Quick verdict
A hundred orange PVC flags on 36 inch steel poles, tall enough to stand above long grass, a meadow, a vegetable bed or a foot of snow, for mapping where mole ridges and gopher mounds appear over a week so the main runs are found and the traps go in the right place, and for marking lines, heads and plantings where a short flag would be lost. The height is the point: a 15 inch flag vanishes in rough ground and a 36 inch one does not. The flags are bonded to the poles and the poles push into hard soil without bending.
Strengths
- Thirty-six inch poles stand above long grass, crops and snow
- Mapping mounds over a week reveals the main runs
- Bonded flags stay on in wind
- Steel poles push into hard ground
- A hundred for a season of marking
Weaknesses
- Tall flags are in the way on a mown lawn; use short ones there
- Orange only in this pack
- Poles bend if stepped on sideways
The overall YardToolLab Score is out of 100. Section scores are out of 10.
Flags That Stay in Sight
Short marking flags work on a mown lawn and vanish everywhere else: in a meadow, between rows of beans, under a foot of snow. Sosation’s are a hundred orange flags on 36 inch steel poles, bonded so they stay on, tall enough to be seen from the house, and the right flag for mapping mole activity in rough ground or marking anything a short flag would lose.
This review is based on the listing specifications and on how tall marking flags are used in pest mapping and yard marking generally. We have not used these flags ourselves and the brand is a generic importer.
Mapping a Mole
Moles work the same runs daily. Each morning for a week, push a flag beside every new mound or raised ridge and write the date on it. By the weekend the flags draw a map: a line of them along a fence is the main run, a cluster is a feeding area, and where two lines meet is the junction a trap is set at. Without the map, traps go into feeding runs the mole may never use again.
Gophers
The same with gopher mounds. The fan of fresh soil points away from the tunnel; flag the mound and a week of flags shows the direction the colony is spreading and where the main lateral runs lie.
Everything Else
Row ends in a vegetable bed before the seed is up. The drip main under the mulch. A drainage line, a septic lid, the dog fence wire. The edge of the drive before the plough comes. Bulbs in a border that disappear in summer. A tall flag with a note on it is a memory that does not fade.
Build
PVC flags bonded to iron poles rather than wrapped, so wind does not strip them. The poles push into hard soil straight and pull out straight; stepped on sideways they bend, as any wire does. A hundred is a season for a trapper and years for a gardener.
Where Short Flags Are Better
On a mown lawn a 36 inch flag is in the way of the mower and the eye. Use 15 inch flags there and these where the ground is rough or the crop is tall.
Who Should Buy It
- Mole and gopher trappers mapping activity.
- Vegetable gardeners marking rows and lines.
- Anyone in snow country marking the drive edge.
Common Owner Complaints
Bent poles. Push them straight in and pull them straight out.
Alternatives to Consider
Fifteen inch flags for a mown lawn. Fiberglass driveway markers for a plough route. Plastic plant labels for a border.
Verdict
For marking in long grass, crops and snow, three feet of pole is what keeps the flag in sight, and a hundred of these map a mole in a week. Date each flag, read the line and set the trap at the junction.
Full specifications
Sosation 100-Pack Orange Marking Flags, 4 x 5 Inch Flags on 36 Inch Steel Poles FAQs
Flag every new mound or ridge each morning for a week with the date written on. The line of dated flags shows the direction of travel and where the runs join, which is the main run and the place to set the trap.
In a meadow, a vegetable bed, an orchard or snow, a short flag disappears. Three feet of pole keeps the flag in sight from across the yard.
Marking the row ends of a crop before it comes up, a drip main under mulch, bulbs in a border, a septic lid, the edge of a drive before the snow plough, and the dog fence wire.
Yes, with a permanent marker.
