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HELP! Can anyone answer the following question.. briefly... in UCS Spirits going from 430 -> 445 -> 460 are you increasing stiffness so the "resistance" is about the same on each pole if you hold around 15cm from the top (at the band)

My personal experience is that 15cm of pole makes it about a 10lb addition of stiffness

The series I want is to get is UCS Spirits

430-70 (14-55)
445-70 (14'6-55)

I was able to get flex numbers from UCS (nice of them)

430-70 : 19.0-20.0
445-70 : 22.8-23.8
460-70 : 20.4-21.4

Now... it looks to me, like they just add 15cm to the 430 without changing the thickness...

So... you go from 430-70 to 460-70 and you get the expected 15-20lbs of extra thickness/stiffness such that you have about the same resistance on both poles if you're holding at the band. (on UCS 15cm from the top)

But... i am worried that the 445-70 would not be consistent in the progression (that is... 7.5-10 lbs stiffer than the 430-70)

Can anyone verify from personal experience or inside knowledge on UCS pole rating strategy:

1. despite the flex numbers, the 445-70 does fall logically into the progression of stiffness/thickness between the 430-70 and 460-70

...or...

2. UCS makes their 445 by just adding 15cm to their 430 without increasing the thickness, which means that if you're holding at say... 415 on the 430-70 and 445-70, it will feel the same, and if you hold at 430 on the 445-70 it will essentially be a softer pole.

I hope I've explained my issue clearly, I appreciate your time reading this long note, and then possibly researching the answer. I have sent the similar question to Gill (shorter actually), but I haven't gotten a response.

Thanks,

Reggie Henderson

If they are all UCS poles, then the Gill flexes do not really matter. Not really sure what you meant by those.

But if you have a 4.30 155 it would be the same as a 4.45 145 when gripping 4.15 on both poles.

The max grip on the 4.30 is about 4.15, so if you hold the same on the 4.45 then they should have the same resistance.

Every .15 you go up in pole length you can us a pole that is 10 pounds less of the longer pole.

And if you are going by flex, 5 pounds is about 1.0 cm on most poles (some people say .8cm is 5 pounds but it is pretty much same thing).

So a 4.30 19.0 would be the same pole as a 4.45 21.0 when holding the same on both pole.

I have learned that for UCS, flex numbers are measured differently for different length poles, and they can't be compared between different lengths

reggiepv wrote:That just sounds crazy. damn, my son wants a ucs, but i just can't fathom the idea of this series being progressional: 430-70 -> 445-77 -> 460-70

Progression:

4.30 170
4.45 165
4.45 170
4.60 165
4.60 170

So there are actually three poles between the 4.30 170 and the 4.60 170. The 4.45 177 would be about 2.5 poles larger than the 4.30 170

correct me if I am missing something, but I did not see the specific flex #'s of the poles that you are asking about - I did see the factory range of flex #'s and weight ratings but not the exact flex #s for each pole in question - if you have that info it would be helpful - weight ratings alone are sometimes subjective

...

...

Thanks to everyone for their help. I talked with Lane Mastretti of UCS today and this is what he taught me about UCS:

1. You can't analyse the poles by flex numbers the way I was doing it, even though the flex numbers of the 445 are higher than both the 430 and 460, the stiffness is correctly in range with their strategy.

2. Their Strategy: For every 6" (15cm) of length, the pole is 10 lbs (4.5kg) stiffer.

e.g. if your flex numbers are all midpoints (or all stiff, or all soft) then holding at 415 on a 445 will be 10lbs stiffer than holding at 415 on a 430. And holding at 415 on a 460 will be 20 lbs stiffer than holding at 415 on a 430

So... good news! that's what you would expect. I just had a little panic attack by trying to assume that flex numbers would be measured the exact same way and have the same meaning between 430, 445, and 460.

Big thanks to Lane Mastretti!