Loads of good advice, especially on gardiners poles. As you can probably tell already! The vast majority of us use gardiners for our poles as they are very competative in price (check out ionics if need prove 😂) and they are very well made.
When i first switched over from trad to wfp, I thought I knew alot about it because a mate of mine made the switch a year before me and I helped him a day a week for that year. He went super cheap and guaranteed we were fixing leaks and plumbing issues weekly. He went with 2 glass fibre poles 😭 tut tut tut, never ever and i mean ever make that mistake!
So I thought i would buy 2 poles, one an hybrid and the other a carbon but i was impatient and bought all my equipment from a company called purefreedom. (Disclaimer, their products are good and im not paid to say so either 😂😂) it was a mistake that didnt take too long to realise!
In 2 yrs rarely used the hybrid which the clx selection with gardiners are also. This is because they are very whippy. To stop this you dont fully extend each section, you only extend to perhaps a 2/3rds but then you defeat the purpose and have to buy much larger than needed as you are shortening the length.
With carbon, they are lighter and the brush goes exactly where you want it to do so and all your energy goes into it. Whereas with the hybrid poles, alot of the excerted energy goes into the flex of the pole!
Brushes and jets are a personal thing. I spent the first six months to a year trying different brushes and jets and jet combinations. The chart on gardiners will help you make an informed choice however.
Yet as much as we on hear have a wealth of experience and knowledge, that can only go so far with you as like all of us, we have been on this steep learning curve your embarking on. Whichever setup you go for, you will probably endure with as you build your round and finances but you will soon be itching to make improvements. Especially on a tight budget.