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Where to get a two-piece wooden pole?

Glenn MacGrady

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I'd like to get a two-piece wooden pole. No, I don't want a one-piece pole and, no, I don't want to make one. I know where to buy a two-piece aluminum pole, but I'd rather have wood.

Does anyone know where to buy a two-piece wooden pole or anyone who makes them?
 
I know you said you don’t want to make one, but I snorted my coffee when I noticed your solution appeared in the “Similar Threads” list at the bottom of the page!

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@Woodpuppy, thanks for pointing out the “similar thread”; wherein Duck works was mentioned. I’ve always just blown by they’re add’s when seen elsewhere. Today i actually look them over, resulting in them being added to the list!
“Everybody brings something to the table” and that’s apparent on this site. This is the kind of place where you can easily take more than you give!
 

No. I've talked with that fellow and he won't make a two-piece pole. Only one-piece poles, and they cost about $100 to ship.

Glenn, what is the reason for you not wanting a one piece pole?

First, I don't want to carry a 12' length in my canoe or vehicle. Second, I want to use half the pole, or both halves of the pole, to pole while sitting in a 14'-15' solo canoe. Third, the price to ship a 12' pole is far too expensive as stated above. Fourth, I could easily cut a 12' pole from the hundreds of trees on my own property.

I noticed your solution appeared in the “Similar Threads” list at the bottom of the page!

That thread, which I posted, is about making a two-piece pole. I don't want to make one. That's the point of this thread, as opposed to that other thread.


Thanks. I've also found similar tree pruning poles at the following two sites. I wonder if they are all from the same manufacturer.


 
Don't know if you considered a fiber pole. It looks as though Fibertex makes poles, if you want to explore that.

I know you said you didn't want to make a pole. How do you feel about fixing a pole?

I still have the remains of Frankenstick, formerly a two piecer made from closet dowel. I used it for a while and broke it. I cut away the broken shards and replaced the splintered section with a ferrule. But the ferrule isn't in the middle. The overall length is about 12' with the male part being about 6.5' and the female part being about 5.5. All it would take to resurrect this pole is to heat up and remove the broken female half of the ferrule and replace it with a new half-ferrule.

I think Frankenstick has been waiting over ten years to get fixed and back on the water. Other Frankenstick features include a fiberglass wrap covering the central portion of the pole (increasing stiffness), and weird PVC end caps. I tried the PVC end caps to make the pole "foot" a little wider to better resist sinking in soft sand or gravel. It works, somewhat.

I'd be happy to pass Frankenstick on to you if you want to fix it. I have a replacement CF ferrule, which you can have at cost. You could be the envy of all your canoeing pals with this stylish pole!

Shipping is still a bugger for a long skinny package, but Conneticut isn't that far from Maryland. Meet in the middle?
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Don't know if you considered a fiber pole. It looks as though Fibertex makes poles, if you want to explore that.

I noticed hollow fiberglass pruning poles on one of the sites I linked above. They have 6' connectible male and female poles just like the wood ones they sell. The fiberglass poles are significantly lighter than the ash poles. I was wondering what the benefits and detriments of hollow FG would be for my minimal poling requirements. The price is reasonable and the company is less than a two hour drive from me.


I'd be happy to pass Frankenstick on to you if you want to fix it.

Thanks much for the offer but I'll decline. As said, my poling needs are minimal, so I'm not motivated to spend time or money on manufacture, repairs, materials or tools. In addition, I'd want two poles of the same length so I can attempt "Macfarlane double poling" on shallow flat water:

 
Have you poked around the UK based "Song Of The Paddle" forum? As I remember there was a developed technology of 2 part poles that could be used to with a small down wind sail. Its probably not worth shipping poles from the UK, but there's always some one trying to find a low cost alternative to Gucci gear.
 
I've seen those fiberglass arborist poles but never got to try them out for canoeing. If you go that route, I'll be interested in how they adapt. I had trouble using stainless steel ferrules for poling because they want to over telescope--they aren't made to be continually jammed together. The CF ferrules work better because the tubes butt together. So, pay attention to how well the pieces of the ferrule fit together.

Topher, former dean of the Pennsylvania Stunt Poling Society, used to have a really nice, 2-piece, carbon-fiber pole. Not wood, and I don't know where he got it, but they were available at one-time.
 
Glenn, why not just start out with two short poles to get you going? They should be easy to make. I assume you would use these in your solo boats, and then deal with getting a longer pole for your bigger boats at a later time. Transporting an 11 or 12' pole is really no problem when you are already transporting a 16' boat, and if you plan to use your Morris it's nice that you won't have to bring the shoe end into the boat, chancing dinging up your wood.
 
I happened to find a broken fiberglass arborist pole today. The Aluminum ferrule looks like it would be awkward to use. But the fiberglass pole it self looks like it might make a good joint with an an internal sleeve/pin. That's a bit of a DIY though.
 
Whatever my canoe knowledge merits, I'm unfortunately Mr. Non-DIY. I am planning on trying to stand up in the Morris next spring if I can lose some weight and strengthen my legs in the meantime. I don't want a metal pole or a metal shoe because I don't want to scratch expensive wood or composite. I'll take the abuse at the bare end of a wood pole, which shouldn't be much for my minimal poling time, or wrap the ends in rubber or tape or something.
 
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