[one eyed window cleaning]

Are they 100% carbon??

[PoleKing]

No, they're 45.4% poles

[Jakey boy]

The extended sections are, the first section is always glass fiber,

I do think the quality of carbon most company's use is quite poor though. High modulus carbon fiber wouldn't bend nearly as much as the average 100% carbon pole does!

[Alex Gardiner]

The extended sections are, the first section is always glass fiber,

I do think the quality of carbon most company's use is quite poor though. High modulus carbon fiber wouldn't bend nearly as much as the average 100% carbon pole does!

The majority of brands 100% carbon poles do indeed have a fully fibre-glass handle section, meaning that a 4 section 100% carbon pole is actually only about 68% carbon (this is allowing for the fact that the largest section has more material in it compared to the smaller sections so not a straight 75%).

However the Gardiner range of full Carbon Fibre poles do not have a fibre-glass base section. Instead we use a carbon fibre base section with a very thin, but insulative, outer layer of insulation coating. This means that the Gardiner 4 section carbon fibre poles are about 96% carbon.

Most companies reason that the handle is a good place to cut costs by using cheap fibre-glass as the benefits are not as noticeable as a carbon section further up. However we have found that the pole is better in actual use in suppressing bounce when using a carbon fibre base section. Interestingly most pole tests that you see on Youtube etc. tend to disguise the fact that the base section is fibre glass because the poles are propped at an angle against a level edge which generally is so far up the handle that the effect of the handle flex cannot fully be seen in declination angle. However when actually out working you will notice the increased flex and lack of bounce suppression. Also if you decide to extend the pole by adding an extension section the benefits will very quickly become apparent of having a full carbon handle section (nearly full carbon!)

[Jakey boy]

That's interesting Alex, sounds like you have gone the extra mile, can you confirm the grade of carbon you use? My guess is most companies use a cheap method of manufacturing there carbon, there is deiffernt ways of weaving and putting carbon fibres together to create high modulus etc carbon. High modulus isn't really a good thing with poles seen as that makes them more brittle? Your extreme poles say there high modulus, but surly they are engineered to bend a bit as well? I'd have thought 100% high modulus would just snap?

[Stephen Fox]

The new Phoenix range we've adopted full carbon through out the pole including the base section for increased performance in all areas. The original thinking for a glass base would be for insulation but with the amount of aluminum poles, modular, etc on the market it doesn't really make sense to exclude some poles and not the other.

[one eyed window cleaning]

Thankyou for answering my question. Interesting.

[duncan h]

The new Phoenix range we've adopted full carbon through out the pole including the base section for increased performance in all areas. The original thinking for a glass base would be for insulation but with the amount of aluminum poles, modular, etc on the market it doesn't really make sense to exclude some poles and not the other.

Interesting

[Jakey boy]

The new Phoenix range we've adopted full carbon through out the pole including the base section for increased performance in all areas. The original thinking for a glass base would be for insulation but with the amount of aluminum poles, modular, etc on the market it doesn't really make sense to exclude some poles and not the other.

You mean the facelift phoenix x models? If so I'm sure they have a glass fibre base section?