Tarp poles

[Canardly]

As I carry a cheap lightweight 4 x 3m tarp in the car at all times and I am using the car to attend the York rally, I am purchasing a couple of segmented tarp poles for a look see at the world of camping tarps. This primarily, so as to be able to sit outside the tent in any rain. (When marquees are not rolling across the racecourse that is) I have no idea which type of pole is considered better than others, unless walking sticks are being used.

[Kim]

On the recommendation of a couple of Lightweight Campers I bought an MSR 5' adjustable one (which is now borderline unobtanium due to stock issues).  It's an excellent pole, but I found it wouldn't comfortably fit in a Ortlieb Back Roller, so shortened each section by about 50mm to bring it down to the same folded length as my Hilleberg tent poles.  (The overall height is still sufficient to sit and cook under.)

If it's just for car use, you should be able to get perfectly good steel poles for a fraction of the price.  This sort of thing: https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/set-of-2-camping-poles/_/R-p-123628

[nikki]

Eight(!) years on, I'm still getting on really well with my Luxe adjustable tarp pole 163X: https://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/shelter-accessories/WA135.html

[Canardly]

The poles arrived today and seem ok on the face of it. No doubt a few windy sessions will tell either way. No pegs or line supplied but I have some Alpkit specials somewhere together with some extra lines. I now need some lightweight and small caribeeners. I have retrieved my old book of knots from  a dark recess. Given decent weather I would be quite happy to sleep outside. That reference from Nikki to the downpour at Rutland being in 2016 is quite scary as it feels as if it was a week last saturday.

[Polar Bear]

Which poles did you go for?

[Canardly]

These Unigear ones.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B085W2WZG6?pd_rd_i=B085W2PGTP&pf_rd_p=c5629250-1e5d-4c40-820a-5b1f8689d08d&pf_rd_r=6H6NP5NC4WF4XTQK1DX7&pd_rd_wg=fzUge&pd_rd_w=p9CwT&pd_rd_r=d7bfcae5-6ae3-4e79-b968-50b73e34d9e3&th=1

It does seem possible that at least one of them could be packed into a pannier.

[ElyDave]

Last time I camped with car and tarp I had a pair of willow poles.

[chopstick]

I bought a DD Hammocks Adjustable tarp pole for single or second pole use.  The adjustable bit is by virtue of a screw through the outer tube to press into the inner tube - works well for adjustment but it's easy to chew the inner pole up a bit and damage it.  I'm ashamed to say that I haven't made much use of the tarp at all but if I did, I would probably be using it in a 2-pole ridge tent style configuration and wouldn't need an adjustable pole, just one the "right" length.

I recently bought a trekking pole tent (Lanshan 2) and have ordered a couple of poles from AliExpress (which I reckon I will have to cut down a bit to get them to my preferred length), together with end caps that will allow inner tarp use as well as giving holes for guy ropes or, when used at the base, skewer pegs to stop the pole moving.

The tent arrived too late for my last trip but I've had it up in the garden and I am most impressed with it - half the weight and pack size of my other tent (Vango Mirage Pro 200) but a completely different style.

[Kim]

I found my bike on its stand works well for forming a ridge in the tarp with the pedals and top of the seat at slightly-above-tent-height.  A single pole is then sufficient to project it outwards to form a sheltered cooking area.  As an added bonus, all the important bits of the bike stay dry, so I wouldn't need the seat or handlebar^[1] covers.

I found that a toe-strap is convenient for securing the tarp to the bike's rear rack at the end of the 'ridge' but that it loosens in windy conditions.  I think I'll molish a short guy line with a caribeaner or something for the purpose.


_{[1] I've discovered that gear and brake cable maintenance is greatly reduced by sticking a bag over the USS controls when parking the bike outdoors in wet weather, so the water doesn't run down the cables and pool at the bottom of the loop.}