Wow...spam with a spin? I really like your unscientific method of testing (sarcasm):
1.The Everest panel barely stretched when pulled on and the Kafko panel stretched a lot more...how can you prove that the pulling of the human hand was identical on both (wihtout a guage)? you cant!

2.The Everst panel 'took a beating' when jumped on and the Kafko panel broke? Under identical conditions? No measurement in place. Especially if you review the video it appears that the severity of the jumping was much harsher on the Kafko panel than the Everest panel. Pure rubbish.

Please don't bring your spam crap to this forum. And for the record, I have Kafko aluminum liner track on my pool and if anything I feel that their product is a superior quality piece.

an irritated Booger...

Irritated Booger -

We realized that people might have issues with the tests, since they weren't there when we did the testing. We're not an engineering firm, so of course we don't have the scientific testing apparatus. All we did was simple tests and tried to make them fair (pulled the same, jumped the same, etc - for the record, once we broke the Kafko, we went back to the Everest and jumped some more without it breaking.)

Here's my offer to you (if you're interested) - we're so sure that our panel is superior that we will ship you a 4' panel FOR FREE for you to test against the Kafko. Yep, that's right - we're putting our money where our mouth is. It's up to you to call up Kafko and see if they'll do the same (we guess they won't). If they do, as soon as you get the panels side by side, you'll see that the Everest is superior to the Equator.

I know you think my post was spam, but in reality it isn't. I abided by all the rules of the forum (no linking back to our site, no advertising our site, etc.) and what I posted about is what people who come to this site actually want to know about. I mean, come on - if you're interested in buying a multi-thousand dollar item and someone has SOLID evidence that it will break (when the whole purpose of the item is NOT to break), wouldn't you want to know that?

I think you would, Booger...I think you would.

Ted

how do your "tests" in any way relate to the actual stresses on a pool wall panel.

I don't even really care about this, and shouldn't help keep his spam near the top, but couldn't resist. The tests are
a joke. Not only is the "bounce" more severe as booger accurately points out, much more importantly you'll notice
that on the Kafko panel, the bouncer has his feet an inch
or so off the edge of the panel where on the Everest panel
he is an inch or so away from the edge. This would clearly place
the center of the pressure along the perpendicular edge of the
Kafko (where there would be a much lower ability to flex) while the pressure of the bounce would be located
more towards the center of the Everest panel.
I am not trying to take away anything from either of these products and/or their build quality or value.
But please don't base any purchase decision(s) on this spam
message or this bogus "test" (which I don't even see,if was accurate, how would replicate real-world stress).

Cascade -

Well, like I already noted, we're not an engineering firm and I'm not an engineer. I can only speak of what blatently comes to mind.

The pool panels hold back two things - the water on one side, and the backfilled material on the other. Think about how much pressure there is from thousands of gallons of water on the wall. Me (230 pounds) jumping up and down on the panel can't even come close to the amount of pressure and stress that the water will be putting on the wall. I hesitate to think of the additional stress that gets put on the walls when someone jumps into the pool...point being, if the wall broke that easily under those simple conditions, how well will it hold up once it is installed?

The other tests we did (the shake test and the stress test) shows the strength of the walls and rigidity. You want your walls to be stiff - the stiffer, the better.

If you don't believe me, call up a pool installer who has installed a Kafko panel - they'll tell you themselves that it is a piece of junk.

Ted

That's why I like Steel wall pools..............No warping in the sun during construction equals nice straight walls and Regrind percentage is not a problem. P.S. Kafco service/parts department is the worst!!!!!!!!

Ted, are you a salesman? I would like to make some very basic points to rebut your [false] claims:

"The pool panels hold back two things - the water on one side, and the backfilled material on the other."
Correct, no argument here.

"Think about how much pressure there is from thousands of gallons of water on the wall. Me (230 pounds) jumping up and down on the panel can't even come close to the amount of pressure and stress that the water will be putting on the wall.
What? If you really think about it, the most stressful for a pool wall is when the pool is EMPTY, not when it is full! When the pool is full, you only have crushing forces of the dirt on one side (which won't move) and the water on the opposite side. This actually acts to hold everything in place. Empty the pool and let the dirt get moist, or have some good vibrations on it. The dirt now wants to push the wall in because there is NO forces from the water...THAT is when the forces are the greatest on a pool wall.

"I hesitate to think of the additional stress that gets put on the walls when someone jumps into the pool...point being, if the wall broke that easily under those simple conditions, how well will it hold up once it is installed?"
Again, a salesman's approach to scaring the uninformed into believing that jumping into the water is the same as jumping directly onto a panel. Hey, if that is true, can we see a video of you diving head first into onto one of your panels? Nope...and why? There is no WATER to disperse the energy. You junping into a pool does NOT put 225lbs of stress onto a single point of a panel, but rather the displacement of the water acts to 'cusion' you by dispersing your energy over a wide (very wide) area.

I might take you up on that panel offer...I would like to know if anyone out there is from Kafko and would be willing to oblige this opportunity?

Boog...

Boog -

Naw, I'm no salesman. If I was, I'd be ever so much more slick :)

What a night and some emails will do! We've heard from those that have posted here and those that have sent us emails that we need to do some actual engineered testing, so hold tight while we get that figured out and done, and post the results. It probably won't happen until the end of this season, though - so don't hold your breath.

We've been told that it would be much more helpful to those on this forum if we chipped in with advice on filter, pumps, liners, etc., so we'll lurk for a while and try to provide some non-sales answers.

Thanks for initiating us into the forums and we look forward to helping any of y'all with some of your questions.

Ted

I have Kafko steel wall pool and we are very happy. No problems.....