Been wanting to try this for awhile, so I finally did it... Took some of the small PVC grey electrical conduit and basically did my best to hook it up with the grips and baskets off of my old poles. Had it in my mind that these would have the durability of a rock. And holy shit they do.The pole costed 4 bucks at home depot, well within my R&D budget.
Pictures first because I was told they're worth 1000 words:
Bahahahaha weeeowww. Would ya just look at that? They look aesthetically pleasing IMO. A little weird without the taper but shit, they turned out to be a pretty legit LOOKING pole. Performance wise though, the bolts in the bottom create a HUGE moment arm.
SO WITH ALL THAT WEIGHT DOWN THERE THEY FEEL REALLY WEIRD TO SKI WITH! I would no way in hell ski with these for the rest of my life. Even in the park they made skiing weird because of their weight. Surprisingly though, even though they're super flexible, the offered a push that could rival my current $15 K2 poles. I don't know how they'll hold up in the long term either, but even in the cold, they can take an absolute curb stomping or six.
So I think these babies have potential for sure and would LOVE for someone to add to these ghetto assed things. Figure out a way to make them lighter, and maybe a way to taper them. With the pic's and these steps you should be able to figure out how to build a pair, and if anyone does, and then add's on to the idea, please hit the thread back up.
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Steps to make a pair:
1.Measure out the length of pole you want, add 6"
2.Cut said length out of PVC conduit.
3.Mark out a line 6" from one end on the pole blank.
4.Clamp the end of the pole blank in a vise, as tight as you can. Clamp only about 1" of the pole blank.
Clamp on the same end that your mark is on.
5.Wet a hand towel out with cold water.
6.Bust out a heat gun, shit will have to be MEGA HOT for this to work. Heat up the area between the vise and your marked out line for probably 3 minutes. It will be hot enough when the area starts to go limp and rubbery.
7.Grab the pole on a spot that isn't heated up, and PULL ON THE DAMN THING. You want to pull so that the heated area gets tapered and has a thinner diameter. Eyeball it roughly to fit the inside diameter of your pole grips. Once you're they're, keep the pull going, eyeball the tapered area and the rest of the pole straight with each other, then use the wet towel to cool the heated area down. This will rapidly cool it and set it's shape. If the shape turns out sort of weird, thicker partway down, looks like a really ugly dick, don't worry about it.
8.Take your pole grips or bmx grips or whatever your using and size em up against the tapered area. if the fit looks really close, then use a hacksaw to cut of the area that was in the vice and BANG those grips on with a rubber mallet, or just get it started on there, turn the pole upsidedown, and smack the pole grip on with the floor... Whatever works. Figure it out yourself damnit.
9.Take a bolt with a 9/16" head and hammer that motherfucker into the bottom end of the pole until only the threads are sticking out. Then take your basket and basket holder (Mine were off my K2 Poles, and they will be going back onto my poles, lol..) and slide them down the bolt. Then use a nut to hold it all in place.
10. If you're super self conscious, take some MEK and wipe all of the black labelling on the PVC conduit off.
11. Go beat the shit out of your new, hella-ignant ski poles.
