Weight your flag - How to color guard (flag maintenance part 1 of 3)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 9 ก.ย. 2024
- Where to buy:
Flag pole (with caps and weights): amzn.to/2TjHXHz
Silk amzn.to/3g0Wy4A
Tape (Single roll) amzn.to/369jkCC
Tape (10 pack) amzn.to/3cIe4Z3
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1" diameter Flag pole (preferably aluminum and 6' long)
Flag silk (sleeve should be half the length of your pole)
2 rubber tips with 1" diameter (chair leg protectors work great)
2 carriage bolts with 1" diameter and length based on your preferred weight (top bolt should be about 2x longer than the bottom one).
Electrical tape
Measuring tape
Scissors
Note: If your silk has a velcro sleeve you will also need about 6" of 1" wide sticky-back velcro, hard side only.
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We used to use the clanking sound to alert us as to if we were in time or not. It really helped me as an instructor to identify who was off on stops.
I can see how it would be helpful! I've never cared for it myself.
This helps me so much! I’m fairly new and have no idea how to weight poles. My tip flew off and I realized the person who had this pole before me had a HUGEEE wad of tape where the bolt was, when you said not to do that I realized that this must be the reason it’s so much heavier on one side haha !
Yes! I’m sure that’s why. Good luck cleaning it up!
SpintronixGuard thanks so much! ❤️
Thank u because im trying out for college and no one told me ever in GUARD how to weight a flag
It happens!! There’s a lot of things missing from high school color guard education 💙🙏💙
Ok this is really weird but, if you can’t get those vinyl end caps off, take a hair dryer to them for about 2 minutes and they’ll slide right off
I've never thought about this before!! But it makes perfect sense, thanks for the tip!!!
does this work the same way to get them on because i can’t get mine on lol
You should just throw them in the trash and buy rubber ones.
THANK YOU!!!! Omg lol
omg i literally just got a flag and it has a vinyl end caps that won’t come off and i had no clue how i was supposed to put together my flag, thank you so much you’re a lifesaver !!
Hi! Your videos have been extremely helpful to me as an instructor in developing and adding to my knowledge and skill set. I have some questions for you about weights:
1. While I was in color guard during high school and continued to instruct after high school, we have never used weights. What are the uses, pros, and cons of weighted flags. Why do some guards use them and some don't?
2. I know you said the bolt length depends on on silk length and pole length, but is there a formula or rule of thumb when weighting various flags (e.g., the bottom bolt is always half the length of the top bolt)?
Thank you in advance for your response! (:
You had to have used weighted flags. If those flags weren't weighted you would've had no control over them. They wouldn't spin, and wind would carry them 5 yards.
my gaurd uses a smaller weight 2/3 the size of the top instead of 1/4 so i guess it can depend
hi. i was spinning my pole and dropped it on the concrete and i think my flag became unbalanced because it feels very different. is this a big problem or not?
It might be bent? Try rolling it on flat ground and see if it rolls smoothly or bumps along.
1. What's the thickness of your aluminum poles?
2. What are your practice silks made of?
1. 1” diameter
2. Polychina silk
I've read the description that your pole is 1" in diameter. So I asked how thick is your aluminum pole, because ours at school are easily dented and bent.
What side does the bigger weight go on? The silk side or the other side?
Silk
what if we are using 5 1/2 foot poles? what bolts or weights do we need?
You can use the same type if you like. The weights only change depending on the weight of the silk (more seams versus less seams, fabric thickness, etc.) because you need heavier weights in the top of the flag to pull a heavier silk around.
Are the bolts suppose to balance the pole so that one side is not heavier than the other? Or does it depend on what you’re trying to do with the weights?
It depends on how you want your flag to spin. The purpose of the top bolt is to counteract the drag of the flag through the air. So you should put a heavier bolt in the top based on how many seams there are in your silk.
Hi! Is it a must to weight your flags?
If you want to toss them, then yes absolutely. The weight carries the silk through the air, otherwise friction on the silk will slow the flag down as it spins.
So how do i get the plastic tips off i cant get mine off
I often have to use a flathead screwdriver to pry them off.
Hey, I have a 6 ft pole with a 36 x 56 size flag, what size weights do u recommend?
