Tent requires trekking pole – how you use the poles for day hike?

[Yang Lu]

Hi,

Can you guys share the experiences when you take a tent that needs trekking poles to set up and you also need the poles to do day hikes?

I guess you could leave sleeping bag and backpack in the tent, then take down the tent. Maybe you can put some rocks on the collapsed tent to prevent it from being blown away. But…what if it rains? Do you need to worry about water goes into tent?

Thanks,
Yang

[Franco Darioli]

Good questions no easy answers..
recently I had to do that with a Notch, but it has happened before with the Contrail*.
To keep the shelter up I used a cut to size small branch and an orange PVC trail marker borrowed from the nearby hut.
That immediately introduces two problems
1) you may not have abundant suitable wood sticks
2) not many camping spots have an orange PVC pipe of suitable length nearby…
Another day (now that I think about it) I used a stick and pulled the other tent apex up by tying to a tree.
(always have spare rope…)
The reasons why I would not leave the shelter collapsed are two
1) it is a dead giveaway that you are not there
2) some fabrics (silnylon for example) will wet out and than drip if in contact with a hard surface.
So if say you drape the shelter over your pack/whatever, and it starts to rain , after a while your floor and stuff inside will be wet.
(it takes hard and or prolonged rain fall to do that)
Franco
*The Contrail only takes one pole so it is easy to tie that to a tall bush or tree . Can look very much as a standard set up.

[Yang Lu]

Thanks Franco for the fast reply. It seems to me that traditional tents coming with poles (maybe Fly Creek) still have adventange in this situation…

[Franco Darioli]

Mind you another way is to get those "substitute" poles (about 20z each) and use them as part of the pack frame otherwise.
Available from several cottage manufacturers.
Franco

[John S.]

I just take my poles and leave the shelter down, leaving stakes in place and maybe putting a rock in the middle. Take one extra kitchen trash bag to place other gear inside in case it rains alot while you are gone (in case water collects under a floorless shelter). Or, leave extra gear in a friends tent.

[Ken Thompson]

Do you really need the poles for the day hike since you are not hauling all your stuff? Find a stick for the stream crossings.

[Yang Lu]

Ken, my question actually came from my recent trip to Lone Pine Peak, California. On the first day we hiked about 4.6 miles and camped at Grass lake. On next day, we started to hike up to the peak, which was a class 2 climbing. The slope was about 45 degrees with rock debris falling down. The poles were greatly helpful under that condition.

Even it was a easy hike, I still think trekking poles will make one go faster and further, which is consistent with the concept of UL. But I think this is off the topic.

[Brian Johns]

It may be worth 3 oz. in some circumstances to buy the CF support poles, or pole (1.5 oz.) to use a manufacturer-provided pole. For me, I''d just keep the tent staked out and use my hiking pole and replace them at the end of the day. I think most hiking pole-only shelters are for long hike days where you eat and sleep at the end of the day, day hikes excluded.

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