Low height, lightweight pole recommendations?

[wonderer99]

Hey all

So I have been a Gardiners fella through and through and have only ever purchased SLX through them.

I can't justify (or afford) their high end carbon poles and while some of my work needs the 30 and 35 ft to cover it most of the work is just your everyday house that an 18ft would service.

Looking at the SLX again but they only do an 8ft or the 18 foot. Frustratingly something in the middle would be nice for an everyday lightweight 2 storey brush as I'm 6ft 2.

Would the 8ft just be that bit too small?

Any other recommendations? I'm tired of carrying around the 35 unnecessarily for the majority of jobs. I have no clue what else is out there these days.

Thanks

 

[Part Timer]

Even if you could reach you'd be working above waist height and that puts far more stress on your neck and shoulders than an 18 foot pole does.

 

[wonderer99]

Even if you could reach you'd be working above waist height and that puts far more stress on your neck and shoulders than an 18 foot pole does.

Yeah the 8 foot would be great but like I say just a little too small no doubt. So an 18ft would be best I guess.

So is there anything new and wonderful out there to rival an SLX. Wish I could justify the expense of the lighter poles but as hard as I try my poles seem to take a beating lol so the more delicate ones are a no go.

 

[Part Timer]

Yeah the 8 foot would be great but like I say just a little too small no doubt. So an 18ft would be best I guess.

So is there anything new and wonderful out there to rival an SLX. Wish I could justify the expense of the lighter poles but as hard as I try my poles seem to take a beating lol so the more delicate ones are a no go.

We only use Xtremes, for our regular work, but that is nearly always 3 floors and above so 25'+ poles.
You learn how to treat them better, usually after you've snapped section 1 pushing a window shut

 

[tench0771]

ov8 17 they also do a 8.5 both poles say 1 / 2 storys

 

[Pjj]

Yeah the 8 foot would be great but like I say just a little too small no doubt. So an 18ft would be best I guess.

So is there anything new and wonderful out there to rival an SLX. Wish I could justify the expense of the lighter poles but as hard as I try my poles seem to take a beating lol so the more delicate ones are a no go.

Have a look at Gardiner’s clx hybrid poles at 18-20 feet long they are ok not as stiff as an slx but cheaper and very hard wearing

 

[ched999uk]

You could get a clx18 and take the bottom section off and add a suitable pole end cap, I guess it would be about 13ft long. Reason I suggest a clx is that I think all sections are insulated whereas the slx only have the base section that's insulated.

 

[wonderer99]

Thanks guys, guess it will be an SLX 18 as the goal is to reduce weight as much as possible.

Extemes are out not only because of the price but I have a full day/every day round and most of it is coastal and farm type work. Im also not the type to be meticulous with my pole care so they would last 5 minutes for me. Tried a Streamline pole maybe 10 years ago when I first set out and it was ****. Cant comment on their newer stuff or the Ova8 but I'm really hesitant. I guess an 18 SLX coupled with an Xtreme brush will be a nice upgrade weight wise. I wonder how much difference 100 less grams makes over the course of a day/week lol!

 

[Part Timer]

I guess an 18 SLX coupled with an Xtreme brush will be a nice upgrade weight wise. I wonder how much difference 100 less grams makes over the course of a day/week lol!

You will be amazed what difference a 100gm will make. 100gms in your hand might not be much. 100gms 22' in the air, on an angle, is considerably more

 

[J'D]

Hey all

So I have been a Gardiners fella through and through and have only ever purchased SLX through them.

I can't justify (or afford) their high end carbon poles and while some of my work needs the 30 and 35 ft to cover it most of the work is just your everyday house that an 18ft would service.

Looking at the SLX again but they only do an 8ft or the 18 foot. Frustratingly something in the middle would be nice for an everyday lightweight 2 storey brush as I'm 6ft 2.

Would the 8ft just be that bit too small?

Any other recommendations? I'm tired of carrying around the 35 unnecessarily for the majority of jobs. I have no clue what else is out there these days.

Thanks

Can't be doing with Gardiners, due to them not honouring guarantees! They actually had the brass neck to ban me from purchasing their products! I left a review on their shoddy argumentative customer service and they took offence rather than try and remedy the situation like a proper company.
Have you tried the FaceLift Phatom? Or the very expensive unger 18k? I'm using the unger 18k though when it gives up the ghost I'm returning to the Phatom pole, it's the nicest pole to work with and so durable.

 

[Pjj]

Can't be doing with Gardiners, due to them not honouring guarantees! They actually had the brass neck to ban me from purchasing their products! I left a review on their shoddy argumentative customer service and they took offence rather than try and remedy the situation like a proper company.
Have you tried the FaceLift Phatom? Or the very expensive unger 18k? I'm using the unger 18k though when it gives up the ghost I'm returning to the Phatom pole, it's the nicest pole to work with and so durable.

What was the problem with ?

 

[Scrubsy]

@wonderer99 although I'm shorter than you I use a CLX8 on some park homes and bungalows I clean and it's brilliant, but even for you would be way, way too short. An 18 foot pole would be ideal. I know it's a fiddle about but there's a guy on YouTube that uses a small pole for downstairs windows and a long pole for upstairs windows on some house. It's a faff changing over but it would help your shoulders and back get some relief.
PS. I have nearly always used an 18 foot pole but today did a my first full day with a 22 foot and the bl**dy thing has absolutely knackered me out, so god knows how you are able to use a 30 or 35 foot all the time - you must be built like the incredible hulk.

