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"Accelerator" poles
Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 11:05 pm
by theczar
I'm just wondering if anyone still has the old Accelerator poles made by a company called "KC Fiber"? They went out of buisness years ago. I have an Accelerator pole that I used last year, but it was not certified. I talked to Gill and they said they don't certify those poles...but my coach found the former president/owner (who now works for Gill apparently) and got a certification label from him.
Has anyone else seen or used an Accelerator? All the ones I've seen have teal fiberglass, and are really light. They bend great, and have amazing pop off the top.
Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 12:13 am
by VaultMarq26
YES...jumped on one my junior and senior years in HS...then I brought the pole to college to do short runs on...i love that pole
Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 11:20 am
by vaultwest
To, Theczar
First just a couple of corrections.
1. I was the guy that sent your coach the certificate and I was just the marketing manager and head of R&D at KC Fiber America, not the boss.
2. Although I used to work for Gill now I actually work for Ron Morris at On Track as his Northwest Team Salesman up here in Track City USA(Eugene).
I still have about 30+ Accelerator poles built around 1990 and 1991 and while of course I am very biased, I would agree that they are not only a great pole but a rather interesting pole.
We did some extraordinary things that no one else has ever tried to get a pole that we felt would be lighter, bend correctly/smoothly and still have the hoop strength to prevent ovalizing so maintain the energy one put into the pole, a special sail design to help give the vaulter a better pop of the top, and finally be a very durable pole.
We never had the resources to prove any of this scientifically but many vaulters shared their experiences from jumping on the pole and those comments were almost always right in line with your comments.
I hope to get a chance to redevelop that line of poles someday!
Vault On
Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 11:25 am
by Skyin' Brian
this is interesting, when i was jumping in the 1999 illinois class A state meet i noticed that the eventual state champ that year was jumping on a series of accelerators. i had never seen that pole before and was curious where they came from.
Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 11:26 am
by theczar
Sorry for the mistakes...i got the info from my coach!
but I really like those poles!
Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 11:37 am
by VaultMarq26
In 2003 AA State finals in Illinois I jumped on an Accelerator....There was also a vaulter from Kaneland that had an Accelerator pole.
Posted: Thu May 11, 2006 11:47 am
by vaultwest
No Problem man, just wanted to set the record straight.