[quote=MN3]i have had poor results with most homemade fiberglass paint sticks or thin walled alum as tiller extensions (like a Telescoping Boat Hook) paint poles don't stand up to salt water and flex well and over time leave glass fibers in my hands. even with gloves thin wall alum poles just get bent to easily and are worthless Now i epoxy together broken hot-sticks (i have lots of those) if i want a solid stick Making one from alum has pro's and cons but you could have great results for sure Pro's can be real nice if well done light weight strong maybe others? Cons non telescoping (most beach-cat skippers want this feature, certainly not all a fiberglass one is lighter and flexable conductive (tons of lightning around here in the summer) another POSSIBLE con in my mind is... I like having a fiberglass tiller because if you beef up THIS part of the rudder system... If I fall overboard and don't let go in time (fairly common mistake to hang on to everything in your hands) ... whatever is weakest will break first. If you hang on too long to a fiberglass stick it will flex and bend (a lot) and eventually splinter and fail without ripping apart a rudder attachment, or crossbar, or gudion... etc.[/quote]