Quote:
I would think there is little weight savings with plastic vs aluminum poles and other than eliminating corrosion what will be the gain?
Weight savings between the three materials could actually be pretty significant. In order to get a PVC tube, it would most likely have to be actually "pipe". Either schedule 40 or 80, which has a pretty hefty wall thickness. So you'd be looking at about 1.15lb/ft for nominal 2-1/2" schedule 40 PVC pipe.
Aluminum you can get in either "pipe" or "tube". 2-1/2" schedule 40 aluminum pipe is about 2lb/ft, but that would be waaaay overkill for this application. More than likely you'd be looking at 2-1/2" tube with a 1/16" wall which is about .58lb/ft. Otherwise 1/8" wall would be about double that weight, but still probably overkill.
An 80% carbon / 20% glass windsurfing mast ends up being about .30lb/ft and is much stiffer and stronger than both of the above.
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