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Two box collars meet the ASTM /NCAA/NFHS standard. Gill and UCS. The UCS has a couple of bells and whistles: Brackets for fastening into the runway. A line to indicate landing pad movement.

We've been to several meets that have the Gill, but haven't seen the UCS. Pictures of the UCS look good. Anyone care to weigh in on this topic?

The UCS box collar does not in fact meet the ASTM, NCAA or NFHS rule so there still is only one box collar that is legal. Its all about the wings.

vaultwest wrote:The UCS box collar does not in fact meet the ASTM, NCAA or NFHS rule

I haven't talked with MF or UCS, but I seriously doubt they would misrepresent this to the public.
http://www.everythingtrackandfield.com/ ... yErrorView

I've said for about two years that UCS would have one on the market and told otherwise by my good friends here on this forum. Here it is. Please prove me wrong.

The UCS collar DOES meet the standards.... It is in PRINT multiple places...
They manufactured and designed it specifically after the standard was in place.
So not only did they have the standard to follow, they went above and beyond according to safety standards.

The "other one" aheem aheem was made before the standard even passed the rule. put 2 and 2 together.

UCS and the other one both work, one was made before the standard. The UCS collar designed above and beyond the standard.

And I have seen the UCS, it hangs over all hard surfaces, It has anchor to avoid shifing, and it has an angle cut so the pole will not rotate into the padding. a superior product if only for the anchor and the angle cutout. UCS isn't going to design something that doesn't meet the standard. Come on man.

I have some big issues still.

I applaud UCS for making a more stable box. But I have a double sided pole vault pit, so If you bolt one to the ground, you have to buy two. Also with bolting them down, you can not put in a rubber plug to keep the water out of the box, and the wings sit in the water constantly. Has there been any research done on how they stand up to water damage?

What have others done to combat water damage? How are you keeping water out of your boxes now? Any scooping advice?

PV2020... A large 13 gallon Trash bag, Line it in the water after it rains... Let it fill up and slide it out. Do that a couple times and the water is out. We can usually drain a box in about 1.5 minutes.

The trash bag method is the best way to remove water from the box. It is fast and it allows you to move the water as far away from the pit area as you want. I did a couple of YouTube videos demonstrating how to do it a few years ago. Just search for "removing water from a pole vault box the easy way" in Google or YouTube and they will be at the top of the results.

We had the Gill box collar with the wings last Spring and it didn't seem to be affected by water in the box. It appears to be made from closed cell foam that doesn't absorb water.

The cheapest way is to make a scoop - take a empty 1-gal milk/water jug and glue the lid on, then cut the bottom off. The somewhat square-ish sides make it easy to get nearly all the water out. A sponge will help you get the last few ounces out.

Or, buy a hand-pump. You can save money by getting it at Home Depot rather than from a Track & Field supplier.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/American-Spe ... /203635079
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Arnold-Sipho ... /203051321

You'll likely want to extend the hose if you buy one of these.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/DuraHeat-Bat ... /100125308
http://www.homedepot.com/p/DuraHeat-Pla ... /100372238
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Siphon-King- ... /205346978

PV2020 wrote:I applaud UCS for making a more stable box. But I have a double sided pole vault pit, so If you bolt one to the ground, you have to buy two.

No need to buy two. You can use threaded anchors and thumb screws. Spin'em down and spin'em up.

There are always inconveniences when thing change.

For getting water out of the box I purchased a battery pump (as shown in previous post from Home Depot) very slow and very unsatisfactory. I then got a hand pump similar to the orange one showen from HD (it came with a kayak we purchased). It works great and very fast at emptying even a full box. And as was stated a sponge takes car of the last little bit of water.

I think 20/20 is looking for information on the adverse affects of water on the wings of the gill collar. The only thing that I noticed is the inside edges where the pole bends against it, wears through the vinyl cover leaving the inside exposed.

I'm hoping this thread sticks to the comparison of collars and not a box pumping/scooping thread.

Both Gill and UCS are legal, don't let them tell you otherwise, I have a UCS and have seen both, UCS is by far better for the vaulter. its more work installing but your vaulters will prefer that the collar does not go inside the box making it smaller and more difficult to vault. UCS is the better choice. I also refuse to fund Gill who is the one that pushed making this collar a requirement... Spending $500 on foam instead of equipment is idiotic.