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Push Pole preference


btmoon4

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Would love to hear everyone's preference or recommendation for push pole.  I have a 2014 HPX-V 18' with a 115. I had a CarbonMarine with my old skiff.  Enjoyed it and their customer service is top-notch but just wanted to hear from the choir before pulling the trigger again. 

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I have a loomis carbon fiber 22fter on my LT Hewes.  Been around for 19 yrs and is still good to go.  It depends how much you will use ,since carbon fibers are much lighter and more expensive.  The pole came with the boat so I just enjoyed it when it is used which isn't that often.  

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After having some experience with 21-24' poles built by Moonlighter, Biscayne Rod, Carbon Marine & Loomis on friend's boats, my preference is a one piece 22' Stiffy Hybrid. I've been using that pole for the past 10 years on 3 different skiffs (17MA, HPXT, 18HPXV). It's light enough for me and I like the high grip finish; strong & durable for staking out in heavy current. And they're only about $700+/-. I think most of the poles built today are high quality.

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I've been using the Stiffy Hybrid pole for years too and really like them.  If you're in Texas by any chance, you can get a fantastic deal on them by going to their site in Corpus Christi and buying a "factory second" from them directly for around $500 as I recall.  I've done this twice and don't think there's anything "second" about them.  I think it's just his way of giving a discount outside of the retail dealer's commission for those willing to make the visit.

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I second and third the Stiffy. I got a factory second from Captain Jim on here and I'm still looking for the supposed blemish. I have had it six years and it still is holding up great. I broke my 3 piece Loomis twice and after time it started shedding and would eat you up as bad as an old spike on a Power Pole.

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I have a Biscayne 24', mainly because they're fairly close to me so if I have an issue I can drive there and have it resolved. Never heard anything bad about Stiffy and I know their "guide series" poles are super light, I loved mine until it was stolen. 

I had a very bad experience with Carbon Marine (took about 5 months to get a push pole replaced, the owner of Carbon Marine, Joe Welbourne, stopped by my house and personally confirmed it was a warranty issue and he would replace it... still took forever) Initially the pole developed a leak, about three months into the back-and-forth with Joe (2 months after he was over my house) the pole separated off Cape Sable and I lost about 11' of it. This is when I went with Biscayne over Stiffy in Texas. Not saying anything bad about Stiffy's customer service having never dealt with them but my Carbon Marine experience really sealed the deal for me and drove me to Biscayne.

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Another note, I had a Biscayne on my East Cape Caimen and I have a Stiffy Hybrid on my HPX-V 18. The Stiffy is much stiffer and that makes it much easier to pole with but also much easier to break if you hog on it in the mud. Cheaper poles will normally be more flexible and that wastes a lot of energy poling a big skiff like an HPX.

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Those "tearing up the shirt" comments are surprising.  I've used Stiffy Hybrids for probably about 10-12 years now and have never noticed that at all.  But as someone said, maybe they changed the finish on them sometime recently.  My current one was new in 2010 and my shirts have survived without incident!  I'm sure the Xtremes are nice too, but I think they were about 3x the price of the Stiffy last time I looked.  Horses for Courses.

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Another Stiffy Hybrid fan. Going on about 8 years and two boats and it still looks and performs great. I also was able to go over to Danny's shop and pull a "factory second" out of the rafters for a significant discount. I cannot find any blemish so don't know why it would be considered a second.

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