A pole is a long and stiff cylinder usually made of wood, aluminium, iron, carbon fiber, or other materials. It is often used to hold wires and sails.

Sailing

In sailing the spinnaker pole is a pole used to keep the spinnaker clew away from the mast and in front of the forestay, so that the wind gets into the sail neatly and develops maximum power. The pole is set in the pole ring fitted at the forefront of the mast at the spinnaker clew level. The pole is held up by the pole up control and is held down by the pole down control so the pole end (where the spinnaker is fixed) doesn't move up or down. The sail is therefore stabilized and can be fine-tuned to generate maximum power.

Barber's pole

Barbers often have a red-and-white striped pole outside of their shops. This symbol of the barber dates back to medieval times and earlier, when barbers would perform a variety of medical tasks, including surgery and bloodletting. To show their experience, barbers would hang the bloody cloths of their operations on the pole, creating the red-and-white symbol of modern barbers who only cut hair.

See also

• Ski pole
• Flagpole