I had a wave at a race last year take the bag off the mid pole hoop and then had the little line that holds the hoop straight tear out at Lake Pont. Never broke a pole though. I think the midpole systems are more likely to tear the hoop off the pole than damage the pole given that the support to hold the pole up is right there. Tearing the hoop off and damaging that is probably more expensive than just breaking the pole though.