I carry several poles in my van of different size. This is to make my life easier as I don't want to start messing around removing or adding sections from 1 pole each time I pull up to the next property.
The only advantage that seems to be mentioned about running the pole hose from the reel is that "it will make your van look tidier" which seems a bit ridiculous as a reason in itself. Also, if you buy the smallest size pole only this means you cannot use the other poles in your van as they do not utilise this method with the pole hose - why would anyone do this? So you would have to buy the largest pole and keep adding/removing sections - hardly a time saver IMO.
Regarding the poles they may well be equal to, or better than, Gardiners but I think that in incorporating this gimmick they have limited their potential market by restricting buyers to an 'all or nothing' approach which is surely never a good idea in a market as competitive as the pole market currently is.
It wouldn't have been so bad if they had offered a bare pole without the gimmick so we could use it in our normal set up which would also allow for an easier comparison.
I think they have really missed the target on this and it is a real shame.
Cheers, Tom