PRESCO QUICK FACTS Custom Stake Flags graphic
Marking Stake Flag Staff Options 
Marking Stake Flags have been used for outdoor marking for more than 50 years in the underground facilities, irrigation, landscaping, and forestry industries.

These flags are available in many flag sizes and colors and are commonly manufactured with an 18” Wire Staff.  Optionally the flags are created with a Plastic staff which needs to be longer and is typically 21”, 24” or 30” long.

Sustainability
The vinyl staff is double the size of the wire staff and creates a larger volume of waste in landfills and the decomposition of the vinyl is much longer than the wire.

Wire staffs stand up longer than Plastic

PVC Flags on a wire staff will easily clear the 30 day minimum required by the Underground Utility Locating industry in concert with CGA and NULCS.  However, a Flag on the plastic staff is less stiff than the steel wire staff and has a tendency to lie down in about 14 days.

Application Difficulty
In order to insert the wire staff flag into the ground, you can simply place it into the ground by hand.  Because of the flexible nature, plastic staff flags require an application tool called a Stake Flag Probe to be able to insert the flag into the ground.  This is an increase in time and labor costs.

Cost and Volume
The plastic staff volume is less that 1% of the overall volume of marking flags used in the United States and because it is much harder to manufacture the price structure is approximately 40% greater.

So Why Use Plastic Staffs?
The Plastic Vinyl staff was created to support a perceived safety hazard in marks that were required on or around airport properties. The design of the plastic vinyl staff allows for it to be sucked up in a jet engine without causing damage to the engine.

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