Half-inch Aluminum tubing will last a long time. Mine got pretty bent in A-cat learning wrecks. It is still being used 5 years later by the new owner. It is soft enough to take the bending/straightening abuse.
I also got 2 nice gold-anodized aluminum shuffleboard sticks at a junk-yard/recycler for $5 each: perfect! Very light, strong, straight and unbroken after my nice carbon stick has been broken 2 times. #2 is a spare. I smear a little Marine Goop on it once a year for "sticky hands".