[chriswarner]

Welcome! I only started poling just before my 60th birthday with the flexibility of a tree trunk and am now a 65year old pensioner. It has been by far the best thing that I ever done as now I feel fitter than at any time in my life. I have only ever encountered support and encouragement from both teachers and students in the classes.

[chriswarner]

In the gallery on the rpole website there is a brilliant picture of someone poling on top of a mountain (Ben Nevis)

[chriswarner]

I have an R pole and an Xstage lite. The xstage is more stable but quite heavy. The rpole is a great compromise between stability and portability. I can carry the rpole in a backpack on my bicycle for several miles (I do not own a car). I do not know of any other free standing pole that you can do that with. You learn to adapt to its stability. It also only takes a couple of minutes to assemble. When I want the best stability the xstage is great, but needs a car to transport it. It’s horses for courses.

[chriswarner]

As an engineer who poles I have looked into making a highly portable stage pole. To make stages like X – stage and Platinum Stages that are safe involves a fair amount of welding that needs accurate jigging, not an easy set-up. I was going to start with something more like an R-pole using a main central aluminium boss that the pole and support legs all clip into. That way everything can be machined easily using just a lathe and mill, and the dismantled pole should be lightweight and fit into a backpack, that is the plan. I retire next year and that is one of my first projects, I have found the materials already, just need the time.

[chriswarner]

Brass, I have really sweaty hands (also made fun of as kid) and I have both brass and TG poles. The grip on the brass is great when I am sweaty, and I just slide off the TG. I have exactly the same problem with leg grips and brass is far superior.

[chriswarner]

Ultrasonic spider repelling devices are quite readily available (look on Amazon) and are not expensive. They can keep large areas spider free and can be left running all the time.

[chriswarner]

I am 62 1/2 and have been poling for nearly 3 years now. Since I started I have never felt out of place, everyone in class has a common aim which makes a bond between classmates. Before I went to my first class I was worried that an age difference might be an issue, how wrong I was. I was made so welcome in class and all the people that I have encountered in my pole journey so far have been the most wonderful lovely people I have ever met. The result of pole is that it has made me fitter and happier than at any time in my life, so I feel that I am not older than the youngsters in class, I have just had fun for longer.

[chriswarner]

Looking at it scientifically, on the Mohs scale of hardness where 1 is talc and 10 diamond, a cats claw is about 2.5 and chromium is 8.5, so the claw cannot mark the pole but the pole could mark the cats claw. The only way the cat could mark the pole is if grains of sand were stuck on the cats paws and it rubbed the pole with them which I suppose is theoretically possible.
I have a brass pole in my house which marks very easily, so to protect it I just clip on a piece of coloured pipe insulation when not in use. It looks good and protects the pole.
I also have a pole concreted in the middle of my lawn and I used to have problems with neighbours cats pooing on the lawn near it. To cure that I have a plastic snake (my kids used to play with) curled up near the pole now the cats go elsewhere to poo. Its a trick used by gardeners to keep cats away without any harm.

[chriswarner]

I have a 2 year old PS star stand alone and I have re-made a couple of the tack beads. I used 6013 MMA rod 1.6mm diameter and it flowed well. Looks as if PS used a standard structural grade of mild steel. If you only have MIG or that should be fine as well, I only used MMA because it is set up ready most of the time for odd jobs.

[chriswarner]

Yes I use on both spin and static, spin bearings are smooth and the change between modes is similar to X-pole, using a hex key. Putting pole up is straight forward, the pole pieces screw together and there is a tommy bar provided that engages in cross drilled holes near each joint that greatly facilitates subsequent dismantling.

[chriswarner]

I bought the 45mm version two months ago and I have been very pleased with it. I have a lot of grip problems as I sweat a lot and the polished brass works well for me, the build quality is also good. I have several poles at home and this has now become my favourite.

[chriswarner]

I did this a few weeks ago using the same concreting method as WebJunk and a 3 metre length of 40mm stainless steel handrail. I put a mirror finish on the pole using Hyfin polishing compound and buffing mop on an electric drill. This mirror finish made all the difference to the grip, it is now about the same as a 40mm chrome X-Pole, but is completely weather resistant.

