Trekking poles A-frame for Trailstar / tarp?

[Pete M]

This is probably a done-to-death topic here but I can’t seem to dig up any old threads on how to do this. I want to be able to make a stable A-frame from my trekking poles for use under a Trailstar or tarp, instead of using a single pole bang in the middle. It would be for creating a more livable interior space when hiking with the missis. Any suggestions? Would there be more or less strain on the poles when compared to the regular central pole set-up? I’m also open to the idea of using an UL dedicated frame set up. Thanks!

[Mole J]

A Trailstar is so wide, I reckon that unless you get it spot on, having an A frame setup is a potentially worse option than a single pole.

I don’t generally have the pole base dead centre, but offset  to frontwards, and sleep across the shelter.   With 2, we sleep end on,  and have the pole between us.

[R]

I’m pretty sure you’d have to get down to 30 degrees above horizontal to double the load on a single pole.  Given that you’ve got two poles much steeper than 30 degrees, you should see a reduced load on each pole compared to a lone vertical pole.

Are you thinking of sleeping inside the a-frame pole arrangement?  You may need to add pole jacks to get both adequate height for the tarp and width for two people to sleep inside. You may want to tie the ground ends of the poles together with a length of cord prevent knocking one out if you roll over in your sleep.

[Pete M]

Hi Mole, hi Rene – thanks for the tips. I’d generally only use this A-frame setup when with my partner. When we use our old tent and the weather’s chilly we zip our sleeping bags together (we have opposite zippers) – something you can’t do in a TS, mid or tarp when there’s a central supporting pole. We’ve also just invested in a double quilt for warmer weather. So yes, we’d want to put our sleep pads inside the A-frame. One of my concerns is that, as you said Mole, the angle of the walls in a TS are not very steep. I’d need to use pole jacks to get the length right and maybe this would mean too much strain on the poles, especially in wind. But you think this wouldnt be a problem Rene? Maybe it’d be OK in a high pitch (increasing the steepness of the wall angle).  It should be easier with a flat tarp as I could fiddle around a bit more.

As I said above, I could try making a dedicated lightweight A-frame just for those times we want to use TS or tarp together. It would mean more weight to carry, which id prefer not to do, but that weight would be shared so it equals out really.  Anyone know what material (and a source) I’d need to be looking at – aluminium? I see Bearpawwd sell a lot of different types of pole segments.<span style=”line-height: 1.8;”> </span>

[bjc]

Almost anything you could want in pole section types and parts.

http://www.eastonpoles.com/index.php

[R]

I’m not following the relevance of the wall slope. The poles don’t have to be flush against the walls. Doing so subjects them to potential bending load in high winds. Applying a side load under compression is when things break.

I think you’ll be fine with pole jacks. Zpacks has them. Again, with out a side load, there’s very little torque at the coupling.

A common max height for adjustable poles is 130cm. If yours do that and you add a 12″ jack (assume 2″ overlap) and pitch your shelter 48″ high, the bottoms of the poles will be 7′ apart (and still above 45d from the ground), which is plenty of room to sleep in.

If you want to convince yourself of the relative load on your poles, set up some bamboo cooking skewers on a bathroom scale and press on various arrangements until they break and note the weight they withstood.

[Pete M]

Thanks Rene, helpful stuff! I have heard that it’s also possible to support a ‘mid by using poles externally – I’m guessing also in an inverted V. More fiddly but possibly workable would be to suspend the TS below a ridgeline that is staked out and held in tension between two poles – as it if between two trees. Would most likely need two people to set it up this way.

[Author]

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