Tension Rods

In My Humble Opinion
1

Rather than hijack this "High tension" power lines - Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports - Straight Dope Message Board post, I’ll start a new one. I don’t think I’m expecting a serious response - I doubt that this raises to the level of a GQ - but what the heck.

Has anyone ('Merkins mostly, I guess) heard the term “tension rod” to refer to shower curtain and window curtain hanging rods? It’s bugged me just a little bit, because most all of the ones I see are compressed between the window sill or shower walls.

Er, yes, I’m an engineer. Why do you ask?

2

You mean the kind with a spring in them? Yep, I have heard them called tension rods. I think it even says that on the packaging.

3

All the one’s I’ve seen in 'merica are the ones that telescope using a screw action.

And I call them “shower curtain rods”.

4

We call them tension rods too.

5

They aren’t just used to hold shower curtains. I have used them in different sizes for curtains when I didn’t want to install hardware.

6

Yup, they’re tension rods. What else would you call them? (I haven’t read the whole thread you linked to, in case this is discussed there.)

7

A “stick”. :smiley:

Well, mine’s a piece of dowel.

8

Tension bars are used on some models of trucks/SUV’s as a suspension component. I never would have though of using one for a shower rod.

9

Have always called them tension rods, clear back in the 70s when I used one in my station wagon to keep crap from sliding around in the back. An engineer would probably call it a “spring-assisted self-supporting tension system”.

10

Yup - IME “tension rod” is the near universal term for these devices that work by compression.

11

Maybe I just was never the guy shopping for shower rods, but I don’t recall hearing them called that. However, I have seen steel rods in bridges and “up in the steel” in factory buildings, that were clearly under tension.