 

[ched999uk]

I know it's a fiddle about but there's a guy on YouTube that uses a small pole for downstairs windows and a long pole for upstairs windows on some house. It's a faff changing over but it would help your shoulders and back get some relief.
PS. I have nearly always used an 18 foot pole but today did a my first full day with a 22 foot and the bl**dy thing has absolutely knackered me out, so god knows how you are able to use a 30 or 35 foot all the time - you must be built like the incredible hulk.

I tend to use a clx8 for bungalows and properties that have big connys (swap over from longer pole). I also use a clx18 and an slx27 but they are both quite worn so I was thinking that a slx22 might do a lot of my work and is only a little heavier than my clx18 but now you have worried me!!! I have been looking at my jobs and really I only have a few that need the full slx27 and the clx18 is so bendy. So my though was an slx22 would be the perfect, well without the expense of an extreme, pole for me. I'm not the strongest of people by any stretch of the imagination but I don't do mega days so I'm hoping I would be ok with a slx22.
Maybe I will just repair the sections and get new shims for my poles and stick to what I have

 

[Scrubsy]

I tend to use a clx8 for bungalows and properties that have big connys (swap over from longer pole). I also use a clx18 and an slx27 but they are both quite worn so I was thinking that a slx22 might do a lot of my work and is only a little heavier than my clx18 but now you have worried me!!! I have been looking at my jobs and really I only have a few that need the full slx27 and the clx18 is so bendy. So my though was an slx22 would be the perfect, well without the expense of an extreme, pole for me. I'm not the strongest of people by any stretch of the imagination but I don't do mega days so I'm hoping I would be ok with a slx22.
Maybe I will just repair the sections and get new shims for my poles and stick to what I have

I've just got an SLX22 and started using it this week. I found using a longer pole at first a little bit awkward (always used an 18 foot CLX with an extension). At first I thought "oh, no, what have I done, it's a bit heavy and is going to make the job harder". It does feel heavier than the CLX18, but what I was doing is (when not needed) not fully extending each section, so in turn keeping it about as long as my CLX18 would have been. The pole is then quite rigid because of not extending them fully. I did a full day yesterday and was really knackered, but today I definitely felt less aches in my shoulders than I thought would happen. You could buy an SLX18 and an extension, it's just I was finding I kept seeming to need the pole just that little bit longer than an 18 and got fed up disconnected the hose and putting the extension on etc. Totally agree on the CLX 8. It makes some jobs so much easier even if you do have to swap poles after you've done the tops .

 

[Pjj]

@wonderer99 although I'm shorter than you I use a CLX8 on some park homes and bungalows I clean and it's brilliant, but even for you would be way, way too short. An 18 foot pole would be ideal. I know it's a fiddle about but there's a guy on YouTube that uses a small pole for downstairs windows and a long pole for upstairs windows on some house. It's a faff changing over but it would help your shoulders and back get some relief.
PS. I have nearly always used an 18 foot pole but today did a my first full day with a 22 foot and the bl**dy thing has absolutely knackered me out, so god knows how you are able to use a 30 or 35 foot all the time - you must be built like the incredible hulk.

We use a clx 10 on park homes and level bungalows and find its ideal

 

[Scrubsy]

We use a clx 10 on park homes and level bungalows and find its ideal

The low level poles are brilliant

 

[tench0771]

I may treat myself to a clx 10 or 8 for the low level jobs

 

[Pjj]

I may treat myself to a clx 10 or 8 for the low level jobs

I think the 10 gives you more usability, it’s a lovely little pole I found the 8 to short on a lot of things

 

[tench0771]

i do quite a few bunglows so save my extreme 22 from getting worn i ended up going back to 22 as 18 was just a bit short so took base section off and added the rest to my old extreme that was a trad pole im getting a extreme 25 with 2 extensions for a few big jobs i do the 22 is for 90% of my work got a 47 that needs replacing ill get the 50 next then clx 10 for low stuff

 

[DansClearView]

I've got an 18 & 25ft phantom poles and between the 2 of those my work is mainly covered. I've got to extension poles for the 25ft to get up to about 40 but by god that's heavy. Thankfully I've only got about a dozen windows on my round that need that.
Both poles have been in constant use for 18 months and there is some turn coming at the clamps (I need to do some maintenance).
I am considering a little pole though (can't find a short one on wcw) as I've got some tight areas to work in and a few bungalows.

 

[Stratf01]

At the moment what's been working well for me is using a clx section as my base section because it's insulated and no black hands with 2 sections of slx. With those 3 sections I get around 75% of all my round done. Made a big difference to my aches and pains at end of day.

I found that using section 1,2 and 3(clx) made my grip too narrow and awkward along with a wide brush I prefer.( I have man hands lol. )
So I use section 2,3(slx) and 4 (clx)


I was considering buying 2 pole sections of extreme with a clx base but sizes are different I think.
Ive been thinking of a way to get a coating for extreme pole for this size but still thinking lol.


My second pole is an extreme 25 with the 2 section extension for headache jobs lol