."
Plus they are easier for kids to meet/exceed the weight rule.
I agree that once a vaulter learns the proper technique and gets on huge poles, weight becomes an issue. Until then, every school would benefit from having a few series of Altius poles in the shorter lengths.
Don't believe me? Check out Morry Sanders's (AVC Coach) results year-after-year, all on Altius poles. I can't remember the last time he didn't have somebody in HS jumping 17'! (granted, there is more to it than the poles)
Tom

[rainbowgirl28]

The newer Altius poles have a much lighter carry weight than they used to.

[Pv_Mick]

I started on a skypole only for a bit though. Just to get used to a pole bending then moved on to the ucs spirits. As you progress and get more comfortable vaulting in general, i'd say make the switch. Make sure your run and plant are sub-par because these are two completely different poles. Hope this helps, i can go way way more in depth about it if you or anyone else would like. Good luck!

[msit94]

I started on a skypole only for a bit though. Just to get used to a pole bending then moved on to the ucs spirits. As you progress and get more comfortable vaulting in general, i'd say make the switch. Make sure your run and plant are sub-par because these are two completely different poles. Hope this helps, i can go way way more in depth about it if you or anyone else would like. Good luck!

I'm a bit curious on the differences if you feel like elaborating because I am currently on a spirit but the bigger poles my team has are all skypoles and a monster altius pole and I would just like to know what the differences are . Thanks

[rainbowgirl28]

As a 9'6 vaulter, you're not going to notice differences in the brand of pole, just in the size. The only way you can even start to compare brands is if you have two poles that are the exact same size, just different brands... and as a beginner, you're not consistent enough to feel the difference.

[ECvaulter30]

i started on a Skypole In high school, Then Moved to Spirits after my first year, my senior year i was on a carbon fx the whole time and now in college all we have are spirits so im back to those. i liked the carry weight of the carbon the best but spirits are starting to grow on me again

[ClintonMagus]

Our junior high, high school, and college jumpers use Skypole, Mystic, Mystic Carbon, Altius, Essx, Pacer, and UCS. With very few exceptions, they were purchased in lots, some used, based on size and flex, and without much regard to manufacturer, so they run the gamut. As it turns out, most of our smaller poles (10 - 11 feet) are Mystic and Skypole. Most medium-size poles are Altius, UCS, and Pacer, and the larger ones are Essx.

[VTechVaulter]

from what i have been told by some people that have done some reverse engineering, is that the pacer glass, skypole, and spirit poles are all basically the same design in terms of sail piece dimensions and body/wrap construction. for beginner vaulters i dont think you will really go wrong with any of it. I know of people jumping over 18'8 on pacer fx glass pole, and in fact the first ever 6m jump was on a pacer glass pole. seems that people with a higher take off angle and less bend tend to prefer the carbon poles, i.e. german (malte, shultze, even holzeppes pr is on a carbon) and russian men (pavlov, lukyankenko, gerasimov, even back to tarasov) where as people that like to bend the poles a little more go with the spirits.. i.e. french. These are just my thoughts though and there are exceptions to all trends. I personally prefer the carbons because i like the faster nature of the recoil, but people have jumped high on all of it, even a few 6m nordic vaulters