[JackieW]

I am thinking of going water fed pole etc and was looking at carbon fibre poles as many people here extol their virtues.

One feature seems to be their low weight and rigidity.

Out of interest I weighed my  Harris pole.

It  has a weight of 1080g, (taken off the thread fitting). It extends to 5m. Costs £15.

The Gardiner CLX 18 has a weight of 1050g. Extends to 5.2m and costs £102.
The Elite Carbon Pole weighs 1100g, extends to 5.5 m and costs £200.

What is the advantage of carbon fibre?

Thanks for any opinions and help.

[David Kent @ KentKleen]

This is one of the reasons I rarely visit CIU !

[PURER CLEAN]

This is one of the reasons I rarely visit CIU !

lol. a bit harsh Kentkleen, but i can see where your coming from 
i started off this year with a harris pole & they are great, i would advise anyone to start off with one. Then work up to a more expensive pole of their choice ( if they wanted)

[Window Washers]

This is one of the reasons I rarely visit CIU !

lol

But kentkleen we all started at the begining so try of be of help to people dude, you never know in the future when you will need it 

Harris pole are £15 and carbon pole alot more for very good reason one is made for window cleaning the other for decorating.

I made a video on youtube a years or a few ago to should how to make a harris pole into a wfp (waterfed pole under £30) if other do not know how to make one

ok the difference, harris do not last, this is a main problem, the clamps are poor, the weight of a harris is ok to be fair as is the bend, carbon pole more rigid, lighter, last a lot lot longer, made for wfp, clamps a lot better.

Something in life cost more for a reason.

Hope that helps a little, if not ask some more questions and some people on here will help you 

Kentkleen did you not get the christmas present you wanted 

[jouk45]

i still use the harris pole on all my domestic work, i also added a glassfibre pole section to it, i keep my sl-x for commercial work, it has earned me many thousands over the years, so yes go for the harris pole, you dont have to be a newbie to use one

[Window Washers]

i still use the harris pole on all my domestic work, i also added a glassfibre pole section to it, i keep my sl-x for commercial work, it has earned me many thousands over the years, so yes go for the harris pole, you dont have to be a newbie to use one

have to agree there on that one Joe, and hope you had a great Christmas by the way. 

Could I ask why you dont use the slx all the time and only on commercial ?

[jouk45]

simple, wear and tear,  why use a pole that costs hundreds when a 15.00  pole does the same job, plus it is very light for every day use, hope you had a nice christmas to ian

[Flash..]

I use a Harris pole for all groundfloor work it has a push button to lock it so no clamps it is about 1.5m extends to about 2.5m cost about a tenner has earnt me thousands.  Wouldent want to use a longer version of it but a great small pole.  Not a silly question, kentclean must of had a bad crimbo

[JackieW]

Thanks for the replies so far.
 
Apologies to 'kentclean' that on one of his rare visits to this forum he had the misfortune to read my post and had to comment on it.

Thanks 'window washer', I've seen your Youtube vid, very helpful. Interesting to get your opinion as you appear to have experience of both cheap Harris and more expensive purpose made pole.

Wear and tear and probably  ease of use seem to be in favour of the 'proper' window cleaning water fed poles.

Weight for general domestic window cleaning seems to be on a par.

As many have said on this forum the Harris appears to be a decent starting off pole before moving on to the 'better' ones.

But what do I know, I'm only a squeegee user at present, seeking friendly helpful advice from those
 who have more experience than myself in these matters, hopefully.

[concept]

This is one of the reasons I rarely visit CIU !

lol

But kentkleen we all started at the begining so try of be of help to people dude, you never know in the future when you will need it 

Harris pole are £15 and carbon pole alot more for very good reason one is made for window cleaning the other for decorating.

I made a video on youtube a years or a few ago to should how to make a harris pole into a wfp (waterfed pole under £30) if other do not know how to make one

ok the difference, harris do not last, this is a main problem, the clamps are poor, the weight of a harris is ok to be fair as is the bend, carbon pole more rigid, lighter, last a lot lot longer, made for wfp, clamps a lot better.

Something in life cost more for a reason.

Hope that helps a little, if not ask some more questions and some people on here will help you 

Kentkleen did you not get the christmas present you wanted 

You are very right Ian.

I started with Harris Pole for one house, then realised how budget it was and bought a Brodex budget thing, which paid for itself in one day. It also gave me tennis elbow and severe aches and pains.

