Squall Classic with 47in LT3 Trekking Poles

[Justin Tremlin]

I’m thinking of buying a Gossamer Gear Squall Classic and have a possible problem with setting it up. On the web site it says that the front height/front pole is 42in high but I use a pair of no-adjustable GG LT3 poles that are 47in long. There are two ways I can think of using these trekking poles with the Squall Classic.

1. Placing the trekking poles tip in the grommet as it shows in the pictures/video but have the pole at a 63.3º angle to give the shelter its correct height.

Or

2. Use the pole vertically with the shelters guy line going upward 5in wrapping around the tip of the pole in a girth hitch then going back down to the ground.

My concerns are that option 1 may put the pole at risk of breaking in windy situations do to the being at a 63.3º angle instead of 90º. However option 2 may not provide a tight enough pitch putting the shelter fabric at risk of failure due to bad set-up. Which set up do think will work best? Should I just leave my trekking poles at home as use the optional front pole Gossamer Gear? What are your thoughts and experiences?

Note: I am a fan of trekking poles do to many knee injuries I’ve suffered from skiing.

[Rog Tallbloke]

How about whipping some cordage onto the pole 4" down from the top with a loop tied in to pass the guyout through?

Maybe secure the cord with a smear of epoxy on the pole before whipping on the cordage.

[Justin Tremlin]

Ooh, good idea.

[Michael Rasmussen]

I have the Squall Classic and have a similar issue. I like using trekking poles and mine are a fixed length, 125 cm. I do have the front pole and since it is light I have used it and taken my trekking poles on my outings. But, I have begun looking at leaving it at home and using my trekking pole instead. In my tests, the trekking pole has worked fine by putting it in the grommet at an angle. The pitch is tight and I would not see a problem in wind. I still prefer the front pole and because it is so light may continue to use it, but the trekking pole works well too.

[Dave T]

Calling Franco!

[Greg Mihalik]

"How about whipping some cordage onto the pole 4" down from the top with a loop tied in to pass the guyout through?"

The grip is 6" long, putting the "next available" shaft space to low.

Anything attached to the bottom will catch on stuff.

[Rog Tallbloke]

Greg, fair point.

Doesn't the LT grip flare out near the bottom? Maybe the OP could just sieze the guyout round that.

[Greg Mihalik]

Yes, it flairs.
I don't know how durable the grips are.

Perhaps a grosgrain loop would spread the force. Drop it over, thread the guy line through, then give the pole a twirl or two to take up the grosgrain slack, and let the flair do its job.

Or, use a top mounted wrist strap – adjustable – held close with a wrap of velcro?

[JM Addleman]

That people wrap their duct tape around poles to give the line something to stay on top of. You could put duct tape on the bottom without worrying about snagging.

[Eric Beaudry]

I've not had an issue running the poles grip side down so the shaft dia gets larger as you go down and tieing off my guy lines that way.

I've tarped several nights out in some pretty bad weather this way with some pretty good winds and it's worked well even with high guyline tensions….

I'm building something similar to Steven Evan's N2 cuben tarp and have fixed 125cm LT3's that will serve duty here.

[James Patsalides]

The GG grips themselves are pretty tough for normal usage, but I would advise against looping a thin guy around them… I bet it would cut/saw into the grip in windy conditions and end up damaging them.

That said, I can think of two viable alternatives:

1. Not sure about the LT3s, but my LT4s have a little cord loop below the grip (no wrist bands, just this little orange cord loop). You could probably loop a guy through there, to get the correct height for the pole.

2. If you flip the poles the other way up (grip on the ground) and position them a few inches away from the tarp, then loop the guy around the tip, resting on the basket, then to ground a few feet away. This would mean that the area where you tie the guy to the pole would be a few inches above the tarp, but your guy would go UP to it, around the pole a couple of times, then down. I bet that method would work. Might want to put a ziplock or a little piece of material under the grip to ensure that it doesn't get too muddy or whatever!

Good luck…

Cheers, James.

[Franco Darioli]

I would use the two pole version as I do sometime with my Contrail.
I always use my poles handle up. Several reasons. It is less likely to damage the fabric by accidentally missing the grommet. It keeps the handle clean and dry. The tip of the pole digs into the ground like a peg and that reduces the chances of falling down.
Exactly how you set the two handle tops against each other depends on the model, this is how I do the BD poles.
The ones on the Contrail picture are the original GG CF poles, I am pretty sure that those are 125cm long (they were too long for me) . The Contrail ideal height is 45" however it can be set higher or lower by several inches.
It should work with the Classic as well.

Franco

[Justin Tremlin]

I’ve got a couple of thing here.

