I'm a big fan of the Jackite fiberglass poles for portable antenna supports. I have two of them have have seen a lot of use over the years. Here are a couple of quick and simple hacks that improve (in my opinion) on an already great product.
While the overall quality of Jackite's products is excellent, there is one thing that I find annoying -- the caps have a tendency to fall off, when transporting the pole. To overcome this, I attached a velcro strap to the cap (Figure 1). The Velco is something I had on hand in my junkbox. It's about 8 inches long by 1 inch wide. I used a #4 machine screw with some flat washers, a lock washer and a nut (Figure 2). I used an awl and a small phillips screw driver to make the hole in the cap. I then attached two Velcro strips (the fuzzy part) on either side of the pole (Figure 3). When transporting the pole, just secure the Velcro straps (Figure 4) and you're good-to-go.
This quick mod might seem kinda pointless to some users. In fact, I hestitated about writing it up. Anyway, you be the judge:
In cases when I need to bungee or strap the pole to a fixed support, I would first need to extend the top-most section first. This is because the top section sits down inside the other sections, when collapsed. What I did was attach a key ring (aka split ring) to the eyelet on the top section (Figure 5). The ring I used is approximately 7/8-inch in diameter. So, I can strap the collapsed pole to a support, remove the cap, reach in and use the ring to pull the top section out (Figure 6).
Again, you might not see the value in this one, but I find it helpful.
73, Craig WB3GCK