How many seams does the flag have?
How are those counted?
Can I use bolts for weights?
That's what we use in the video is carriage bolts.
SpintronixGuard Thank you!
So what if your tips already have weights in them? are you fine without adding the weights or should you still add them?
If your tips have washers in them, those aren’t weights, they are just protection to keep the pole from cutting through the rubber tip.
Hey Great video, extremely informative and helpful. But I do have a question, so when weighting your flag are trying to balance it on both sides or is one side supposed to be heavier??? Because I don’t see how you would balance it by putting the big weight on the side that already has the silk, so I’m thinking there’s another reasoning to it.
Yes, it should be heavier on the top. Jackie explains this in one of her videos, though I don't remember where. Having the heavier weight on top allows the flag pole to compensate for the drag of the silk through the wind.
Oh ok that makes sense thank you
You are welcome!! ❤️
How do you clean color guard flags. Do they get dry cleaned?
It depends on the material. If you are ever unsure, dry cleaning is always your best bet. However, we wash all of our poly china silks on gentle cycle with mild detergent and cold water, then hang them to dry. It's been a very successful process for the last 10 years or so!
Where can I buy that kind of pole? I'm from the Philippines
I’m not sure which companies offer international shipping, but you can check with places like American Band Accessories to see if they do. You can also purchase 1-inch diameter aluminum conduit pipe at a hardware store and have it cut into 6-foot lengths.
what size of carriage bolt do i prefer to use in my pole
Personally, I like about 4 inches or so in the top and 1 in bottom.
There's not a hardware around me that carries a 1 inch diameter carriage bolt. Are you sure it's 1 inch?
The head diameter is one inch. And yes, very sure.
I went to two hardware stores and they have 2 heads that are close to an inch, on is smaller and one is bigger.
When stating it's an inch diameter it would be incorrect in how bolts are sized (my fiancee works on heavy equipment for a living) so what I am saying is for those of us who are around bolts this gets very confusing as a one inch diameter carriage bolt would be huge. They don't even make them.
For those of us in the bolt world who are buying things for presents for children in the color guard world have absolutely no idea what we are looking for and if you go into a hardware store they don't either. Lol
I guess what I'm getting at is when you get a chance can you let is know what the correct size is based off of how bolts are sized? So we can go in and get exactly what we are looking for. I literally stood in the aisle of a hardware store measuring the tops of bolts with a store associate trying to find out which size to buy.
You would probably want one that has a head slightly larger than an inch then, if those are your choices. I've seen them with a variety of head sizes but the one inch are very common. If it is less than an inch, it will fall down into the pole and that's not very productive.
When talking about "how bolts are sized" are you referring to the length of the bolt or the diameter of the shaft? The diameter of the shaft varies consistently with the diameter of the head from what I've seen, so if you have a 1" head then the shaft diameter length will be proportionate. The length, however, can vary. For someone who is younger, just starting out, I might put a 3" long bolt in the top and a 1.5" in the bottom. There are many other factors you could potentially take into account, but without knowing anything besides what you have already told me, that's what I would do.
Hopefully this is helpful! I'm a very visual person so sometimes it's difficult for me to get my point across with nothing but words!
I'm sorry, would it be possible to get a materials list for this?
Sure thing! I'll put it in the description!
SpintronixGuard thank you so much!
Ok edit done! Good luck!
SpintronixGuard thank you! I went to the band America site you recommended. I love their silks so much!
Where do you get those bolts?
You can just purchase them at your local hardware store. Just ask for "Carriage bolts."
Where did you get the carriage bolts
Your local hardware store should have them.
SpintronixGuard I found them, thanks a bunch!!!!
Where can I buy the bolts
Your local hardware store should have them.
where do you get these bolts? do they sell them at lowes, Walmart, etc?
zorlex you can get them at any hardware store, including Lowe's or Home Depot.
@@SpintronixGuard ok thank you, do the heads of the bolt have to be a certain size or will they always fit into poles?
zorlex you want a 1" head
@@SpintronixGuard ok thanks! ❤
zorlex any time!! ❤️
What diameter are the bolts??
1” heads and I’m not sure the diameter on the threads, I think it’s like 1/2” or so.