Shelter Help – death of an old companion

"From an engineering standpoint, one pole vertical is stronger for the weight than multiple poles or a curved pole"

Except when that pole is a trekking pole near max extension.

If you had one pole, fixed both ends, and pulled on the center, it would flex less than two poles with half the diameter. Material further away from the center will result in more strength. A tube is stronger than a rod, for the weight. etc.

I'm no mechanical engineer so someone correct me if I'm wrong.

And if you have a pole in a curve, you're using up some of it's strength before it will fail. I forget where I read that, maybe a Jardine book?

A geodesic dome tent has a bunch of poles which must weigh a lot more than the pole of a mid.

Of course, comparing a geodesic tent to a hoop tent to a mid gets complicated. You have to add up weight of everything.

And then you have to factor in wind speed. Roger, in some article, had a table of wind speed vs height from ground. Mid sticks up higher so subjected to higher wind speed, but the peak has small cross sectional area so only a little of the area is that higher speed, progressively more area as you're lower to ground. With dome or hoop tent, more cross sectional area is at a middle height.

Actually, it's a pretty complicated engineering calculation. I wonder if anyone has done this?

No wonder we have not seen Jason back into this thread…
He wants a family shelter for family outings, yet too many here are busy discussing what they like rather then what the OP has asked for.

Anyway how do these shelters behave at camp 4 up on Mt Everest ?
(just in case Jason suddenly feels like doing that…)

Is there a 3 person hammock that is also dog friendly ?

An internet forum thread with topic drift. Alert the press:).

Golite have a couple of 3 person tents now and there is also the Anjan 3 person version.

http://www.outdoorgearlab.com/Backpacking-Tent-Reviews/Hilleberg-Anjan-2

In fact, if you know of a three person hammock that is dog friendly I'm all ears! Especially one that can be used on Everest.

First off, thanks to all of you who have put forward some really great things to think about. Several of the three person tents there were mentioned are ones that I have considered. It's always tough when you're weighing (no pun intended) weight vs. cost vs. durability. This is, in my mind especially true when you're looking at gear for family camping.

Secondly, I love how some posts can get totally sidetracked on other, usually fascinating topics.

Finally, still haven't made a decision. I'm thinking of saving some more pennies and going after one of the Big Agnes offerings. Their tents seem to be wicked light and meet the space requirements. Dare I ask, any thoughts about their shelters???

Thanks again,
Jason

Ps – the reason for my time away was a full week and a half of business travel. Sometimes life just seems to get in the way…