Back in the day, I measured my own flexes on my Catapoles, to double-check the flexes provided by Catapole. And yes, since the poles were all 16 feet long, and all the same brand, I could have just trusted their flex #s scratched onto the poles. But I wanted to be POSITIVE that the flexes were as identified.
I'm not suggesting that every vaulter do the same, as this seems like far too much work (and potentially unreliable) for the average vaulter, but I trusted my own measurements more than the mfr's.
I seem to recall someone saying something about an independent testing organization considering providing the flex tests. Was that ASTM? Since each mfr seems to be unwilling to do this themselves (for competitive or confidentiality reasons, or whatever), then it does seem like a good idea to have an independent testing body conduct tests for each brand of pole. Then a chart of lengths/flexes could be built, that's agnostic to pole brand.
Sidebar: For American high schools, the standards used to be allowed to be set at 0". They now must be set within the range of 15.5" to 31.5". This was a good rule improvement, but I don't think it went far enough. I would suggest at least a 20" minimum. That would be a good rule improvement to reduce stall-outs. Also, there outta be a rule about landing in the PLZ (Preferred Landing Zone, aka Coach's Box). If you miss the PLZ, that's counted as a miss, even if you clear the bar!
But that's another story for another thread. To improve vaulter safety, one or both of these 2 suggested improvements might be better than the existing HS weight rule. Just an idea. Kirk