If I could have afforded something like an SLX, I would have got it as soon as I could. Saves time, and effort. No brainer really.

[Tom White]

Given the choice between a Harris and a CLX, the CLX would marginally win; but given the difference between a Harris and an SLX, it's the SLX everytime.

The Harris is a great pole; I used one for about five years.  I never bought one at a time, I bought three of them; they were so cheap.

I use a CLX 27 for 2nd floor windows, but I use an SLX for the majority of my work, and it's a great and robust pole; despite my initial misgivings.  It's tougher than I initially thought it would be.

Great pole, IME.  If you can afford it, or stretch to it, get an SLX.

[Gav Camm lammy 283]

clx is cheap enuf to bin after 12mths 

[David Kent @ KentKleen]

Why on earth are people coming onto this forum and discussing using a decorators pole for wfp window cleaning is beyond me.
The choice of good quality 'cheap' poles available NOW is amazing!
2 years ago the choice was more limited.

I began with a worn out old old old aluminium omnipole and a worn out gxtel followed by a 18ha brodex.
The more recent developments by pole makers means you dont have to start out with any of these OLD poles OR bother making a homemade one.

Before asking advice on this forum take a few hours re-searching the back posts you will find that 99.9% of the time the answer to your problem can be found quickly.

Hope this helps and all the best for 2012
 

[Tom White]

Why on earth are people coming onto this forum and discussing using a decorators pole for wfp window cleaning is beyond me.
The choice of good quality 'cheap' poles available NOW is amazing!
2 years ago the choice was more limited.

I began with a worn out old old old aluminium omnipole and a worn out gxtel followed by a 18ha brodex.
The more recent developments by pole makers means you dont have to start out with any of these OLD poles OR bother making a homemade one.

Before asking advice on this forum take a few hours re-searching the back posts you will find that 99.9% of the time the answer to your problem can be found quickly.

Hope this helps and all the best for 2012
 

I disagree with a lot in your post; you sound very arrogant too.

Many of us have used the Harris pole, and it's a good bit of kit if you're on a budget.  Yeh, I've two SLX's and a CLX, but the Harris is still a good pole; I used one for about six years; and I still have one in my van.

And just about every subject on this page has been debated before, so if everyone used the search function, we'd not have to bother posting at all.  Fortunately people do rehash old topics, topics that've been debated for the past several years, and new members will add new information or a new outlook onto old topics.  So please, don't use the search function; keep posting; I like reading them.

Hope this helps and all the best for 2012.

[Tom White]

This is one of the reasons I rarely visit CIU !

Look, if we're too thick for you, don't visit at all! 

[David Kent @ KentKleen]

Tosh can i ask you a Question?
I will.
You have a choice of using a Harris pole for your work or your clx. Which do you use?

[David Kent @ KentKleen]

I dont think anyone is or hint on anyone been thick Tosh. I just find questions of this nature can be answered without the need to post anything by taking the time to do your re-search.
p.s. What does t.d.s mean? 

[Tom White]

Tosh can i ask you a Question?
I will.
You have a choice of using a Harris pole for your work or your clx. Which do you use?

Harris!  Why?  I prefer the smooth action rather than the ridges.  I only use my 27 foot CLX for three story work, and I'll only use it on the windows I have too, I then swop it for my SLX.

You see, you can't decide your opinion is the only one that counts, because a lot of this stuff is subjective, not objective.  Ronnie uses his Harris pole when it's windy, because he likes a heavier pole in this sort of weather conditions.

I also prefer 'twisty clamps' to side opening ones, because I use an external pole hose; I prefer working that way.  Twisty clamps don't get opened like side opening ones when your external pole hose knocks them open.

I find external pole hose quicker to work with, and I have tried different combinations (internal pole hose and aquadapter, for example).

And really, for £15, even if there's any doubt in anyone's mind about the Harris, they're still better off trying one and if they don't like it, then that's fine also; it's only £15 and not £200 wasted.

But seriously, I'd prefer a Harris to a 18 foot CLX; but I prefer an SLX to all of them.

[David Kent @ KentKleen]

Use your clx abit more tosh the ridges wear!! 

[Tom White]

This is one of the reasons I rarely visit CIU !

Are you still here?  I thought you said you rarely visit CIU?