tieing 2 poles together

[Paul Ettestad]

Instead of carrying a pole jack for a pyramid tarp I was going to us my 2 trekking poles. Was wondering what others have found to be the best, lightest and most secure way of tieing 2 trekking poles together for this purpose.

[j lan]

Attaching straps together and then 3 strips of velcro wrapped around top middle and bottom of over lap. Works great.

[Vadim B]

delete

[Franco Darioli]

This is the way I do it, the same as James if I understand that correctly.

(wrap them up after this…)
Franco

[Joseph Reeves]

I've slipped the straps together like those shown above and then use two thin strips of hook and loop material to keep them taught.

Picture below — No, not the picture of my wife pulling her pants on, the straps, look at the straps!

[Kevin Beeden]

You can get special link sections that twist-lock into the two ends of telescopic poles. Quite a neat idea, I thought. Available for handle or tip ends.

[before you all point it out, yes, the logo does look familiar, and, as I understand, is agreed by all parties…]

[paul buzzard]

We found that velcro works, but is finicky, and not real strong, depending maybe on what kind/type is used, possibly also where it is put together at. We changed to strips of old rubber bike tire inner tubes, very stretchy, overlap the wrap, man was that an improvement, strength wise. Pieces were like 1" wide by about 12" long.

[Paul Ettestad]

Interesting. Thanks for all the advice. With the old rubber bike inner tubes, are you just tying the two ends together with an overhand knot after wrapping around the poles several times?

[J Her]

About 4 ft of line (maybe your extra guyout lines) and lash them together. Just like in Boy Scouts.

http://www.oktroop17.org/knots/Shear_Lashing.html

[Andy F]

I've ordered a replacement lower section for my Black Diamond Trail Back poles to use as a link section for connecting the two poles together. The section has a tip already mounted on it which I've been unable to remove despite considerable brute force. If I can't remove it, I'll just hacksaw it off.

[paul buzzard]

Paul,

The semi magic of the inner tube wraps is no tieing. They stick to themselves. Begin by holding the end to the object, stretch tightly, use 1/2 width overlap until near the end, then with other end, just tuck it into the wrap under tension, no need to tie off, holds great. Hard to describe, but it works, try it. Trick is jamming end in under tension spot. I will post a picture if I can figure out how. 18" long 1" wide strips were used in the picture. Rock solid.

[Erick Panger]

Over the years when I've broke them I've ordered replacement sections from BD. The old sections make great connectors

I don't hike with poles often any more so I don't do this as often any more with my Shanglri-la 3

[Brian Camprini]

I don't believe Black Diamond sells these anymore, but they'd be a pretty easy make your own project.

http://www.blackdiamondequipment.com/en-us/shop/mountain/shelters/pole-link-converter

[Peter S]

I’m considering buying the HMG pole straps. Any one who has good experience with them?

By looking at the photo of the bike inner tubes in action, my guess is that that is the strongest.

[Rob P]

The backpacking light UK walking pole extenders are worth looking into:

http://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/walking-poles.html

[Jordo _99]

I made my own straps a few months back:

It’s literally just webbing that folds over itself at the ends and then has three straps and cinches down with plastic hardware (velcro would work well too).

[monkey]

I’m considering buying the HMG pole straps. Any one who has good experience with them?

Those are rebranded Voile ski straps, I love them. They are rubbery and stretchy so they get a good strong hold of the poles. Take a second to put on/take off, can be used to secure things to your pack when you are on the go (in addition to million other uses), and quite indestructible.

http://www.backcountry.com/voile-ski-straps-9-through-24-inches-vol0083

[Peter S]

Thank you everyone. Well, there seems to be a lot of good ways to do it. As non of the solutions are expensive, I think I’m going to try several solutions.

[David Thomas]

I’ve got some rubber loops with a little toggle/handle on one end designed to organize extension cord and garden hoses.  It would function like that rubber strip, but perhaps with fewer loops because the toggle could hold the rubber strap very tight.  (Wrap it around 3 or 4 times and slip the loose end of the loop over the toggle.)

A dollar or two at Home Depot, or you could make your own out of loops cut from an inner tube.  I’d suggest cutting them smaller and smaller – you’ll probably find that a pretty thin loop is plenty strong enough.

There’s another style of hose/cord organizer that uses small-diameter bungie cord (like used inside of a tent pole or a bit bigger) and the loop terminates at a sphere.  Wrap it around N times, and slip the loose end over the sphere / toggle.  You could also terminate it in a button, be it a sturdy button from the fabric store, or simply a metal washer or nut (potentially aluminum).  Here’s an example of someone DIY off of Pinterest:

[R]

I’ve never tried this, but it seems like a short pole jack would make a great coupler.

Zpacks sells a 10″ jack for $10.  He says they slide on about 2 inches, so a coupler would have to be 4″ long, and weigh 1/4oz.  His pricing seems linear at $1 per inch and he’d probably cut you a custom length.  Easiest of all suggestions to deploy and remove.

[Eric Blanche]

If you do not need the poles to go too high, I have found a simple pole extender in carbon fiber or aluminum to be my best option. Relatively light weight but the ease of use for me is what makes it the better option. SImply slide it on the tip of my pole and done. I also find it to be more secure compared to tieing two poles together.

[Greg Mihalik]

A blast from the past.

[Sam Haraldson]

Thanks for sharing that link, Greg.  That’s essentially the method I use except rather than velcro I use Voile straps.

[Nick Smolinske]

I made velcro straps with “slip not dots” fabric sewn onto the back of the velcro for added purchase on the poles.  The slip-not dots is available from Outdoor Wilderness Fabrics.  Two straps seems to be plenty. The weight for two straps is less than 10 grams, and putting the poles together is very fast.

[Matthew / BPL]

I saw this technique earlier today and tried it out. I think it works very well. I’m using ~2’ of Lawson Glowire. It’s extremely quick and easy to do.

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