[chriswarner]

I am 61yrs 6mths old and started poling 2 years ago. It was the best decision by far that I have ever made in my life. I have never felt better and as the weeks go by I notice how I am becoming stronger and more flexible. What a wonderful sport to enjoy in my retirement in 3 1/2 years time.

[chriswarner]

My legs are not very hairy but I found when I was sliding on moves like inverted crucifiz and cross ankle release that I definitely needed to shave. The combination of a little sweat and leg hair for me means slippery. Shaving definitely makes a huge difference for me.

[chriswarner]

I am a male poler and I prefer to mention it at a first date because poling is such an important part of my life now, it is the person that I am. I would actually rather remain single than be with someone who had issues with something so important to me. It was actually through poling that I got my confidence back after a bad marriage break up to even start dating again.

[chriswarner]

Have a look at http://www.everythingpoledancing.com they are very helpful.

[chriswarner]

I use a pair of lightweight Trax Evolv rock climbing shoes (they are made in the USA) Once worn in you feel as if you are barefoot but your whole foot is protected. They also have a very good grip on the pole, they have a rubber coating almost all over so even when you hook the top of your foot around the pole you are gripping.

[chriswarner]

Yes titanium poles can rust in the presence of moisture.  They are a steel pole plated with nickel/chrome and the gold colour  is a very thin layer (less than 5 micron) of titanium nitride (TiN).  It is the same as used on many engineering cutting tools as a wear resistant coating.  Although this gives corrosion protection there are often micropores that allow moisture to contact the underlying steel and corrode it.  As rust expands it pushes away the plating around it (in tiny spots) which is why the surface feels rough feels rough.    The only way really to prevent this is to keep the poles in a dry environment and protected from extreme temperature changes eg after a cold night if the day heats up quickly metal objects get covered in moisture for a while.  I always keep my steel poles in the house,  only the stainless steel or brass ones are allowed to stay in an outbuilding overnight.

 

[chriswarner]

Thanks,  I tried that a week ago for attention of their CEO Keith Scheinberg,  but I never got a response.

[chriswarner]

Hi

I ordered a SSA from Platinum Stages UK in Dec last year,  expected delivery first week in January and I am still waiting for it.  They just keep postponing the delivery date.  It was definitely going to be a fortnight ago but it never arrived.  Has anyone else who has had problems with them managed to get them resolved?

[chriswarner]

Age is definitely not a factor.  I am 60 (61 in 5 months) and started pole a year ago.  It is the best thing I have ever done in my life.  I now find that I am getting younger and not older anymore,  I have not felt this well since my childhood.  In the pole world, 60 years old is definitely the new 30. My local pole studio is brilliant,  the loveliest bunch of people I have ever met, I so look forward to my pole lesson every week.

The only problem I find is that my two children(and their mother, my ex) are extremely embarrassed that their dad does poling and will not accept it. Hopefully one day they will see what a fantastic sport it is.

[chriswarner]

Hi I am a mechanical/industrial engineer in an electronics factory.  I design and troubleshoot tooling for building electronic instruments.  One evening a week I am a pole student at our local pole school and practice on my own pole at home.  I absolutely love poling.

[chriswarner]

You should not worry because from an engineering point of view the joint is the strongest part of the pole due to the cross sectional area of the steel used at that point.  You probably have a much higher chance of being struck by lightening while poling than a breakage occurring.

[chriswarner]

As an engineer I find that by far the best is a synthetic grease containing PTFE.  The PTFE coats the threads with same material as on a non stick pan making them slide very smoothly (even if the liquid of the lubricant dries out)  This type of grease (or oil) is readily obtainable from any cycle shop.  The one I use is called 'Super lube'  and is made in the USA,  but there are lots of different makes.  If you get any on the pole it will wash off with alchohol.

[chriswarner]

It looks as if you only have a small amount of localised thread damage where the locking screws have spread the crests of the theads.  Most machine shops would be able to do it quite easily with a thread chaser.  The thread is 1.5mm ISO metric. Being an engineer (that poles for fitness) I often repair damage like that with a small triangular file (when I havn't got the correct chaser) you just need to be patient and only file off the damaged thread crests.