Having the trekking pole grip side up doesn’t make any sense to me. The pole is 47in long. The shelter is 42in high. If I was to use the guy line to secure the pole instead of the grommet I would need to go way from the guy out roughly 4 to 5in so I could use the line tensioner. A weighted line that short will most likely want to fall at a 45º. This would dictate that I need to attach the guy line 4-5in higher on the trekking pole that the height of the shelter. This comes to 46-47in. This is the distance from the grip to the basket which is a perfect stop for the guy line. Therefore if I’m going to use the line and not the grommet I need to place the pole grip side down. Also as Greg pointed out the grip is 6in long. If you were to attach the line below that it would be 41in off the ground not counting sag. As for attaching anything to the keeper loop and wrapping line around the grip, I would rather not. They both seem way too fragile.

@ Rog. I like your idea about whipping some cordage 4in down from the tip of the pole. It would also be a good spot given that it would be (roughly) the same height that I attach the rear guy line for my solo tarp. Greg does have (again) a good point however, it might catch on stuff. I’ll need to think about that one.

@ Michael. Thank you for your on trail experience. It makes me feel better about this whole idea. I’ll probable just end up leaning the trekking pole or maybe get a front pole made by Fibraplex.

@ James. Your option 2 and my option 2 are the same thing. I guess great minds think alike.

@ Dave. Who’s Franco?

Thank guys for the help.

[Justin Tremlin]

@ Franco. (Your post came up while I was typing mine) Good idea. I really like that one and my wife will love not having a pole in the middle for her to knock over. Have you ever had problems of them slipping?

[Franco Darioli]

Slipping ?
Yes during play time (in my backyard)
This is why I spend a lot of time playing with shelters.
I cannot remember how exactly I did the GG because that was a few years ago, but yes you have to make sure that the two heads don't slide from each other. The one on those BD is rubber so I jam the two together and always have my shelter up taut so it is very hard to knock down.
If I were to use that all of the time I would make a "cap" for it or just use a strip of Omni tape (sort of double sided Velcro) and wrap that around the head.
BTW, one pole off-vertical is only for daytime use, IE to facilitate ingress/egress. It will not stand up to wind.
Guying out to a pole will work but not offer the same kind of support.
(just my opinion…)

Franco

[Franco Darioli]

8 hours later…
just had a brilliant idea. I remembered that our Mary has one of these but has astutely avoided the thread…
(I can't remember if she is using poles or not)
So I had a look at the GG site and it appears to me that in this picture the pole used is around 120-125 cm (47-49") so that is another if not the best way to do it. Ask GG about this.

I still would put it handle up, (so that the tip digs into the ground)

Franco

[Justin Tremlin]

I e-mailed them about four days ago. No reply yet.

[Mary D]

I just found this thread. Yes, I do have a GG/Tarptent Squall Classic. However, I use adjustable trekking poles so I don't have this problem. In my case, the length I need for hiking is shorter than for any shelter I have including this one. Fixed-length poles are therefore not an option for me.

Interestingly, I find the tent seems to have more ventilation using my pole at 114-115 cm. The pics above were taken with the pole at the shorter length, though. A lot depends on the slant of the ground, of course.

I want to try using my pole with the grip at the top for two reasons. First, I already punctured another tent when the pole slipped out of its grommet. Second, I'd really like to have the pole grip up in the air away from salt-hungry rodents. I haven't tried it out yet, though!

Try out the slanting pole at home on a windy day. If that doesn't work, and If you don't mind an extra ounce, get the tent pole that GG sells. More expensively, you could switch to adjustable trekking poles.

[James Lantz]

I would recommend angling the pole outward. A bit of cordage thru the small orange keeper loop of the Lightrek anchored with a Ti stake should keep it from slipping. I don't think the A frame 2 pole configuration would work with either the pole tips up or down. This would work if a second grommet could be installed next to the existing one at the peak vent. The peak vent area would not be appropriate to accommodate the handles or tips of the poles unsupported. I prefer to set my LT 4 a bit long so I can angle it outward because it makes getting out of the Squall Classic much easier. I've never had a problem with the pole slipping in windy conditions.

[Barry P]

My LT3 is 115cm (45”). I have just been using the pole/LT3 straight up. I like putting the tip up in the grommet. That looks more secure (stitching wise) than putting the handle in the pocket because I have considered it.

Some ideas:
1. Just try 47” straight up. It may work. That tent has a pretty flexible design.
2. The angled-pole idea should work. I have done that in the way past. I don’t think the stress is harsher than your trail abuse.
3. Dig a small hole 5” deep to place your handle in.

The GG Squall is one of my favorite tents, though I’ve been using the zpack hexamid a lot lately; and it’s growing on me.

-Barry

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