Tent Pole curvature help

I have nothing of use to add but I would love to see a picture of this setup. Tents with views are the best.

I am just going to go with the .344 aluminum poles that I have now.

The difference would be 0.4 ounces and I already have the other poles.
This will make a 41" height, 60" width tarp and way be a lot longer than it will need to be.

I'll have it come off the ground about 12" at the ends in a triangular shape and still have enough length to put my back on one end with room to sleep without hitting my head while sitting on the other.

I would rather make it about 50" in width for a 1+ the dogs, but it only adds an 1 1/2" to the height.

I am using the pole instead of hiking poles just because I don't always like to take them and the shape is the best for roominess.
The pole is only 4 ounces anyway. Well worth the amount of room it will give me.

" I am wondering if anyone knows how the new Easton CarbonFX Poles bend in an arc compared to the Nanolite's?"

Assuming a pole is of the same composition and thickness throughout, it should bend to the same arc using a given length and distance between pole tips at the base of the arc. So the carbon and ALU poles would be no different, arc-wise.

That's been my experience in every case. To change the arc shape, it is necessary to either prebend, or use sections of different composition in a portion of the pole.
Using more flexible sections toward the pole's center creats a narrower and taller arc for the same pole length. The trade-off is the top of the arc is weaker, and more likely to fail in high winds, making side-guys in a tunnel tent, for example, even more critical.

I have some Fibraplex poles that will bend into a 60" circle.

The Easton .344 aluminum's have a hard time bending in a 50" arc.

i pre bend a lot of my poles. it makes them easier to set up.
i like to think it renders them stronger as well, and now they have more reserve strength to resist high winds.
but .. i am not entirely sure about that last bit.
ie : if it were a structural bolt, and i chucked it in a skidmor (bolt tester machine) and tightened the holy living crud out of it, first it would stretch (elastic deformation), then it would go past that and stretch even longer (INelastic deformation).
if i then released the tension our my now somewhat longer bolt, and then retorqued it , the bolt would probably fail early (under spec limit) and not pass it's test. (fear not those who work in high buildings. the bolts we use in the USA are PLENTY enough to rip the welded joints right out of the beams. unless you're in a cement building. they're garbage and you're on your own. )

so, and this is probably for Roger C., why is it that when we prebend our poles (stretching the metal), they do not fail early in the game, but seem to hold in there better.
bolts vs poles be .. different ???
the pre-bending is only a minute amount of the total stretch destroys ???
peter needs a go on windy'r trip ???

v.

Hi Peter

> why is it that when we prebend our poles (stretching the metal), they do not fail
> early in the game, but seem to hold in there better.
And with some alloys (eg Easton 7172, which you won't find used today), the failure happens faster than ever. Been there, done that. :-)

The standard Easton 7075 T9 alloy can be 'stretched' a litle bit IF (IF!) done under properly controlled conditions. I can roll an Easton 344 pole into a 6" radius of curvature, which looks utterly unreal. But don't try doing this yourself unless you have a customised rolling machine and really know how. And, I guess, don't try unrolling it afterwards either.

On the other hand, if you repeatedly stress an aluminium alloy pole again and again around its elastic limit, it will work-harden, and snap. The crystal structure accumulates too many defects. Been there, done that too. Ping!

So what's the difference? If you take the aluminium alloy past its elastic limit once or twice, and set a permanent deformation, it will recover and stabilise. If you take the alloy to its elastic limit many times – it will eventually fail.

As for carbon fibre – you can not put a prebend into this material under any commercially feasible conditions (that i can dream of). You can bend it of course: I bend 7.5 mm 2-D wrap CF tubing (eg Easton Ion, Victoryarrows, etc) to a 2 metre radius of curvature in my tunnel tents. They will go tighter, but stopping at 2 m gives me a safety margin for filthy bad weather.

Incidentally, when CF tubing snaps under bend, the noise is LOUD.

Cheers

I just made a really crapy paper mock up for the polycryo tarp i'll be putting together as soon as the goods come.

Check this out.

Two 72" X 96" polycyro sheets from GG.
A huge 10.5' X 7' footprint.

The tarp will expand the 96" at the width of a 108" curved pole for a 60" width and 43" height.
At each ends I will measure 19.5" from both ends of the 72" for the corner tie out points and another in the middle of the 72".
The center will be elevated 12" making the width 48".
The excess 19.5" will just get tucked under the tarp.

The curved pole will be centered of the 2 sheets. The back half of the center will have the excess cut in order to come together and then be taped together at the pole. The forward half will be taped together at its seams so it can be pitched up and out with another tie out point.

Total of 7 tie points, 3 stakes, (the 3 on each corner will be held by 1 stake), and only using about 8' of sail repair tape.

Is your question how to pre-bend pole

I went to tentpoletechnologies.com and they pre bent some poles for me.

They had a plywood circle piece, maybe 2 feet in diameter. There's a metal strap piece attached, that you put the end of the tube through, to keep tube against circle. They had several plywood circles with different diameters.

Then they just bend the tube over the plywood circle, maybe several times. Then asked me if it was enough. Or you could hold it up to a piece of paper with the shape you wanted.

You can also slide the tube through the metal strap piece and bend a different part of the tubing.

Plywood circle piece clamped to something solid.

I was thinking about making a one person poly-tarp about 36" wide and 43" tall.

I decided to go with the .344 aluminum poles and make a bigger tarp.
I still want to make a one man though. The .344 aluminum poles have a hard time bending less than a 55" semi-circle.

I have Fibraplex poles that will bend into a 60" circle.
So my question is, if anyone knows if the Carbon FX poles will make that bend down to a 36" semi-circle at a 43" height?

Call Tentpole Technologies for the best answer. (360) 260-9527

I got my heavy duty Scarp 2 main pole from them and it had to be pre-bent because of its stiffness. This heavy duty main pole is for use when higher winds are expected. It is part of a system of mods I made for winter use.

They asked for the HEIGHT of the pole in the tent and the WIDTH from tip to tip when in the tent. This gave them the radius for proper bending.

Who started the whole bending thing?
I have never mentioned anything about pre-bending anywhere.

This has to do with a Carbon Fiber Pole.

The "newish" (for sale at least) Easton Carbon FX Poles.

Hi Aaron

> if the Carbon FX poles will make that bend down to a 36" semi-circle at a 43" height?

I would say NO. I do not believe there are any CF poles which will bend to that radius – safely. 60" is OK.

Cheers

Thanks.
Guess I'll have to get an elbow.
This just means less head room.