We can learn a lot from this metaphor … the real cost of your pole, just like a Smartphone is in the Hardware … so it is about knowing what your tube sections are made of :
Here are some Questions :
QUESTION :
What are these pole sections made of ?
NOTES :
-
Carbonfiber can only be black - if the pole is not black, it cannot be 100% Carbonfiber
-
You can often tell what the pole is made by magnifying a photo of the end of your pole section - you can see the layers - if you see white or grey lines, that is fibreglass
-
From cheap to expensive, consumable to long lasting, cheap to expensive, poles are made :
100% Aluminum
100% Fibreglass
Hybrid (a statement that there is some fibreglass and some carbonfiber - but no definition - it could be 80/20, 50/50, or 20/80)
Fibre-X - a hybrid aluminum / fibreglass / carbonfiber (new)
100% Carbonfiber
High Modulus Carbonfiber
QUESTION :
Are all my pole sections the same specification ?
NOTES:
Some manufacturers could say e.g… Carbonfiber and Kevlar - but the Kevlar is the outer layer of the handle section only.
Some manufacturers could say 100% Carbonfiber (but be referring to the top two sections of the pole only)
CONCLUSION :
You get what you pay for … you can get a cheap smartphone or an expensive iPhone 5S (or Galaxy 5)
In a smartphone, the price you pay determines the quality of the camera, the battery, the screen, the processor and so on.
In a Water Fed Pole, it is simply the length of the tubes, and the composite materials used to make them.
Just those that have ply ever owned a cheap phone, they do not understand how an expensive one can empower you, the owners of cheap poles have no idea the efficiencies and ease that a quality pole can give.
Do they do the same job - maybe
Do they give the same user-experience ? Definitely Not …
Something to consider, anyway …