# Homemade Hybrid Pushpole



## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

I currently have a 16' x 1.25" FG pole that is way too short and way too floppy. I can't afford to buy a Stiffy Hybrid, but I need a longer, stiffer pushpole with the durability of FG. In deep, fast water the floppiness of FG is a serious detriment and based on my experience last weekend, I will be poling in a lot of fast, deep water.

I am thinking of buying another 8" section of 1.25" OD tubing, using it to lengthen my current pole and laminating it with carbon fiber sock covered by FG biax sock to make my own ~22' "hybrid" pushpole. I still have to find the carbon fiber tubing and the biax tubing I found is 17.5 oz. I think I will end up with a ~1.375" diameter pole that is stiffer than a 1.5" pure FG pole. It will be heavier than a real Hybrid, but it should be hella stout. For deep, fast water, the weight isn't as detrimental for me as it might be for others. I will just have to suck it up on the long days.

Soooo, does this sound reasonable or really dumb? 

Nate


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## yobata (Jul 14, 2015)

Sounds good to me, please post pics and results. This place has fg, carbon, and Kevlar (which you won't need) sleeves/socks at reasonable prices, with color options:

http://www.sollercomposites.com

They also make a 50/50 carbon/fg sleeve which looks interesting


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

I like that shrink tubing they sell. That would help this project tremendously.

Anyone have any experience with the 50/50 carbon FG sleeve material? It sounds like it might save me some hassle (one sleeve vs two) IF it offers comparable durability and stiffness to a carbon layer overlaid with a FG layer.

Alternatively, can I just use an outer layer of carbon sleeping since the core is fiberglass and I will be using the shrink tubing to ensure good contact to the underlying tube?

Nate


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

http://marine.marsh-design.com/comment/1083#comment-1083

This guy might have answered my question. From what I understand, while carbon and fiberglass have their respective strengths, combining the two weakens a laminate if subject to a parallel load.

Nate


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## yobata (Jul 14, 2015)

What about all those commercial hybrid poles out there? I haven't heard of many breaking because of laminating issues


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## LowHydrogen (Dec 31, 2015)

Apologies for the slight derail, but curiosity has gotten the better of me. What are you chasing, poling in deep fast water? Or is it not fish you're after, just thought about it still being hunting season...


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

yobata said:


> What about all those commercial hybrid poles out there? I haven't heard of many breaking because of laminating issues


If this guy is absolutely correct (his is just one viewpoint) and there isn't some benefit to specific lamination schedules that he didn't address, I suspect they get by with it because:

1.) we rarely apply pressure on poles to the carbon layer's point of failure;

Or...

2.) the pole is constructed so an inner carbon tube provides the strength and stiffness and an outer FG layer simply is applied solely to protect the brittle carbon layer from impacts NOT to add actual strength.

I have repeatedly heard guys say making a carbon fiber hull with the carbon in the final exterior layer is dumb. The carbon should be the innermost layer.

Nate


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

LowHydrogen said:


> Apologies for the slight derail, but curiosity has gotten the better of me. What are you chasing, poling in deep fast water? Or is it not fish you're after, just thought about it still being hunting season...


Fair question. My boat has no trolling motor and I don't want one. My pushpole is pretty dinky from the start. Here in South Carolina, we have big tidal swings, so the cuts adjacent to the flats that hold water at low tide seem to be 6-8' deep with lots of 10-12' holes. When the tide is moving, it is generally ripping through those cuts pretty fast and moving in or across them requires you to lean hard on and apply a lot of torque to the pole. Crossing those same cuts at high tide will require me to fire up the motor.

Nate


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

WhiteDog70810 said:


> If this guy is absolutely correct (his is just one viewpoint) and there isn't some benefit to specific lamination schedules that he didn't address, I suspect they get by with it because:
> 
> 1.) we rarely apply pressure on poles to the carbon layer's point of failure;
> 
> ...


Curtis Wright has posted that here many times and nobody listened.


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## DuckNut (Apr 3, 2009)

Use a uni directional carbon sleeve and then put a carbon/fiberglass sleeve over it. The c/f sleeves are woven so the materials are in different directions.


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

DuckNut said:


> Use a uni directional carbon sleeve and then put a carbon/fiberglass sleeve over it. The c/f sleeves are woven so the materials are in different directions.


I was curious whether the weave of the 50/50 fabulous could spread the load in a manner other than "in parallel". I am not sure if "in parallel" means both the carbon layer and the FG layer are uni-directional fabrics oriented in parallel OR if the phrase only refers to the forces within the structure. I think he meant the forces within the structure. His point seemed to be "don't expect to get all the benefits of both materials".

I read another source that basically said adding FG to a carbon laminate only serves to make the resultant laminate cheaper while still being lighter and stiffer that 100% FG. It weakens the carbon layer by watering it down and none of the FG's durability is really exploited.

If all this is correct, I'd end up with a pushpole that was as heavy as FG, but as brittle as carbon. That isn't what I was looking for at all.

I suspect the hybrid pushpoles are simply carbon poles with an extra layer of glass on the surface for impact protection. This helps when they are banged around in the boat, but the pole otherwise acts like a carbon pole.

Nate


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## WhiteDog70810 (May 6, 2008)

I'll just get the stuff and make a 24' X 1.5" FG pole. If it is too cumbersome, I can cut it down. I will add a single layer of something (FG or Kevlar sleeve; more below) to the outside to seal the pole because extruded FG tubing is kinda porous.

Surprisingly, I did read that Kevlar and FG are complementary. While we think of Kevlar as an abrasion resistant material, it is stiffer than FG and it doesn't take the durability of the FG off the table.

Nate


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## Pudldux (Mar 3, 2016)

Check out mangrove push poles. They are sold in sections and ferrels. Might be all you need.


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