This Technical Specification specifies a method for the determination of buckling load which a) takes into account the complete geometry of the fluid power cylinder, meaning it does not treat the fluid power cylinders as an equivalent bar, b) can be extended to be used for all types of cylinder mounting and rod end connection, c) includes a factor of safety, k, to be determined by the person performing the calculations and reported with the results of the calculations, d) takes into account a possible off-axis loading, e) takes into account the weight of the fluid power cylinder, meaning it does not neglect all transverse loads applied on the fluid power cylinder, f) can take into account a misalignment, but only if it is situated in the plane of cylinder selfweight, and g) is easy to transcribe under the form of a simple computer program. The results given by this method have been compared favourably to those given by several methods already used in the industry for fluid power cylinders in the range 25 mm to 200 mm with 12 mm to 140 mm piston rods. Accordingly, larger- or smaller-sized cylinder designs should be approached with caution when using this method. NOTE This method is based mainly on original work by Fred Hoblit (Critical buckling load for hydraulic actuating cylinders, Product Engineering, July 1950).