PANAMIC DISTANCE POLE – 53-5813

Panamic boom poles are elegantly hand-crafted in the UK from the highest quality carbon fibre. They are extremely lightweight, with superb balance and a wear-resistant nylon-web handle which provides additional comfort. The entire range, which includes two, three, four and five-section poles ranging from 0.73 to 5.00 metres in length, has silent operating nylon bushes, precision locking rings and titanium tips.

Panamic poles are seen by many in the film and TV industry as the best in their field and have achieved an exceptional reputation for build quality, reliability and a long working life. Their sound pedigree (pun intended!) extends back to 1972 when award-winning sound recordist Colin Charles began manufacturing the first generation of hand-held poles in Watford. Canford acquired Panamic in 2007, which saw manufacturing move to Canfords Portland (Dorset) site along with key manufacturing personnel.

They are available in mini, midi or maxi sizes, denoting the size of the outermost section (the handle), and with three, four or five sections. All tips are manufactured from titanium for strength and resistance to damage. Fixed tips have the industry-standard 3/8 inch threads. Detachable tips have two threads, one at each end, 3/8 inch and 5/16 inch (an old film-industry standard). The poles have silent and smooth-operating nylon bushes, precision, knurled locking rings (thimbles) and a resilient rubber foot. All components are hand-crafted and replaceable. The Canford design team has looked at whether Colin Charles original design can be adapted to allow an internal cable and concluded that an internally wired design would compromise the key performance attributes.

Introduced in March 2020 is the Panamic Distancing Pole, specifically designed for field news reporting. Its a two-section pole, 2.05m when fully extended, which, once a microphone is fitted, will result in around a 3-metre separation between interviewer and interviewee, according to how the pole is held and how far the microphone is from the interviewee. This pole is mainly assembled from existing Panamic components, so it shares the excellent handling characteristics of the long-established range.

For sanitising the textured handles, we recommend using thick lint-free wipes (for example Wypall L40, stock code 55-186) wetted with diluted isopropyl alcohol (stock code 55-175). For optimum bacterial annihilation, use a 70% alcohol and 30% water mix. Note that wiping the extendable sections will remove the silicon lubricant to some degree, which may then need to be re-applied (stock code 53-5848).

Stock code Style Number of Minimum Maximum Tip Weight
sections length length
(incl. handle)
53-5813 Distancing 2 1.13m 2.05m Detachable 460g
53-5801 Mini 3 0.73m 1.83m Detachable 420g
53-5802 Mini 4 0.73m 2.25m Fixed 440g
53-5803 Mini 4 0.73m 2.29m Detachable 450g
53-5804 Mini 5 0.48m 1.45m Fixed 370g
53-5805 Mini 5 0.56m 1.79m Fixed 440g
53-5806 Mini 5 0.80m 3.00m Fixed 580g
53-5807 Mini 5 1.00m 4.00m Fixed 690g
53-5809 Midi 3 1.24m 3.24m Detachable 760g
53-5810 Midi 4 1.24m 4.06m Detachable 970g
53-5811 Maxi 3 1.50m 4.06m Detachable 870g
53-5812 Maxi 4 1.50m 5.00m Detachable 1120g
A maintenance kit (53-5850) is also available to assist in the upkeep of Panamic poles. It consists of two Allen keys, a 15ml bottle of silicon fluid, a pack of lithium grease and a guide on how to maintain your Panamic product.