needing advice from the pole vaulting community

[kindyr]

This may not be the best day to post this, but I assure you that it is a serious request.

I am not a pole vaulter. I actually participate in a Medieval boffer combat game called Amtgard. The "wepons are made from a a core(not wood or metal) that is then covered in foam to represent a weapon of the times. typically, our "sword" are made from graphite golf club shafts covered in pool foam(funnoodle). the construction is slightly more complicated than that, but overall, that is an accurate description. the most important aspect of our game is that the weapons are safe.

for longer "weapons" such as pole arms, finding a suitable core becomes a challenge. common cores to use are bamboo, which, while light, is prone to breaking, or poltruded fiberglass, which is sturdier, but heavy.
the holy grail, so to speak, for cores is pole vaulting poles, as they have a wonderful combination of rigidity at the lengths, strength and lightness.

I was fortunate enough to find one pole through Craigslist(a 12.5', 175lb Rocket) that I have been incredibly happy with. It has confirmed everything I had heard about how they are excellant cores.

My problem is finding additional cores. I have tired craigslist again, and got an contact from a local Pole vaulting team coach. however, once I tell him what I'm looking to use them for, I got no additional replies. I also contacted one of the local high school coaches and he said he thought he could help, but since then has not responded to my emails or calls.

I am not necessarily looking for poles that are still usable. from my understanding, having a pole tip out is not uncommon, and for my purposes, cutting it down poses no risk. new poles are prohibitively expensive.

for information sake, I am in Springfield, IL.

I'm sorry this is so long and not really getting to the point, but I wanted to provide as much of the back story as I could. The advice I'm looking for is if there is anything further I can do to increase my likelihood of being able to find poles for my game. I am willing to pay a moderate amount for a pole to use, but I have not been able to develop the contacts I've been hoping to in the PV community. In other areas of the country, it seems that certain individuals have had no problem.

Should I not tell people what I intend to use the poles for? I have always beleived in being honest and upfront about what I'm looking for and why, but I'm afraid it is hurting my chances of finding a source.

Any advice you can offer or possible leads is appreciated. I have no problems making calls and asking, and even being told no. it's the complete silence that kind of frustrates me.

Thank you for listening
Kindyr

[rainbowgirl28]

You should definitely tell people what you want to use them for, it works to your advantage.

You are lucky, one of only 4 pole manufacturing plants in the country is in Illinois (Gill Athletics). Sometimes they have poles that break in testing or that come out defective in one form or another so they don't sell them. I don't know if there is any way they could sell you any, it could be too big of a liability issue, but I would start there. Ask for Bryan: 1 800 637 3090

Your next shot... really old poles or damaged poles. When talking to coaches, ask if they have any ancient poles they don't use, or any damaged poles. When poles get deep nicks and scratches we can't use them anymore because they would probably break when bent. Coaches might repurpose them for other things.

You're not likely to find anyone to loan you a perfectly good pole, too much risk of it getting damaged, and buying a perfectly good vaulting pole is expensive, but hopefully you can find some damaged goods that are less useful for us and more useful for you.

Best of luck!!

[rainbowgirl28]

Oh one more suggestion... you're within a days drive of Bell Athletics in Jonesboro, Arkansas. It's a giant pole vault facility.

They probably have some unusable poles they could sell you... either broken or damaged poles, or the other option is really big old poles. See the biggest poles are only used by the most elite vaulters. The technology for making fiberglass poles has improved a bit over time, and the carry weight on the newest poles is lighter than poles made 20 years ago or whatever. So it is possible they have have some old big poles laying around that no one wants to use (usually once you get good enough to use the biggest poles, you can get new lighter ones for free/cheap). Those poles are 16'-17' long, so I am guessing you could cut one in half for your purposes.

Their number is 800-753-7332

[tlocke]

I have some old poles not used anymore if interested I live in hannibal mo about an hour and a half from you

[kindyr]

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