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Is the Phantom worth the hype

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37
Location
Kidderminster




When looking for a review on the Phantom 22 pole on YouTube I realised that they were all done on brand new poles so didn’t know if they would last so I’ve used mine for 3 months before reviewing it

 
Good review Dave. I’ve recently fitted a set to my own pole (BrandX?) and was lucky that they fit perfectly. Without a doubt an excellent clamp and the shim allows a firm grip without tightening the hell out of them. I note that mine have the revised lever bolt assembly. In use the lightness and accuracy of opening/closing is a revelation. Set and forget ??

I also purchased a set of the new CNER V3 with the embedded shim. Unfortunately... they were not ‘plug and play’. I’d be really interested to hear if anyone has used those and/or compared them to the Phantoms. They are a nice clamp but a touch ‘busier’ in the lever assembly than the Phantoms.

 
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Good review Dave. I’ve recently fitted a set to my own pole (BrandX?) and was lucky that they fit perfectly. Without a doubt an excellent clamp and the shim allows a firm grip without tightening the hell out of them. I note that mine have the revised lever bolt assembly. In use the lightness and accuracy of opening/closing is a revelation. Set and forget ??

I also purchased a set of the new CNER V3 with the embedded shim. Unfortunately... they were not ‘plug and play’. I’d be really interested to hear if anyone has used those and/or compared them to the Phantoms. They are a nice clamp but a touch ‘busier’ in the lever assembly than the Phantoms.


CNER V3.  ????

14 hours ago, Squeaky Clean Dave said:




I did notice that it apperars to have a lot more flex than my old SLX22 does. 2.30 onwards in the video.

 
ive started to hear bad things about the phantom clamps and somone posted a vid of one spinning its clamps the other day but i believe theyve modified them now?

those cner clamps look pretty impressive though when you look at the little bits, im sure i seen a post saying they was made for a uk pole company but they wouldnt take them with the cner's branding on them?

 
dave  mate,your hands are fooked ,i guess you don't wear gloves whilst working? this is what pure does to the skin as it dries it out and cracks begin to creep in-wear gloves mate and moisturise, 

as to the pole and your fingers aching, again soft padded gloves will sort that as you are probably gripping too tightly something I have noticed since swapping to a swivel is that you grip the pole tighter than you normally would-i'm changing back to fixed this week. just for the long term prevention of the use of my fingers without pain when i'm older.

as to the pole, well, i tried an 18 for an hour, I gave up its not as responsive as I would have hoped for, as in you poked it to where you wanted as being still it required  more effort to place it on that window, so for me more effort in use and is no way no more responsive that any of the gardiner range of poles.

i'm not a gardiner fan by the way, I just use the best  I can afford and what works for me so i'm  not tied to any supplier 

the clamps are very good but steve omitted the based spiral bearing which would make any pole a long lasting one and,apart from ongoing maintainance would reduce wear a great deal,

i'm still wondering as to buy a set of clamps and put them on my extreme as they do fit quite well-I don't know yet whether its the better option as the soft insert will cause  much more pivoting to the base of the pole sections

 
hi eric, jim Thompson suggested this type of clamp many moons ago- probably around five or so years with an insert that was replacable, I remember from conversations it was suggested that a sleeve with plastic balls be used for the base or end of the pole section to take up that pivoting from the clamp itself, we worked out that the sleeve could be made to rotate so uneven wear on the inner sections could be avoided kinda like a spiral bearing.

although high maintainance the pole would last a long while if looked after as the sleeves would wear quickly being softer than the carbon sections but easily and cheaply replacable, sadly jim passed away before it came to fruition,I hope this answers some of your questions-kevin

 
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hi eric, jim Thompson suggested this type of clamp many moons ago- probably around five or so years with an insert that was replacable, I .....
Cheers Kevin. I well remember Jim. Darn man he had some fine ideas....The difference between the two clamps I have (phantom and cner3) are interesting. Both have the softer inner material. Phantom replaceable sleeves and the CNER is embedded (similar process to a bi-component squeegee handle). Phantom lever assembly (revised) is a very simple and clever solution. The finger bolt assembly with cup retention at the clamp with the bolt captive at the lever ensures zero movement once set. CNER has shim,spring,teeth on finger bolt to achieve the same thing BUT is busy and a little clunky in feel but once adjusted and set, works perfectly. Although not compatible on all sections I got a couple of CNERS fitting and quite frankly in use I feel they have the edge in ergonomics and are a sleeker look over the Phantom but overall I prefer the simplicity and fewer parts on the phantom, plus replacement shims are as cheap as chips. Wear a shim on the CNER and you’re up for a new clamp body. 

 
dave  mate,your hands are fooked ,i guess you don't wear gloves whilst working? this is what pure does to the skin as it dries it out and cracks begin to creep in-wear gloves mate and moisturise, 

as to the pole and your fingers aching, again soft padded gloves will sort that as you are probably gripping too tightly something I have noticed since swapping to a swivel is that you grip the pole tighter than you normally would-i'm changing back to fixed this week. just for the long term prevention of the use of my fingers without pain when i'm older.

as to the pole, well, i tried an 18 for an hour, I gave up its not as responsive as I would have hoped for, as in you poked it to where you wanted as being still it required  more effort to place it on that window, so for me more effort in use and is no way no more responsive that any of the gardiner range of poles.

i'm not a gardiner fan by the way, I just use the best  I can afford and what works for me so i'm  not tied to any supplier 

the clamps are very good but steve omitted the based spiral bearing which would make any pole a long lasting one and,apart from ongoing maintainance would reduce wear a great deal,

i'm still wondering as to buy a set of clamps and put them on my extreme as they do fit quite well-I don't know yet whether its the better option as the soft insert will cause  much more pivoting to the base of the pole sections
Believe it or not I wear gloves all year round. I have always had bad hands they always crack at this time of year but they normally clear up in the spring. if they looked to good the wife would have to find something else to complain about.

Its an interesting thought about the swivel though making my hands hurt. might try the padded gloves as you suggested. ?

 
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