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From time to time I see listings for poles for sale, along with a comment such as "old flex" or "new flex". What, exactly does that mean, and what is the difference between the two?

The only time I would think you would see this would be on a pole made by Gill Athletics (Mystic, Skypole, Pacer) that is 12'6" or shorter, made before 2003, that was then recertified at the factory.

Otherwise it's probably just someone flexing the pole themselves, which is somewhat meaningless, as it is impossible to perfectly reproduce factory conditions and always hit their flex numbers.

Pay attention to the lengths for a second reason. Poles made in the last few years of 16'5 or longer were previously flexed on the same span as the 16ft poles, but now each of the longer poles have their own flex span and therefore flex number.

Try this on for size-- I have 5-- 16' pacer carbons. Tried to get labels!! They all have the weight and flex impregnated on the end. The people at Gild wouldn't give me the 160 sticker for the 160. Now,try to go to a meet and have a 155 sticker with a 160 impregnated Band and see what you'll get into with the officials!!! Common sence is GONE in the US!!

charlie wrote:Try this on for size-- I have 5-- 16' pacer carbons. Tried to get labels!! They all have the weight and flex impregnated on the end. The people at Gild wouldn't give me the 160 sticker for the 160. Now,try to go to a meet and have a 155 sticker with a 160 impregnated Band and see what you'll get into with the officials!!! Common sence is GONE in the US!!

As an official, I would not DQ a pole if the sticker weighed less than any engraving or whatever. I've never seen a coach cheat in that direction, only in the direction of trying to make a pole heavier than it was.

Well? Now things are going to get dicey. I sent off the paperwork to get labels for some Pacer III's and a Sky Pole that I have. I talked with Jen at Gill yesterday asking about the ETA for those labels. She went through my order and because of the band markings and etchings, some of my poles will be labeled 5 pounds heavier. OH Boy! Potential problems I can see. Anyway, if any of my kids need to compete on these I will make available the paperwork that Gill will send back to me to the coach at the high school. By the way, she told me yesterday that she has been processing about 200 of these a week and she's got a stack of them to do. That being said if you need new labels figure a 10 days to two weeks from submission to when you will actually see them in your mail box. Later..........Mike

P.S. These were 13, 14 and 15 foot poles that I'm labeling.

You'll have paperwork with the labels, just make sure to have that with you in case there is a problem.

It only took me about a week to fax the paperwork and receive a new Mystic label from Gill.

That's probably before the big "last minute" rush. ha ha .I've gotta give the officials credit. They're on this one like "Johnny on the spot", This year. It will be interesting to see how things go with the new labels that might not match the old etchings and embedded wraps. Like Becca said, just have the paperwork on the coaches clip board at the meets.
Later........Mike