Sturdy enough to not need the middle bracket up, which looks nice.  This way I was able to purchase one single large panel for my sliding back door.  I like the way the thicker curtain rod looks -worth the little extra money to me.  It took me a little longer than I'd like to admit to figure out that I needed to slide the inner rod completely out and flip it so the end with the plastic tip that the pretty ball end screws into was there.  I was looking through the packaging, thinking I either lost a piece or that they forgot to send it.  In the end, they look good and were easy to install.