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Critique my pitch – Z-Packs Altaplex
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Home › Forums › Gear Forums › Gear (General) › Critique my pitch – Z-Packs Altaplex
- This topic has 14 replies, 7 voices, and was last updated 3 years, 7 months ago by Brad W.
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Aug 18, 2020 at 7:35 pm #3671495
Hello,
I pitched my “new to me” Altaplex this afternoon. I thought it pitched up in a pretty straightforward manner, actually. When it was all done though I kind of thought the vestibule doors were a bit too “alta” as well. In other words, I thought the vestibule doors were too high off the ground. I messed about with it and was able to get them lower by steepening the angle of the front guy line thereby bringing the doors closer to the ground. Obviously, the steeper that angle the less wind strength it would have if the wind swung around to blowing directly on the door side. So I attached another line (not pictured) to the front peak and it’ll go out quite a bit further “in front” of the door to get a more lateral tension pulling on the front of the tent. (I hope that makes sense. It’s always much easier looking at it and figuring it out vs trying to describe it.) Anyway, I was wondering if anyone saw any glaring errors in my pitch. The pole was pretty near vertical and it was about 57″ tall in these pictures. The yellow portion of the tape measure is 6″.
Aug 18, 2020 at 7:36 pm #3671496Aug 18, 2020 at 7:37 pm #3671497Aug 18, 2020 at 7:37 pm #3671498Aug 18, 2020 at 7:38 pm #3671499Aug 18, 2020 at 7:38 pm #3671500Aug 18, 2020 at 8:09 pm #3671514Brett, looks pretty good! Crank down those corner guylines (the main 4) a little more.
And play with the pitch height of the poles in both directions by an inch or two, so you get a feel for how this changes the tension along the bottom edges – that geometry is worth noting, because you may want a higher pitch (more headroom) in fair weather and tighter edges in storms.
Aug 18, 2020 at 10:39 pm #3671536Will do, Ryan. I see where Z-packs recommends a 60” pole. I think that’d be kind of tall. I’ll try a 58+ and then look at a 56” for worse weather and a lower edge.
I really like this shelter so far.
Aug 19, 2020 at 7:08 am #3671566Looks good.
I used to carry quite a long piece of Z line to pull the center panel upward by attaching to a nearby tree. This gave me more headroom.
You can achieve the same thing with a pole or stick; wrap the line around the top and stake it down.
Aug 19, 2020 at 7:42 am #3671574A buddy has one and seems to get a taughter pitch. If I remember correctly, he angles the front pole out a bit and then guys out the peak at a more relaxed angle than you. It seems like that may tension the larger back panel more effectively.
Aug 19, 2020 at 7:46 am #3671575I would say that pitch looks darn good.
I do not own, nor have I used an Altplex, but I suspect many of the pitching “tricks” that work for the Duplex apply. This thread is but one compendium of BPL members Duplex experience and hacks.
As Ryan mentioned, it is important to understand the effects of pole height on pitch…with a long pole you can get a high and breezy pitch with a taut floor, or a low and buttoned-down pitch with a less taut floor with a shorter pole. Practicing in the backyard really paid dividend for me.
As you have discovered, door closure is greatly influenced by the placement of the apex guy line. As in the link above, I recommend keeping the guy line as close and as parallel as possible to the doors (if you can, even closer than in your 2nd photo). The door closure works best if the angle of the adjusting cord is an extension of the line of the door, so you are pulling the doors in a straight line from the apex to the stake. If wind is a concern, perhaps a second apex guy that can be placed further out would help stability?
Also, if you know you will want the doors buttoned up, loosen the 2 front corner guys, tighten up the doors, then re-tighten the corners.
Aug 19, 2020 at 8:56 am #3671588Aug 19, 2020 at 9:51 am #3671602Fantastic feedback, y’all. I’m going to take some of each! What a great community!
Aug 19, 2020 at 12:38 pm #3671627actually it looks like the Altaplex solved two things I didn’t like about my Hexamid solo–which I liked a lot overall. first, they got rid of the net floor and integrated the bathtub floor with the tent (is that right?) Second and most importantly, Zpacks lowered the front “beak” as they called it to come down closer to the ground. I imagine you can get the door panels even closer than six inches to the ground, as shown here (?). Great tent!
Aug 19, 2020 at 12:53 pm #3671629Looks good. I suggest trying it on a surface other than grass. Grass gives unfair advantage. Try dirt that won’t accept stakes, etc.
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