PVC cracks easier and doesn't last nearly as long with the traffic and it's much more efficient to weld I have leanred because you don't have to worry about the PVC cracking.

PVC is for baby bottles.

as others said it cracks pretty easily.

on the other hand that black sewer pipe stuff does get used sometimes, I wish it was more common/cheaper because it's pretty thick and durable but way lighter then a steel snowmaking pipe

Pretty sure the main reason they dont is because the good pvc pipes are more expensive and pvc is harder to work with if you are trying to make an interesting rail.

Metal slides better

DIRTYBUBBLEMetal slides better

From my experiences, a new pvc tube is way more slippery than metal. But I see what you mean because the pvc would get all rough after a few weeks of having it out in the park.

I work at a small resort in norway and we have 4 pvc tubes, and they cost way less. They are quite beefy. About 5cm thick. They are labled as "blems" but there is really nothing to notice. They cost 500 Nok (Norwegian Kroner) each meter. Its stupid becaus you can only get them in 6 meter. And a normal 6 meter rail would usually cost 15000 Nok.

They are more durable than metal tubes or tankers, as they don't get dents.

They slide good but i like the feel of metal. And i tend to hook a lot more on tubes.

PVC degrades in the sun you aren't supposed to leave it outside.

Ruka uses some PVC pipes.

PVC has a working temperature above freezing meaning that it becomes compromised below freezing and is susceptible to cracking and shattering. If a resort is using PVC in their parks that sketchy af.

it'll break if someone lands on it too hard in the cold

ruined if the cat touches it

looks unprofessional

gets mad burrs

paint doesn't stick well

warps in the sun

PVC doesnt last very long in high traffic and extreme tempuratures

in many resorts they are using preassure pipes instead of PVC. these are often made of PE or HDPE plastic. it's a little softer but doesn't shatter :)

**This post was edited on Aug 21st 2017 at 6:54:35am

Pretty much all been said already.

PVC + cold, + snowcats+ high traffic = bad news

PVC rails are a great low cost option for the backyard. They slide well and they don't cost much.

There is pretty thick walled pvc that would probably survive anything but the though of rolling up to a feature with a big chunk missing scares me.

I prefer the way metal slides anyway. Also, steel lasts long, can get knocked around, and can be welded into all kinds of fancy grinderbarz.

The real question is why isn't pvc being used to build lift towers?