Blue "S-Glass"/"Banana" Skypoles Wanted

[Russ]

Hello Everybody,

WANT TO BUY

I'm on the lookout for old Blue Skypoes in the 14-140 to 14-160 (or functional equivalents thereof - i.e., 13-160'ish). Frankly, I'd love to hear about any Blue Skypoles even a little softer or stiffer than this range as well.

I'm also interested in the older maroon/brown Skypoles too, and black and green catapoles.

If you have any of this vintage and weight-range, please send me a pm so that we can discuss.

Thanks,

[jhesch]

I'm just curious as to why you're looking for these old functional poles. if you have plans to vault on them, aren't you worried of them breaking? i guess it just seems age alone would be a big enough factor to worry abou them, but does age alone, even if a pole is in good condition put a pole's integrity in danger? well anyways good luck w/ your search.

[Robert schmitt]

THe school I coach at has one or two 15' 150 of the black cats. One of the black cats has a yellow catapole label rather than the typical white area you typically see. We also have two halves of a 14' blue sky pole that was either a 140 or 150.

[Russ]

jhesch wrote:

aren't you worried of them breaking? i guess it just seems age alone would be a big enough factor to worry abou them, but does age alone, even if a pole is in good condition put a pole's integrity in danger? well anyways good luck w/ your search.

A: Oh yea, I'm a little worried, but I always know that any pole can break.

I suppose that I'll have to defer to the pole-jocks on the board on this one. Maybe they can tell us whether age affects the integrity of a fiberglass pole. I mean if a pole has simply been sitting in storage for 20-30 years, does that make it any less structurally sound?

I've been to meets where I've seen folks (mostly masters, I admit) vaulting on poles like the ones that I've described.

I'm curious too

Robert, that two-piece sounds like just what I was looking for. Lol. Too bad. When it comes to women's bathing suits, I suppose that I do like two-piece, but for vaulting poles I prefer one-piece. [/quote]

[rainbowgirl28]

My senior year, a friend brought a couple old black cats to the school. My teammate jumped on one and smashed the heck out of it. It didn't really break cleanly into 2 pieces... just kinda split up the sides

[tim hutzley]

me and my coaches went to Rick Fosters today and he had some big old blue poles in his storage.

[lonestar]

I think it depends on how they have been stored. I've heard of poles that have been left outdoors in direct sunlight for long periods of time becoming brittle, particularly the old yellow Catapole Golds. Also, if they're stored with the soft side in the wrong position with any weight on them, I've heard that it can create a false prebend or a twister.

I know a guy though who's jumped on an old green Catapole "unfair advantage" and it hasn't broken. It kicked his a** pretty badly though, since the weight rating seemed about 20lbs stiffer than the equivalent rated modern pole. Wouldn't hurt to build your own flex tester and flex them on the same spans as your current modern poles. PM me if you want details on how to do that.

I've vaulted regularly on a Pacer III "Bob Seagren" edition built in 1977 without any problems.

Dave Nielsen told me some of his guys up at Idaho State jump on an old Browning Silaflex Skypole regularly without any problems.

I would check them thoroughly for dings/nicks/scratches though.

[Russ]

Lonestar,

Thanks for the information. I appreciate it.

[Bruce Caldwell]

I think it depends on how they have been stored. I've heard of poles that have been left outdoors in direct sunlight for long periods of time becoming brittle, particularly the old yellow Catapole Golds. Also, if they're stored with the soft side in the wrong position with any weight on them, I've heard that it can create a false prebend or a twister.


I would check them thoroughly for dings/nicks/scratches though.

Yes on those nicks poles are like your window on your car nicks or dings might just be there for years then one day the right vibration and the fatigue process increases.

Also pigmented poles especially those in the light colors yellow, gray, teal, etc. have a white pigment (Titanium) in them that microscopically has jagged edges. Experts in the fiberglass industry tell us, that lighter pigmented glass can over time wear against the glass and possible fatigue can result. They say it is after extensive use not right away.

Darker poles have less titanium in them and usually more carbon bases pigments and do not cause a problem internally. But then vaulters tell us the dark poles seem heavy and lighter ones seem lighter.
WOW PV PHSYCO

We are in this case talking about microscopically over many years and not a major safety problem.

[jhesch]

The process you're talking about with the poles in sunlight for a long time becoming brittle (and in my case showing fibers protruding throughout pole) I think is referred to as delamination. I found an old Browning Silaflex Skypole at my old work, but was advised not to try jumping on it due to its condition. I still have at but just as a collector's item (although its value is most likely bery marginal) I think I'll just use it to make protector sleeves for the base of my poles against the box.

[gUnitSoldier]

at our school we had a old 14-160 blue skypole but a kid who never jumoed before picked it up, planted it, and i dont know what happened but he kicked it and it just split perfectly at the place he kicked it, i dont know i wouldnt jump one

[Carolina Extreme]

I have three old Yellow Catapoles that were given to me. 15' 130, 14' 165, and 15 or 15'6" 165. They are all in pretty descent shape. The only one we have jumped on was the 15' 130 when Chase started moving through poles pretty quickly in the 10th grade. He only jumped on it a few times before moving to the next pole. I had planned on keeping them as memorabilia but might consider selling.

Rusty