5 differences between Blackbird carbon fiber water fed poles.

5 Differences Between Blackbird Carbon Fibre Water Fed Poles

So what is the different between the Blackbird MoneyMaker waterfed pole and the Specialist water fed pole?

It’s all in the carbon fibre blend…the special sauce. We have designed the MoneyMaker carbon fibre pole to be slightly more robust and the Specialist carbon fibre pole to be slightly lighter. They are both of the highest quality, but have slightly different characteristics.

First let’s discuss the amazing material that is carbon fibre.

The advantage of carbon fibre: High stiffness, high tensile strength, light weight, high chemical resistance, high temperature tolerance and low thermal expansion. These properties have made carbon fibre perfect for water fed poles. However, these qualities can and must be adjusted, and there are always pros and cons. Toughness and durability tends to be more flexible. Stiffer and lighter is more responsive but not as robust. So, it is not a question of poor quality and high quality. Carbon fibre can be manufactured to have more or less of these qualities, with each quality requiring more or less processing or manufacturing. Hence, more or less cost.

So how do we get the perfect mix?

Carbon fibre tensile modulus is directly related to how stiff the material is. Some carbon fibre is very elastic and resilient, yet other blends are much stiffer and stronger in tension and torsion. The stiffer higher modulus carbon fibre is the more likely it is to break when stressed too much. However, lower modulus carbon fibre will continue to stretch while not breaking when it reaches its threshold.

The manufacture of Blackbird Pole Systems carbon fibre water fed poles involves balancing the four different carbon fibre modulus grades: standard, intermediate, high, and ultra-high modulus. When manufacturing a water fed pole, tensile modulus is the defining factor.

Standard modulus carbon fibre is the most used grade across industries. It is used for items like sporting goods, bike frames, and general-purpose tubing, as well as aerospace applications. Standard modulus carbon fibre is rated at 33 MSI.

Ultra-high modulus fibre is the least utilized and most expensive of the grades. With a modulus rating up to 135 MSI, this grade is rather brittle and is used primarily for space applications. So keep in mind tensile modulus is a measurement of stiffness and not tensile strength.

In Conclusion:

The MoneyMaker water fed pole is a slightly lower modulus than the Specialist waterfed pole. The MoneyMaker is thus not quite as stiff, however, it is a more robust and tougher. The MoneyMaker water fed pole is ideal if you have workers that are not careful with equipment.

The Specialist water fed pole is a higher modulus and is stiffer and a little lighter, however a not as robust. The Specialist water fed pole is perfect if you are careful with your equipment.

Interestingly, there is a grade of carbon fibre that is not for public use, only military use. Below is an interesting article from the Japan Times

Three men were arrested Wednesday for allegedly exporting equipment for making carbon fibre to China without government permission, police sources said.

The flexible fibre the equipment makes is 10 times stronger and four times lighter than steel. It can be used to make parts for centrifuges that enrich uranium as well as military aircraft. Exports of the material and the equipment to produce it are tightly controlled by the government under the Foreign Exchange and Foreign Trade Act.

The arrests are the first by the police for unauthorized exports of such equipment, the sources said.

The three men, including a company executive in Hiroshima Prefecture, are suspected of having exported the equipment to China in 2013 without approval from the trade ministry, the sources said. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news