Thank you for the very kind words, vferrari! I appreciate it!
One thing I will add, is that I looked at those "anti-twist" carbon-fiber tubes, with the "anti-rotation" groove. One of my carbon-fiber tube suppliers began producing them last year, and wanted to send me a set for inspection -- so I agreed. My conclusion though was two-fold -- one, is what you said about transporting the detector. Sometimes you WANT your coil to be able to "rotate," for storage/transport purposes. Further, when I hunt, I like to have my control box "turned inward" toward my body slightly. In other words, I rotate the control box/handle perhaps 10 degrees "off" from being perfectly lined up with my coil. This slightly inward-canting of the handle/control box allows me to see the screen a bit better. So, that's another reason why being able to turn your lower rod -- relative to the upper shaft -- can be useful. And with the "anti-rotation channel," that would not be possible.
The other thing though, the MAIN thing, is that any "anti-rotation" assistance -- be it a "channel," or the traditional spring button/button hole design, or whatever -- is rendered ENTIRELY UNNECESSARY by the use of a proper, heavy-duty cam lock. A proper cam lock will not only offer rock-solid attachment security between two tube sections, but it should also offer user adjustability of the clamping tension. When a user has complete control over exactly how tightly their cam lock clamps their shaft sections together (thus being able to adjust the clamping tension as needed, so as to ensure rock-solid connection of their shaft sections), then there IS NO ISSUE with shaft section rotation, as it is not possible. And thus, there is no need for any "anti-rotation" device. I all boils down to proper cam lock design.
My GUESS is that with the "light-duty" cam locks Tele-Knox was initially using, such an "anti-rotation" design was necessary -- the cam locks were not able to clamp securely enough by themselves, and so that "supplemental assistance" in terms of shaft section connection was needed (it's the same reason Minelab's Equinox shaft REQUIRES the spring button/button hole design -- due to their "light duty" twist locks). However, with the new, high-quality cam locks that Tele-Knox has begun using (very similar to mine), that "anti-rotation channel" has been rendered moot; the channel is now entirely unnecessary (and possibly even, for the aforementioned reasons, a hindrance at times).
Steve
