Tarptent Scarp 2 mod post

cool mods.

for those of you who enjoy links:

http://www.backpackinglight.com/cgi-bin/backpackinglight/forums/thread_display.html?forum_thread_id=70639

OK. Good stuff. Lots of great mods posted here on the Scarp.

So, Henry, are you ready to tackle a real winter tent yet? Of all the cottage guys, you are best positioned, perhaps. What are you waiting for?

Is there a lot of demand? Maybe Henry is smarter than us? Perhaps he is waiting to see how Caffin does with his? Where's Waldo?

Eric,

thanks a lot for your work on the Scarp. Is the tent still freestanding with your internal crossing poles? Or are the corner guy-outs absolutely necessary now?

Eric said:

"To me DIY also means taking a commercial backpacking item and modding it to suit one's particular needs"

I agree. This is well within the intro at the top of the myog forum, which says, in part:

"and discussions of how to HACK UP off the market products to make them lighter (and sometimes, better)."

Jens,

No, my modded Scarp 2 is not freestanding but it won't collapse either. Even if the corner CF poles turn inwards and lay nearly horizontal the tent still "stands" with either external or internal X-ing poles.

To make it properly pitched one MUST stake out each corner as well as the middle ends. That said I admire Henry's patented "Pitch Loc" triangulated CF captive corner poles. They support the corners very strongly and, with my internal X-ing pole mod, make an excellent base for the downward force of these poles.

In a conversation with Henry on this X-ing pole mod I can say he seemed "interested" so perhaps we will see a dedicated TT winter tent someday.

Henry obviously has an out-of-the-box style of thinking about tent design (see his StratoSpire) so what he would come up with as a winter tent design may be a big and pleasant design surprise.
In any case a TT winter tent would definitly be a strong competitor. Already Henry is using carbon fiber in longer poles and likes quick pitching tents, UNLIKE the North Face VE geodesic series, for ex.