wrote:

Excuse me very much, but isn't shipping for exotic alloy pipe going to
be more expensive than the pipe itself?

It's not "pipe", it's thin-walled very light weight high-strength
aluminum TUBING. which is about as "exotic" as CW in ham circles. Don't
ask us what the shipping costs would be, push back yer keyboard and
dial Texas towers @ (800) 272-3467 and ask them.

As to your problem with hundred-mile round trips to your nearest Home
Despot sto I have two of 'em 15 +/- minutes from here and except
for some occasional stainless nuts, bolts and cheap wire they're
useless as far as decent sources of antenna materials go.

The Mother of All REAL Hardware Stores is McMaster-Carr. 3,000 + page
of industrial-quality bits and pieces which make great antenna parts
only a phone call away. They have staineless u-bolts on top of
stainless u-bolts, aluninum stock for adapter plates, all of it . .

http://www.mcmaster.com/

(330) 342-6100 for help with finding what you want if their website
catalog comes up overwhelming.

If you're averse to online purchasing that's OK, order all your antenna
"stuff" by telephone, then sit on yer butt and wait to have it dropped
on you by UPS or FedEx within a couple days at most.

Ditto DXengineering: (800)-777-0703

That's not negative, that's practical!

You have problem with your priorities and what's up out here in
practical ham antenna realities.

The Eternal Squire

w3rv