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I have a 1975 Pacer III that we've referred to as the "telephone pole" for the last 30 years. It was marked 14' 175 lbs, but everyone who touched it said it was much heavier than that. I've finally gotten on it a few times and am satisfied that it is about a 185 lb pole. I get a good vault off it, but here's the problem: It's a twister.

When I have tried to go with the prebend, it twists right out of my hands. If I trust the brand-name markings, it bends correctly. The slight prebend is about 40 degrees off from the soft side markings.

There was a good post about this by PVJunkie almost 4 years ago onthis topic. Poles can pick up a twist from improper storage. I would like to know if the prebend could be brought back into alignment somewhat by hanging the pole between a couple of V-blocks with a 50 lb weight hanging from the middle. Of course, I would line up the bend with the brand name. This isn't for high school vaulters, and I know the correct answer is to buy a new pole, but could this in theory work? Also, could moderate heat (up to 140 degrees) help?

I would sure welcome any comments from you pole manufacturers.

i would not fool around with something like that, beacause if it breaks while your vaulting ( God forbit ) you might get a nasty injury, a classic example is the poles made in the 70's, then fiberglass was new and was not created properly in pole vault poles. this guy at my dads high school broke a pacer and it impaled him through the stomach, luckily he lived

dont mess with it thats my warning

Rhino
Hey man I had a pole that was a twister and I did just what you are talking about, I supported the pole at both ends with saw horses and then hung about 50 or 60 pounds in the middle. I picked a nice warm day and set up on the south side of a building to maximize the heat, I left it that way all day and it worked like a champ and I have been vaulting on that pole for 3 years now and it has worked out fine. So I would say give it a try.
Vault On

Thanks Vaultwest! I tried leaving it bent like that in the garage for a weekend without much effect. I imagine that eventually it would work, but I was thinking about using a heat gun like you use to peel paint to speed up the process (being moderate of course).

hot water

I had the same problem with a Pacer II made in the 80s. It is a 15' 175 and the prebend is way off. I tired jumping many times with the prebend, and it would twist and throw me sideways, or make me lose my grip. To solve this problem, I held lower, and found the 'actual' bend, and it seems to work better now that i know where the bend is.

i'm no expert, but putting weight on the pole seems to me like it would be a bad idea. Poles are not made to support weight for a long time, and doing so would probibly cause internal damage to the fiberglass (which is old anyway). Last time i tried to put weight on a pole, my coach chewed me out for like 5 minutes saying how that causes unwated stress and causes more harm than good.

Don't mess with it. Get another pole. It is not wise to monkey around with a flawed stick. Just my 2 cents.

since you talk about the pole being poorly stored and it got a bad bend in it....how exactly is the best way to store a pole???

Well just today, i have an early 80's pacer 150, my coach tells me its actually around a 157, and it was 96 degrees out with a blistering sun. The pole was on my car for a while and sat on the grass before i was going to warm up on it, and i picked it up and the bend had moved completely opposite. We let it sit with the way the bend was supposed to be on teh fence for about 10 minutes and it was a little better, jumpable. But yea, scarey stuff, i wouldnt jump on a pole if its too hott and the bend turns on you like that, after hearing the stories above!