External inverted V poles idea?

[CamoDeafie]

I am progressing on a floorless shelter/blind design; it would be roughly 4 ft 8 inches wide, 7 ft 10 inches long, with a peak of approximately 4 ft height, give or take a few inches... asymmetric pyramid design, using 5 yards of 1.9oz, Poly Urethane/Silicon coated waterproof ripstop Nylon in A-Tacs FG; the tent cut plan is somewhat similar to the tarp layout plan below, except where the 2 right triangles are on the sides, they are cut out, and the doors are made from these triangles



Anyways, due to where the peak is, I am not willing to use a single, internal pole... so I've been trying to figure out.. what would you guys recommend for an external pole layout that can be packed down and fit into or lashed to say, an ALICE ruck? I'm thinking sectional poles, but the only blanks locally are for hoop tents? No floors here to retain the tension.
Army pup tent poles have that weird ferrule/socket thing that I've been unable to find separately and I'm not quite desperate enough to get a bunch of them and cut them apart Bamboo may be an option.... if I can find a way to have them be sectional.... the backpacking tarp poles are either too brightly colored, expensive, or not really able to accommodate being lashed/hinged at the top.. due to either the materials, or the slickness (no good grip for cordage).
if backpackability was not a requirement, it would have been simple to do 2 solid pieces with a hinge....but that is like really stupidly bulky and relatively heavy for a nylon shelter

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[cigars]

Find used tents on craigslist or at the goodwill and scavenge the poles from them. They may be too long but it's not hard to shorten the length to your needs. If you need them to meet at a joint, you could always make one from 1/2" pvc pipe and connectors.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Find used tents on craigslist or at the goodwill and scavenge the poles from them. They may be too long but it's not hard to shorten the length to your needs. If you need them to meet at a joint, you could always make one from 1/2" pvc pipe and connectors.

My requirements are that they NOT be bendy this elimimates practically all the dome tents and cheap tents from Wenzel, Coleman, Academy Sports... and leaves me with a few options... which are usually far smaller tents like the Stansports A frame tents (3 ft total heights), or the Army Pup tents, or poles that are meant for heavy canvas cabin tents/wall tents. I have a bunch of steel tent poles from an old canvas cabin tent with which I can use temporarily to figure the exact lengths needed, but each section is between 24 and 30 inches, far too long for a backpack setup. Sorry if it sounds like I'm being negative, its frustrating trying to find something that fits my needs and are commonly available. I'm avoiding PVC due to the relative bulkiness, bendiness, and risk of damage from weather.

 

[cigars]

I see your point about the fiberglass tent poles. The army shelter half poles sound like a good idea. They're not all that heavy either. Have you looked through grainger.com? They have a vast selection of materials.

 

[NW Backpacker]

One possibility:
Bar, Flats, Tubes & Rods - Metal Sheets & Rods - The Home Depot

Another option:
https://www.amazon.com/Green-Elepha...&qid=1552282362&s=gateway&sr=8-10-spons&psc=1

Another one:
Old aluminum cross country ski poles.

One more:
Eureka Timberline tents were made in 2, 4, and 6 man sizes. They had some straight aluminum poles. Try to find a cheap one on Craigslist, etc:
https://www.amazon.com/Eureka-Timbe...e&qid=1552282894&s=gateway&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1

Columbo here, just one more - find an old one of these or buy a new one and use it for a blind.
Black Diamond Megamid with pole (free ground shipping) :: Tepee-style shelters :: Shelters :: Moontrail

 

[CamoDeafie]

Hrm. None of these will work except maybe the old eureka tent parts... i did see an old North Face A frame tent with inverted V poles on Craigslist for $150 but the poles it uses are kinda giving me some ideas... unfortunately its looking like I have to go either thr Army pole method, and rig up something.. or find another Stansports Scout A frame tent with the aluminum 1 ft section poles and combine with what I have.. really would prefer to keep collapsed/sectional length to about 12 inches to 17 inches, and a max length of 60 inches... and I want to avoid getting the collapsible trekking poles as these have features unneeded.. I mean here's my vision for this shelter.. set it up, and not need an extra pair of trekking poles just for the shelter

 

[CamoDeafie]

Hrm. I think I found exactly what I need.
Theres an ebay seller with 5 sets of these...
Adapter Zeltstangen ,US Military Mountain Tent, Half Tent ,US Military Pup Tent

I don't need 5 sets though.. but may people here be interested in at least 4 of them for their tarp/pup tents? It seems to be exactly what I need, and I can get the rest of the poles from the surplus shops.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Poles grow on trees.

 

[CamoDeafie]

temporary used my aluminum adjustable poles with the boyscout lashing (shear/figure 8 pole lashing). I think I have the solution, get the army V things and then get a bunch of army pup tent poles.....

 

[thorborg]

Have you tried the army surplus in Boring Oregon? Worth the poke around I thought. Like any sort of place though, inventory is in flux.

In my good old days' we just found our poles, bedding, and camp accessories from wherever we made camp.
Heck, not even the Indians packed poles.
But now,

 

[CamoDeafie]

Have you tried the army surplus in Boring Oregon? Worth the poke around I thought. Like any sort of place though, inventory is in flux.

In my good old days' we just found our poles, bedding, and camp accessories from wherever we made camp.
Heck, not even the Indians packed poles.
But now,

Thats a bit of a long drive, although the last time I was there.. they were out of the larger pole pieces, had just the pup tent pieces left and I don't recall seeing the V things... I can email them and ask though. But 5 sets (10 V pieces) for under $20 shipped? Good deal, just a bit much, as I don't need that many Although I could probably sell the 4 other sets and keep the 1 set for myself... would people here be interested in these for their pup tents and tarp shelters? Would give them the ability to have space inside that doesn't have poles in the way

 

[Martini_Up]

Poles grow on trees.

Trees plus light weight tarp equals wigwam!

 

[CamoDeafie]

These are the sets I have now. Now I just need to find a set of GI pup tent poles... cheaply, or trade for them. I only need the two Vs shown here, the rest are up for sale down in the Classifieds

 

[Defense Minister]

Getting a 3M x 3M tarp might make your tent project quicker and easier, but you will still need to resolve the pole issue as the tarp pitch I did (shown below) utilized an interior support pole which you are trying to avoid.

 

[CamoDeafie]

Getting a 3M x 3M tarp might make your tent project quicker and easier, but you will still need to resolve the pole issue as the tarp pitch I did (shown below) utilized an interior support pole which you are trying to avoid.

View attachment 561076 View attachment 561077 View attachment 561078

Observation/blind/low-vis shelter that I made.
My shelter I made thats currently using too long aluminum poles lashed together for pics.. am on the look out for cheap/affordable USGI pup tent poles... it does pack smaller than a 10ft by 10ft BCUSA tarp.

 

[ferret427]

I used to road trip and camp via motorcycle. Space was at a premium. I never had a dresser type bike. A set of cheap after market bags and that was it. Camping required planning. After all, the bags were to hold ice, food and beer....
I used to use a surplus body bag for my 'tent'. It had six heavy duty loops in the corners and the middle. I would find a spot and string it up. Made a great hammock. And for sleep, just put my bag in and zipped up in it.
Anyone else ever do this? The loops were to double for us as stretcher poles, and could be set up cot style instead of hammock.