After a little searching on Google I found a site that has some pretty general information. Russ, you are partially correct. Anodizing does add protection to the surface from corrosion and scratching. The process also does add a layer to the surface, but it also oxidizes the surface an equal amount so about half of the anodizing material is added to the surface and the other half is the oxidized pole. This is the reason for decrease in strength. However, unless the tube is very thin the loss is probably no more than 5-10%. It can decrease strength a much as 30%, but only on very thin material. This will not effect our poles more than the 5% range. I agree that that is not too much to be concerned with unless one uses tubing that is marginally thin to begin with.

Bob