Easton CF poles from Quest super rigid

Yes, that stuff is stiff, and strong.
No, you cannot make it more flexible.
Good stuff though.

Cheers

Thanks! I think I can make do. Just waiting for my shock cord to arrive and I'll have everything I need. :)

You probably have the Easton Carbon FX, used on the MSR carbon pole version of the Hubba. The tubing is designed to be, and is about the same stiffness as good quality aluminum alloy dome tent poles like the Easton 340 and DACs, found on most US made tents. If that level of stiffness is too much for your application, you could try the small diameter filament wound fiberglass tube available from Goodwinds kites, or even small diameter pultruded fiberglass rods also available from Goodwinds or the driveway reflector section of your local hardware store. The fiberglass is more flexible than all but the very smallest diameter carbon tubes, and is reasonably strong, definitely stronger than pultruded carbon. For a small application, the weight penalty of the fiberglass over carbon would be minimal. If you need something even more flexible, you may need to go to prebent aluminum alloy tubing, and might consult Roger Caffin by emailing him here at BPL. But you'll want to catch him when he's not on a bender – hah-hah.

Great ideas, thank you!

"But you'll want to catch him when he's not on a bender – hah-hah."

That was hilarious. You sir are a gentleman and a scholar. Good stuff.