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I was fortunate enough to be the winner of the custom made ESSX pole this month. I went to the pole factory in Southern California and met President Bruce Caldwell and his staff. When I arrived Rigoberto an engineer explained how poles were produced. From the cutting of the fiberglass to the testing and rating of the poles. Then Bruce went into furtherdetail with me about how ESSX poles have a high bend and special way of baking the poles.This style insures proper heating that nobody else in the industry has. I was able to test and rate my pole on Bruce's specially desinged equipment. His computerized flex rating system is very accurate which enables everyone to order the exact pole they need. Not just a pole around what you would need. I was also able to see the advanced technology that the ESSX landing pits have. I saw first hand how they are specially designed to decellerate the jumper with an amount of cushion that is specific for each height jumped. After all the techinical stuff I got to see my pole. The new labels are the best in the industry. They have red and black flames over a white background. Very nice looking! In order to "Burn the Competition" , right? Also the pole seemed lighter than my previous pole(the one I will never compete on again, I will explain why soon). After bidding me a farewell Bruce taught me how to load a pole on a car without having a rack. I brought my pole to school today and everyone just had to see my new pole. People were gathered around at practice thinking I was going to jump to the sky because ESSX poles had supernatural powers. Someone told me I would jump much higher on this pole(probably because of the look they thought it was a good pole) and I explained that it wasnt magic. I started warming up on my old pole and after my coach made everyone leave took a jump on the ESSX. Immediately I felt a huge difference. This pole seemed to just transfer more energy than the pole I warmed up on. After taking only three jumps my coach put the standards up to 12' feet my PR. I gripped at 12' feet, a fist above my normal grip. My technique was really far off because of the nervousness of a new pole but I cleared this height with more ease than ever before. Then with very wishful thinking my coach put the standards up to 13'. I tried not to pay attention to how high the bar looked. I might have became psyched out by the fact that from my point of view, this was the highest point in my city. I could see nothing below it. I came down the runway like I always do and with the same technique I put out when I set my PR. I went up and just before the reflex, I could feel the pole beginning to do the work for me from the energy it allowed me to store in it. The Reflex was quick and was strong enough to allow me clear the bar and set a PR of 12 inches. Let me remind you, I was only gripping at 12'. That would mean I was jumping 22 inches over my where my hands were on the pole(using the box depth of 8"). This was so exciting that I was literally shaking. My school record is only 13'10'' and it is now in reach. I am a senior and am now able to leave my mark on my high school because of the experience of Mr. Caldwell and his expert team at ESSX.....I will keep everyone updated as to my progress on this pole.

Congratulations!
Whether it's pole, vaulter, the atmosphere you were around, or an alignment of the neorons in your body and brain that clicked, a twelve inch PR rocks! Do keep us posted!

EY, CAN YOU PLZ TELL ME HOW TO LOAD A POLE WITHOUT A RACK?!?1 that would be great. thx

and tell me if i need an suv, ex. explorer , for a 13ft pole.

you put a tie around both ends.....you open the trunk and hood.......for the trunk you put a knot in part of what you used to tie it up and shut the trunk so that the knot will catch and stay shut in the trunk.....for the hood you tie it to something in the engine that wont become damaged and shut the hood.....of course my pole was in the great pole tube ESSX gave me...i used foam padiing to make sure the pole didnt rub against the car....i drove on the freeway in the high winds and the pole didnt budge

Was this at Antelope Valley High School with your school coach? Are you practicing on a pit that does NOT meet the new NFHS rules?

hey lope what kind of pole did you use before your essx? I use ucs jumping 13,6 and if it would help me as much as it helped you I will be diong realy good. Thanks. Did you hear about jake doing 15,1.

Tim

pvjackex wrote:EY, CAN YOU PLZ TELL ME HOW TO LOAD A POLE WITHOUT A RACK?!?1 that would be great. thx

and tell me if i need an suv, ex. explorer , for a 13ft pole.

I have tied tons of poles on 2 and 4 door cars without a rack (although I wish I had one). I put a towel on the roof, to avoid scratches, then I use ratchet tie downs.

thx rainbow girl, but what are ratchet tie downs?

pvjackex wrote:thx rainbow girl, but what are ratchet tie downs?

You can get them at a hardware store... they are long straps with a hook at one end, and a ratchet thing at the other. You wrap it around the poles on top of the car and then slide the strap through the ratchet end and tighten it.

I'll try and post a picture of my car with them on...

Another way I used to do it, when I was on 12' and shorter poles, is fold down the back seat, stick the poles in through the trunk up to the windshield. Only the 11' pole would fit in all the way, but I would wrap the other ones with padding and bungee the trunk shut... still probably not a good idea even with the padding though. I was always afraid the trunk would bang against the poles too hard and damage them (even though there was padding)

thx rainbowgirl, your the best!

I drive a little hatch back ford escort with only two doors. I loop a long sleeved sweatshirt around one end and hook the other end of that to some seat latch thingee through the hatchback. Then I tie a tshirt around the pole farther up and shut that into the passenger side window. It actually seems to work pretty well, I just have to check the window occasionally to make sure it isn't rolling itself down.

Back in the day we used to open the hood and the trunk and loop a towel around each end of the the pole tube and lay the ends in the the hood and trunk and then close them. The towels spaced the the tube away from the car body- so no scratches. Worked well with cars that had relatively flat sides.