Hoisting the Hypno Twister

We fell in love with wind socks and twisters during our Quartzsite trip. An RV parked near us had one up like the ones on the left. The spinning twister allowed us to find our way back to our RV until we got used to where we needed to go. They just look cool.

We ordered a patriotic Hypno Twister from Fun with Wind along with a 16 foot telescoping pole. The next problem was how we were to going to attach it to the RV. I surfed the web for solutions. There are lots of flag holders on the market and they can cost big bucks. Some are even made from composite materials. Woo-woo.

After thinking about how much money we had invested in the Hypno Twister and the pole we thought: well, enough is enough on this project. We came up with a simple design for a holder that is made out of a foot of scrap 2"x4" and 4 5" carriage bolts I had in the garage. Total cost is probably around $1.50. I spent about 20 minutes making them. The ladder on the RV and the poles are about 1" in diameter.

I drilled 2 1" holes about 1 1/2" inches apart. Then I drilled 2 3/8" holes in the ends all the way through the piece. Finally, I cut the bracket through the center of each hole using a saw with a 1/8" kerf. The RV ladder will go through one hole and the pole through the other and then I will tighten them down.

Brainstorm: If I made the holes that will hold the flag larger so that they could accomodate a piece of plastic pipe with a 1"+ inside diameter and one end closed then the flag could be inserted or removed from the holder easily without having to
undo the nuts each time.

Of course, that would make it easier for some deviant to take the pole and the flag or wind sock though. Or I could drill a hole in the pipe and the pole and put a lock through both and solve that problem . (Why do we have to nail everything down? Wouldn't it be easier to shoot people who steal things like a stupid pole and a ultra-useless hypno twister? Just kidding, of course. )

Brainstorm Update: While at the Samboree in Casa Grande I saw two such pipes attached to the ladder using strips of metal (can't think of the name of it) that is used to hang pipe with. Given a choice between the two methods my idea is cheaper but the pipe idea is better except that the pole will rattle around in the pipe if it is too big and annoy the h--- out of you when you are trying to sleep.