Important: Latest News about labels

[CowtownPV]

So are you saying that the 40 plus altius poles I have with length, weight and flex engraved in the pole need to be sent back to altius to be retested so they can have a sticker put on them. So are Spirit, Gill and Altius all using the same testing methods now?

[Robert schmitt]

this would only need to be done If you suspected the weight rating would change under the new flex chart/system. and wonted to have that pole cert at that new weight rating. other wise you could have the old rating just mailed to you w/o shipping the pole in. I sold a 14' pole 5 years ago and I got quoted for shipping from that ranged between $145-over $200 for shipping a pole one way. so I was multiplying that by 2 for the return and that comes to 290-400 dollars. Now I know now that there a cheaper ways to ship a pole through an account like lonestar has. but I don't have one and don't know what the cost saviings would be or if I could even get one as I'm a vollenter coach and don't have a bussiness accnt to set it up through.
'

[drcurran]

I need to jump in on this one. Vaultref has it right for officials, we have to follow the rules. All this discussion - the rules are stupid, the rules are wrong, the rules are not good for our sport, and so forth. Many of us would agree, but that is not the point. The point is we must enforce the rules as they are written. I was at a HS meet yesterday (as a spectator not as an official). Relay meet about 12 girls and 12 boys. The "official" has been doing this meet for many years, but I'm not sure he is a certified official. Anywhere from 18" to 3' of exposed concrete around the pit, wood pallets under the pit and sticking out front and sides (6" or more). Many poles with no labels, and the the meet just went right along. Good news, no one was injured, but you can just bet that if an athlete was injured the "official", the school, and probably many of the coaches standing around would have had their collective "butts" in a sling. As an official we hate to be the "bad guy" but had I been the official I'm afraid I would have insisted the "problems" be corrected or I would not officiate. And then of course I would have been a PITA, and gotten criticized for being too picky or too strict. OK just my .02

Dan

PS - I mentioned the safety issues to several coaches and their response was something like "yeah really is not safe, but what are we going to do, I guess that is just the way it is" - go figure!

[kev44000]

I am all for the rules and to enforce them. In Oklahoma other than the State meet (where there are several certified officials) , parents and volunteers have to run most all the local meets and most events Pole vault, shot etc. No one so far even at big indoor meets Houston, Texas Tech, Pittsburgh State, & Arkanasas that we went to checked any poles period. Rules are a guideline to use, and are very poorly inforced if at all. I will say at the Texas Relays vaulters are weighed and poles checked they do it right.

[kev44000]

So are you saying that the 40 plus altius poles I have with length, weight and flex engraved in the pole need to be sent back to altius to be retested so they can have a sticker put on them. So are Spirit, Gill and Altius all using the same testing methods now?

Spirit only ask for a detailed photo of engraving and they will send out the label for you to attache

[rainbowgirl28]

So are you saying that the 40 plus altius poles I have with length, weight and flex engraved in the pole need to be sent back to altius to be retested so they can have a sticker put on them. So are Spirit, Gill and Altius all using the same testing methods now?

No, it's only an issue with shorter Gill poles because they changed the spans on which they flexed them, so the old flex numbers don't directly correlate to the new. For the most part, they didn't just change what weight rating corresponds to a given flex number, so while you can say as a general rule of thumb that an 11' or 12' Mystic made before 2003 or whatever will now have a weight label of 10lbs stiffer, it's not always going to be true.

[belmore]

This label rule, I'm all for safety, I feel like I have overcompensated in training young vaulters, but this label business seems like another way to put another financial hit on small schools and young vaulters. How many small town vaulters or kids coached by their parents are going to even know they need to have a label attached to a pole that is permantely etched with serial numbers and flex and pole size. The etchings actually stay on the pole for years, the stickers tend to fade or peel a little. I have poles that are nearly 20 years old, the labels have faded or peeled away, the etchings are still there. We don't jump on those poles, but the manufactures put those etchings on there to last, the labels are consumable.

[Robert schmitt]

Just to add another wrinkle I can no longer read my flex number b/c the lable covers at least the first digit up when placed correctly:mad:

[CowtownPV]

Just to add another wrinkle I can no longer read my flex number b/c the lable covers at least the first digit up when placed correctly:mad:

What if I write the flex on the label before putting the label on? Any rule against that. Also would a clear strip of packing tape help the label last longer?

[Robert schmitt]

That's what I'm going to do. You have to hand write the pole length on the label anyways. I just hope the sharpie doesn't wear off or sun fade like I seen happen. Our state did a really good job of making this info known In there manditory coaching rules coarse. I was at a realtivly big maybe 10 school meet on saturday and no one had heard of it I think we are heading for a nightmare of illeagle poles at the state meets.

[AVC Coach]

I write the pole size and flex number with a sharpee about 4 inches from the butt plug on all of our poles (example: 143175 with the flex number 16.0 beneath). I know Altius flexes all of their poles in inches, but old habbits die hard. I convert them to cm. We have to touch them up a few times a year, but some of our poles are 10+ years old and still have that familiar flex number written on them.

We load poles in our tubes with the butt plugs last so we can pull poles out looking at the flex numbers. Also helps fit more poles in the tube if you take the plugs off.

I like the idea of packing tape over the new labels! I'm doing that tomorrow! Thanks!

[hardflex]

get the premium clear tape, they even make it in wider widths. the cheap sorta brown tinted packaging tape will get eaten by the sun in short order.

Yes you can send them back to get labeled but it's minimum $100 each way, and a very good chance they'll be damaged in shipment.

My sense of it is it won't come into play a large invitational meets because those kids get poles more often. It will be the beginners and intermediates that are jumping on the schools poles they've had for years, whose coaches are ambivalent or don't care about the PV anyway (the coach that actually bought the poles has moved on) . When their poles are tossed out, it's just another reason not to do the sport at all.

Robert, the 124 145 you have must be an older pole before I rewrote the flex chart for 124 poles. You probably have a 6.0 (Stiff 160) and a 5.5 (soft 175) as the other two poles. Just go by the flex number and you'll be fine. A better way to change poles is to multiply the flex number by .95 to determine the next pole needed. thus, a 10.0 would move to a 9.5, but a 6.0 would move to a 5.7, or an 8.0 would move to a 7.6. Works well too on cm's too Morry :-)


This is a bad rule, written in favor of one pole company over another. The Majority of poles in use in Texas are Altius. If Texas had written the opposite rule, only allowing engraved poles, I would be equally outraged.