Adjustable pyramid tent pole

Could you link to the product? Can't tell what the ends look like. I've often thought that a cheap tripod from a Goodwill store could be used for parts as well as a cheap treking pole.

I purchased the poles from Quest Outfitters

Assuming you bought a set longer than what you could cut it down to your minimum length needed and then just shim it with a rubber cap or so? What is the difference between your minimum rig length and your maximum? Another approach would be to try for the maximum and accept an arc in the pole to tension it.

Elliot,

Could you elaborate a little more? Did you buy multiple sections of .742" diameter poles? Your comment about the various styles of adjustable poles seem to be about poles where one slides into another, like most adjustable hiking poles. Yet, the poles from QO are more like standard tent poles where each section connects to another with an inserts, end-tips and maybe shock-cord.

GoLite and Kelty make tarp poles with one adjustable section and other sections that join like standard tent poles:

http://www.campmor.com/golite-adjustable-shelter-pole-regular-2010.shtml?source=CI&srccode=cii_23393768&cpncode=00-47568854-2

I build really nice spring loaded buttons for tent poles. I'll sell you one super cheap, along with an adjustable section for that pole. All you will have to do is drill the holes in your pole. Josh at titaniumgoat dot com

I'd like to vary the height of the pyramid tent by 16 inches, in a few steps. Lowest for winter or when there's a cold wind. Highest to get the most ventilation (the tent has 16 inches of mosquito netting all around the perimeter). Middle to optimize ventilation vs cold.

I purchased a number of 26" sections that fit together with short sleeves. The sleeves weigh a bit more than I'd like (they are 4 inches long, 2 inches go in each pole section). My original idea was to cut a couple of short sections with sleeves, but it might get a bit heavy with all those sleeves. I'd prefer an inner pole that slides up and down in the outer pole, either with continuous height adjustment or discrete but fine adjustment via a button and holes.

Here’s a link. Scroll down to quick relaease button connectors

button

There is one other way to make an adjustable-length center pole. I use this for a low-slung tarp shelter, and it probably does not need the pole strength that you might be looking for. First of all, I started with a pole repair kit for tents. This kit has a number of hollow fiberglas tent pole segments with ferrules that are on the order of two feet long. These can be assembled with the center shock cord, and they can be "cut down" for length. The normal assembly method would probably use a number of these segments of approximately equal length. This is where we change it.

For example, use two full-length segments plus some short four-inch segments, and shock cord them all together so that the maximum assembly length might be 5 feet. Then, if you want to shorten it by four inches, you just pull the last four-inch segment out of one end and fold it over. If you want to shorten it by eight inches, you just pull the last two four-inch segments out of one end and fold over. The shock cord keeps the segments from getting lost on the ground.

You could probably do this with hollow carbon fiber pieces also, but you might have to look around to source the pieces.

–B.G.–

Bob,

Very clever idea.

Perhaps a plastic cap of some sort could be added to the system to protect the bottom portion that touches the ground. This would prevent dirt from getting inside the pole and, possibly, prevent the pole bottom from abrading the shock cord.

Daryl

For a bottom cap, I found a plastic food jar with a small squeeze top on it and a flip lid over the squeeze orifice. That lid, inverted, became the dirt cap for the tent pole. The squeeze orifice makes a good dimple for the tent pole to center upon.

–B.G.–

nm