MAYTEX Twist and Shout Smart Rods No Drill Tension 5/8" Window Curtain Drapery Rod, Oil Rubbed Bronze, 28-48 Inch

Perfect for a student apartment that does not allows marks on the wall. It was easy to mount, it has the instructions labeled on the rod (3 numbered steps). Does not requieres any strenght at all, the designed torque/twist does the job, one person can do it alone. However, make sure you dont loose any of its internal plastic parts since it wont get fixed - it happened to us but we found the missing part. Not sure how much time it will last since the internal screws are plastic (dindt wanted to apply much preassure during the twist because of that). But so far it got easly hooked and looks sturdy. We used it to hang a blackout courtain 42"x82".Also, would have wanted to know the space between the wall and the rod. We took the chance and were lucky that it worked for us since the window already had a shear blind and we wanted to mount a blackout courtain over it so we wanted to know if there was enough space for it. As shown in the picture it was perfect, by chance.

These are FANTASTIC. I bought one to try and it worked so excellently that I've bought five or six more. They have all been sturdy, attractive looking, and supremely fast and easy to install with no fuss or damage. I have both light curtains and heavy curtains hanging from them and not one has budged, including the one with the heaviest curtain across my closet door, which gets whisked open and closed several times a day. That closet curtain has chewed up and spit out four other tension rods in a year. Also, that closet opening is 48.25 inches wide, a fact I didn't realize when I bought the rod that was for 'up to 48" '. I was afraid I might have to shim it or just send it back but it still fit with that excellent tension. No drilling, no risking the wrath of my landlord. Total win.

Got this today and it took a little bit of work to get it up. I essentially had to take it apart, figure out how it works, then put it back together again. Once I knew how the mechanism actually works, it wasn't too bad. My window is about 46", so I had to go with the smaller rod and with it extended almost to the max, it's not that sturdy. It will work for our purpose, which is to provide insulation over a window we don't use. We will not be opening and closing the drapes, if we were, I'd break down and drill into the walls even tho it's a rental.The mechanism has no spring in it, like some tension rods. It also is not telescoping like a shower curtain rod, where you have to turn it the entire way. This has a threaded rubber gasket and a graduated plastic end that screws into it. As it tightens, it pushes the gasket out and locks itself in place. You have to just manually pull the rod apart until it is close to the size you need, and then turn the rod to secure it. From there, you turn the finial to tighten it that last little bit (opposite of the direction you would think, but it is marked with a sticker).I can see where people would think it was broken or didn't work. Mine stopped spinning and i had to pull both pieces apart, put the gasket back on the thinner part of the screw tip, and start over. For the price, I'm happy. It was a cheap and fairly easy solution to our problem. If it's a window that will get heavy use or have a heavy curtain, I would say it needs to be at least 6" smaller than the maximum width listed to have greater stability, maybe more.

I ordered two of these rods in size 28in-48in for my 46" wide bedroom windows. The rod went together easily and I was able to have the first pair of curtains up within ten minutes by myself. Great! I had trouble with the second rod though. The end that is supposed to come off in order to put the curtains on got stuck and I had to call my boyfriend in to pull it off and it was difficult even for him. I think I accidentally pulled it unevenly and that's why it jammed so beware- be careful when taking the end off of the rod! I was able to hang room darkening curtains on them with no problem. I've had them for five days now and have opened and closed the curtains every day and these rods are still up and haven't moved an inch. These were an answer to my prayers as I am renting and cannot screw hardware into my walls. Love them and would definitely recommend to anyone who can't or doesn't want to put screws in their walls. As soon as I can I will be ordering more curtains for the rest of my windows and more of these rods to hang them with. :)Update: Over two years later and they are still going strong. Bought two more and I love them. Dog even jumped up on one window and pulled the curtains and rod down but the rod went back up even though the tension screw seems to have broken.

I purchased 2 of these just under a year ago to use in the large windows of my apartment in a historical building. Trying to avoid damaging the woodwork around the window, I thought these would be the perfect solution. Living alone, they were slightly difficult to install on a 4 foot wide window by myself as the curtains themselves make it heavy and hard to hold in place while positioning and twisting, but I managed to get them installed. After just about a year, the rod and curtains came crashing down in the middle of the night last night. I tried to reinstall the rod today but found that it would not tighten. It appears that the inner core of the "twisty end finial" is plastic and it broke, so the rod is no longer usable. Might be fine for use on smaller windows or with lighter (sheer) fabric curtains, but not with long standard tab or grommet cloth curtains- at least after a certain point. To be fair, I will mention that I have a small kitten so it is possible that she may have pulled on the curtain initially causing it to come down, but I would be surprised as she weighs much less than the curtains themselves. And even if she caused it to fall, I'm surprised that it broke.