Telescopic long poking pole

tim.rose2

Active member
Been thinking today.  Anyone already own or got ideas for a telescopic long poking pole?  I'm thinking something which extends from approx 3 ft to 8 ft and is strong and long enough to poke things from a safe distance.  Obviously a suitable length of rebar or similar can be used but I'm wondering if anyone has a more elegant solution which can be easily carried around?

We've found the 'long poking pole' is an essential tool digging on Portland and has certainly prevented a few brown trouser events.
 

Mark Wright

Active member
We use a long length of rebar down Rowter Hole and it has certainly saved a few bruises.

The problem with a telescopic system is the pushing action could collapse it unless each section can be adequately secured.

One option could be a few lengths of Dywidag bar with joining couplers.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiDpOKchp7gAhWSHxQKHUcRDSgQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lemon-gs.co.uk%2Fdywidag-bar.html&psig=AOvVaw1aDipt1aT-ZcqIQ8Wqrzbl&ust=1549231192034278

Mark
 

tim.rose2

Active member
Not so elegant but 'comes apart' is another option.  My first though was some bits of angle iron bolted together.  For the telescopic idea I'm thinking bolts / pins are inserted to hold the sections out. 
 

ZombieCake

Well-known member
How about a telescopic fishing landing net handle?  Would it be robust enough? I suppose you could drill through and insert a bolt once extended to prevent it collapsing.
 

Pitlamp

Well-known member
Depends if you want to poke or to lever - and whether low density material is an important requirement (which affects ease of manipulation in awkward upward situations).

My first thought is two or three lengths of aluminium scaff pole joined with in line scaff connectors.

Without knowing what you're dealing with - is an airbag system a possibility? If it's safe to go up to the boulders to place an inflatable device, you can sometimes create a collapse remotely, in safety, by moving two key boulders apart. There's all sorts of things can act as a makeshift airbag but avoid elastic materials such as car inner tubes as they will not generate as much force. The "airbag" can be inflated pneumatically in various ways, or even chemically. Lots of opportunity to be inventive here, as long as it's safe to place the device.
 

tim.rose2

Active member
This isn't for one particular dig.  We're on a little mission to poke the end of most caves on Portland (as no one else is) to see if there are any quick wins.  If you've looked at the other Portland threads you'll see we've already had quite a bit of success.  Most of the caves are mass movement rifts rather than phreatic and as such end at chokes which are filled with a mixture of dirt & rubble ranging in size from small stones to a few cubic feet.  Everything is very loose and typically a poke and prod will bring down a good pile.  The digging really is very easy, but comes with the danger of the whole lot landing on your head, hence needing a long poking pole. 

The ideal:
Strong enough to poke and gently lever.  If it doesn't come out easily then it probably doesn't need a pole - a crowbar will do. 
Light enough to easily transport and wave around at arms length.  I'd like to be able to chuck it in a tackle sack with a crowbar and hammer.
Quick and easy to assemble.

Something along the lines of a beefed up landing net pole sounds good.

I'd not thought of using air bags - not really what I want in this instance, but will certainly bare it in mind as it might well be useful in the future.

Was hoping somebody had already invented something.  I'll get thinking and see if I can come up with something.
 

mrodoc

Well-known member
Drain rods or sweeps poles. Fairly strong and flexible too. Worth a thought. We used them in Reservoir in a couple of places for poking at boulders.
 

tim.rose2

Active member
Idea no. 1 - 3 or 4 750mm lengths of M16 threaded rod and a few connectors.  Any thoughts?

Having though further the telescopic option would work perfectly until a slight bend develops in one of the pole which I'd predict would be on first use!  You'd then end up with 3 or 4 separate poles to carry around anyway.  Think I'll abandon the telescopic dream.




 

tim.rose2

Active member
We retreated from what we think is a promising lead yesterday due to high potential of 'suffering consequences'.  Good draft, voids visible, large rift and heading in a good direction.  Unfortunately that one needs someone with a death wish or a 50ft poking pole which can go round corners.  I shall put a separate thread on the Portland section later about this place.
 

SamT

Moderator
Pitlamp said:
Without knowing what you're dealing with - is an airbag system a possibility? If it's safe to go up to the boulders to place an inflatable device, you can sometimes create a collapse remotely, in safety, by moving two key boulders apart. There's all sorts of things can act as a makeshift airbag but avoid elastic materials such as car inner tubes as they will not generate as much force. The "airbag" can be inflated pneumatically in various ways, or even chemically. Lots of opportunity to be inventive here, as long as it's safe to place the device.

Never thought of that PL, but you're right. That's a great idea.

Builders use these regularly these days for supporting window frames/bricks/lintels etc.

You might need to add a longer hose yourself, but I expect these would be worth a try in a situation like you describe.

https://tinyurl.com/yc67h797


winbag-air-wedge-4-pack.jpg

021257034-winbag-main.jpg
 

Mark Wright

Active member
tim.rose2 said:
Idea no. 1 - 3 or 4 750mm lengths of M16 threaded rod and a few connectors.  Any thoughts?

That's exactly what my previous post suggested.

Mark Wright said:
One option could be a few lengths of Dywidag bar with joining couplers.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiDpOKchp7gAhWSHxQKHUcRDSgQjRx6BAgBEAU&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.lemon-gs.co.uk%2Fdywidag-bar.html&psig=AOvVaw1aDipt1aT-ZcqIQ8Wqrzbl&ust=1549231192034278

Mark

I did a lot of research some years ago into telescopic landing net poles for use in remote carabiner clipping in the work at height rescue industry. Most are made from flimsy fibreglass and would likely break if only a house brick sized rock fell on them.

Spanset produce a carbon fibre telescopic pole for one of their 'Gotcha' rescue systems which is certainly stronger than fibreglass but still likely to break on its first outing. Neither would be suitable for our current dig in Rowter Hole.

Mark
 

tim.rose2

Active member
Apologies Mark.
The link you provided didn't work for me and I had no idea what 'Dywidag bar' is.  First picture on google just made it look like re-bar, now I've looked properly I see it's the threaded stuff used for tie rods.  A lesson in looking properly first time!
Good to see I'm not alone in thinking that might work though and thanks for your input.
 

TheBitterEnd

Well-known member
May be steel tent poles from one of those big old canvas frame tents? There must be loads of those tents rotting away in sheds and garages.
 

droid

Active member
Mark Wright said:
I did a lot of research some years ago into telescopic landing net poles for use in remote carabiner clipping in the work at height rescue industry. Most are made from flimsy fibreglass and would likely break if only a house brick sized rock fell on them.
Mark


Having destroyed several landing net handles in my time I will confirm Mark's assessment of their fragility.

Carbon fibre ones are hardly better.

Don't even think of fishing poles.....
 

Maj

Active member
Over the weekend we were digging upwards through a boulder choke, but the problem is that there is not much of a safe place to sit whilst dislodging rocks/boulders. We had some success with an 8ft long industrial size (less flex than domestic rods) fibre glass drain rod poked through a small hole between some very large boulders to give us protection. But we had better luck with a tirfor style winch and a very long cable to enable the winch operating to be carried out about 30ft away in a safe part of the passage. We put a bolt hanger in the wall for the winch and either another bolt in the boulder we wanted to tug or threaded the cable around the boulder. We also successfully dislodged one of the boulders with a carefully placed short pry bar with the cable attached. 

Maj.
 
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