PoleVaultPower.com

What's the deal with those cheap, crappy, rubber butt plugs in pacer poles? I've broken through over 6 of them this year. I'm down to 2 plugs for 5 poles. Spirit plugs on the other hand are a very hard plastic which i don't think i've ever seen break. Is there some reason Gill uses these soft rubberized caps instead of plastic ones like spirits? The busted caps are starting to piss me off. I'd be ever more pissed if I had to buy the new plugs myself!

because gill just wants the money, so they dont care if the plugs break.
thats just an idea.

Most of our poles (they're all Pacers) have hard plastic tips (Brian doesn't know what buttplugs are ) but maybe they've already been replaced. Altius however puts absolute crap tips on their poles. I think I blew one out after about 5 jumps on a new Altius.

ESSX got a few weak tips too but we stepped up the durometer and now they are better.

The black rubber ones I invented with the stainless steel washer work great. but without the washer as in the swedish plug they are worthless.

The hard ones by spirit last the longest I do not like the hard noise they make when you plant but they do last.

tim hutzley wrote:because gill just wants the money, so they dont care if the plugs break.
thats just an idea.

sorta along the lines i was thinking. can't really think of anyother reason for having a soft plug.

Must have some older stuff - all the new stuff is a white/clear hard plastic - but then again Ducks - about the best thing you can say is they painted there facility nice Green Bay Packer colors

Yea you guys need to get a clue...............cause we make SO DAMN much $$$$ on a tip..................Were gettin rich off tips............... Think about what your saying before you say it.

Sorry........that may have come across a little defensive.........did not mean it that way but the fact is, there is not a huge profit in tips. So there is and never has been an intentional "soft tip" to "make more $$". In fact as Jeff pointed out you guys have an older version. We have increased the durability but still staying away from the hard plastic tips.

i hate to make accusations. i didn't really think that was why pacers would have the soft plugs. but then again, when you break 5 plugs in a year, it does kinda add up. We're all on carbon fx's, so i would think they're your newest plugs. but like i said before, i don't really see a reason why the plugs would be soft instead of hard plastic like the spirit ones? is there a reason? if so, fill us in.

I have broken through some of the rubber tips and it is a little wierd moving up a pole and bringing your tip with you. The only problem I have is that I have used some older poles and those poles have washers in the rubber tips. One time I went through the rubber tip and the washer lodged itself sideways inside the pole about 2 inches up.
Maybe pole companies tried to use rubber tips to soften the blow when you plant???

The old tips were pretty bad......however the new ones are great (the clear ones PVjunkie is talking about.) I blew out about 10 of the old tips last semester, and I have only blown out one of the new tips in the last 6 months.

I had an ESSX with the old red tip and it got messed up mighty quicly. The new ones work fine!... but here was what I did before I got one of the new essx tips and Id broken my old one.... I went into our trailer.. and found a spirit tip the same size! DUH! If you dont like a tip.. spend $8 and get the right size from another company.. its not rocket science. Some people like the rubber better.... but doesnt mean you cant buy a different brand if the others break toooo much.