Loud wooden pole

[MrPoling]

This winter i refinished my pole. It is a 10ft, 1 1/2 inch diameter softwood pole. A "HomeDePole"

For the last several years I'd used it without a shoe. After trimming the rough end and refinishing I attached a copper cap.



It worked great, gripping the rock well. But I was surprised how much louder it was. On rock you can hear the shoe strike resonate through the pole.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a quieter shoe? If nothing else I'll just splice a few inches of oak dowl on the end.

 

[MyKneesHurt]

If you can get the cap off again, a rubber washer between wood and metal may do the trick.

 

[kahel]

or you can also use such end caps from walking poles

 

[Steve in Idaho]

or you can also use such end caps from walking poles

I should try that sometime, but I think a rubber end cap won't last long in the rivers I pole.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

I honestly don't know how to make a pole with metal shoes quiet. The bolt spikes are noisier than the conical bronze shoes on one of my poles, but then it's a heavier pole.

 

[yknpdlr]

 

[Cruiser]

You can buy rubber chair leg caps in various sizes, would likely be well fitted and suited to that use.

 

[riverstrider]

It's gotta be quieter than an aluminum pole, right? But unless you want to sneak up on wildlife around the next corner or not frighten the fisherfolk trying for some peace and quiet on the river, noise isn't much of a factor for me. A rubber foot is a good suggestion, but probably won't last as long in rocky rivers. Maybe tape up the foot with duct tape, and just replace it when needed?

 

[Tsuga8]

The clanking noise is my least favorite part of poling.

One solution is to go back to shoeless and keep trimming off an inch every time the end gets to smashed up and frayed. My first pole was just a spruce snag, cleaned up but with no shoe. Worked pretty well my first season. 10ft is already a little short to keep trimming though.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

The clanking noise is my least favorite part of poling.

One solution is to go back to shoeless and keep trimming off an inch every time the end gets to smashed up and frayed. My first pole was just a spruce snag, cleaned up but with no shoe. Worked pretty well my first season. 10ft is already a little short to keep trimming though.

I wouldn't throw it away. I have an 8.5 footer that I keep in the Solitude for when I navigate the occasional shoals in the Snake. It's short enough to stay out of the way while paddling a medium length solo, but long enough to be useful when needed (and avoid grinding a paddle). If I ever put together that trip up the Lewis River into Shoshone Lake (one of those cancelled by covid), that pole will go with me - probably again in the Solitude.

 

[Tsuga8]

Agreed, there are circumstances where a shorter pole is fine or even preferrable

 

[Pseudonym]

I bought two poles from Peavy Manufacturing in Eddington, Maine. Both came with a steel band installed about one inch from the end of the pole, which I presumed was to prevent the pole from splitting. I've mostly used mine in salt water with a sandy/mucky bottom, so I can't offer much valuable insight as to noise.



It does occur to me that if @MrPoling's shoe was installed so as to leave just an 1/8" of wood proud of the end of the copper sleeve, the pole end would be more quiet but the copper band would likely still serve to slow the erosion of the wooden tip, and forestall any catastrophic split.

 

[Tsuga8]

From time to time I manage to somehow channel a clang into my ear by planting the pole with my hand right near my ear. Today, I was trying to hold still in a current and could hear the rushing water sound transmit up the pole. For those than manufacture their own aluminum poles, I wonder if anyone has played with expanding foam as sound deadening on the inside before plugging the ends?

 

[Steve in Idaho]

From time to time I manage to somehow channel a clang into my ear by planting the pole with my hand right near my ear. Today, I was trying to hold still in a current and could hear the rushing water sound transmit up the pole. For those than manufacture their own aluminum poles, I wonder if anyone has played with expanding foam as sound deadening on the inside before plugging the ends?

I've thought about it, but it would kinda defeat the purpose of the aluminum pole by adding weight. By how much, I don't know - but it would be irreversible, and that aluminum tubing ain't cheap.

 

[Tsuga8]

I suppose you could get a 1ft length of scrap pipe (any material but same interior diameter), weigh it before and after adding foam, and multiply by 12 for a guesstimate of additional weight?

There was a guy fly fishing at my poling spot yesterday. I sure wouldn't want to be trying to fish and have some yahoo show up clang-banging away with a metal pole in a canoe ruining my solitude and scaring all the fish. I kayak-stroked around a couple bends in the creek to try to give him space. I almost went back at one point to ask how far away he could hear me, but then I would have scared all his fish again. I wonder how far a trout can hear an aluminum pole.... they do live in an environment with a lot of white noise....

 

[Boatman53]

Or you could cut some slightly oversized disc of a closed cell foam say 2” thick, oversized so it will stay where you put it.
Then push three or four down the tube at various intervals, say dividing it into 1/4’s or ideally midway between the vibration nodes. It would only add a few ounces and might help the pole float. Plus it would be reversible.
Jim

 

[Steve in Idaho]

I suppose you could get a 1ft length of scrap pipe (any material but same interior diameter), weigh it before and after adding foam, and multiply by 12 for a guesstimate of additional weight?

There was a guy fly fishing at my poling spot yesterday. I sure wouldn't want to be trying to fish and have some yahoo show up clang-banging away with a metal pole in a canoe ruining my solitude and scaring all the fish. I kayak-stroked around a couple bends in the creek to try to give him space. I almost went back at one point to ask how far away he could hear me, but then I would have scared all his fish again. I wonder how far a trout can hear an aluminum pole.... they do live in an environment with a lot of white noise....

But 1' lengths of scrap tubing make components for two of my wood pole shoes.

Good idea though.

As for the fly fishers..... my experience is that you can't make them happy. I've done everything I can, including using my wood pole or using the paddle as quietly as possible when approaching and passing - and they still grumble. My son is a fly fishing fanatic and exceptionally good at it. He lives in the fly-fishing Mecca of the west, and he'll tell you that the majority of them have a pretty bad attitude about sharing the river - with you, or even with other fly-fishers.

I'm a fly fisher too, but not a purist. I give them space and pass as quickly as possible. But I've given up on trying to make those guys happy or even being sociable with them. I don't interact. Best I can do is give them as much space and make my presence as short lived as possible, without putting myself or my boat in danger. If they're having a bad day fishing...... that's on them.

Having said that - there is one stretch of stream here that I won't even paddle on during fishing season, because it is so popular and important to the local economy. All of us in the paddling community restrict trips on Silver Creek Preserve to off-season days. It's not that great of a trip anyway.

 

[Tsuga8]

But 1' lengths of scrap tubing make components for two of my wood pole shoes.

Haha, fair enough!

The fly fisher was friendly enough as I was putting in. I had a poler this weekend tell me the way to get on their good side is retrieving their snagged flies for them. But, they're a rarer breed around here, I don't see em too much thankfully.

 

[Alan Gage]

I had a poler this weekend tell me the way to get on their good side

I always thought the best way to get on their good side was to wait until you were within casting distance and then point to the water next to the canoe and say, "wow, there was just a big one right there!"

Alan

 

[Tsuga8]

I always thought the best way to get on their good side was to wait until you were within casting distance and then point to the water next to the canoe and say, "wow, there was just a big one right there!"

Alan

Followed by loudly clanking the pole right where you just indicated?