Measuring Your Pole Diameter

If you’re not sure of your pole’s diameter, and you want to measure it accurately, you can get a pretty darn good measurement even if you don’t have a precision caliper or micrometer handy.  Here’s how…

Step 1: Wrap & Mark

Find a regular sheet of paper (generic printer paper, not the thicker higher quality stuff) and cut a narrow strip of it.  Wrap it around your pole and trim it so there’s only 4 to 6 mm or so of overlap.  Now tighten the wrap to remove any slack, then use a pencil (pens tend to bleed) to make a mark across the end of the paper wrap as shown.  Darken your mark by going over it a few more times with the pencil.

Step 2: Measure & Math

Unwrap your paper strip and use a metric ruler to measure as shown.  You’re measuring from the end of the inside mark to the far edge of the paper to get the circumference of your pole.  You should be able to measure to the nearest half millimeter.  In this image, the measurement appears to be 51½mm (click the image for a hi-res view).

Now time for some math.  Divide your measurement by 3.1416 (Diameter = Circumference ÷ π), then subtract 0.2mm (to compensate for the thickness of the paper), then round to the nearest 0.1mm.  So in this example case we have:

( 51.5mm ÷ 3.1416 ) – 0.2mm = 16.1929mm ≈ 16.2mm diameter

If your calculated diameter is within about 0.5mm of one of the standard pole diameters (14mm, 16mm, 18mm), then you’re good-to-go with the standard PoleClinometer kit; get one and it’ll fit your pole just fine!  If not, you might need the new PoleClinometer XL or SIZER to fit your pole.  Just contact us with the details of your pole model and measured diameter and we’ll hook you up with everything you need.  Easy peasy!

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