I have a 30' elite hybrid carbon pole, it is VERY heavy!, though this is probably not helped by the bulky sill brush i have on the end of it (must get round to changing that). If i realized just how heavy it would feel in use, i prob wouldn't have bought it!. I also have had for the past 2 months or so, a gardiner clx 18', luckily i can use it for about 90% of my work, it is very light and easy to work with. In my opinion, for an everyday 18' or 22' pole, a gardiner slx doesn't offer enough of a weight advantage to justify the huge jump in price over a clx, but once you start getting up to 30'+, it would probably be worth saving a bit more and going for the full carbon pole.