Tensa Outdoor and the commercial packable tensahedron stand

[brutalguyracing]

Just set it up at a campsite I usually wouldn't be able too
And going topless tonight
And will try my tarp extensions for the first time for tomorrow night's expected rain
Woot

For anyone wondering
I find that these measurements work best for.me
I am 6' +280lbs and use 11' Dutch with continuous loops
Ridgeline 134"
Baseline 78"
Head end height 48"
Foot end height 66"
Gives me about a 21"+ seat height
I use just the continuous loop over a pole on head end
And a carabineer and an extra continuous loop, looped over foot end pole
I dont use a head end teacher because I like to live dangerous
More pics to come tomorrow with he tarps in use

And tips advise or criticism is welcomed and appreciated KIMG1293.jpegKIMG1292.jpegKIMG1295.jpeg

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[cmc4free]

[KiwiMark]

Looks good! Looking at your setup though, I noticed something. It is my understanding that the tethers should not be tightened to prevent excessive loading on the poles when you are in the hammock. You may just have done this for this setup, but I thought I would point it out.

I'm sure Latherdome can explain it better than me, or correct me if my understanding is incorrect in any way - but here goes:
It's less about how tight the tethers are and more about allowing the stand to be at the natural angle it would go to if the head tether was loose. As long as it is held at close to the correct angle the forces will be mostly along the poles rather than lateral forces which could bow them. In my set up I've set the ridge line to around the correct length to put the poles very close to their natural angle. The tethers are tightened to get a tight pitch on the tarp.

[Latherdome]

I'm sure Latherdome can explain it better than me, or correct me if my understanding is incorrect in any way - but here goes:
It's less about how tight the tethers are and more about allowing the stand to be at the natural angle it would go to if the head tether was loose. As long as it is held at close to the correct angle the forces will be mostly along the poles rather than lateral forces which could bow them. In my set up I've set the ridge line to around the correct length to put the poles very close to their natural angle. The tethers are tightened to get a tight pitch on the tarp.

Reality is, as long as the lines are attached only at the ends of the poles, it doesn’t matter which way they are pulling: all force gets transmitted axially, without bending moment. The tarp extensions, by having those adjustment cords attach lower down, do transmit some bending moment, but they don’t have much leverage, only several inches typically. If you tighten the head tether beyond where the poles would come to rest naturally, that is additional load on the poles, same as if a heavier user were in hammock.

[Latherdome]

And tips advise or criticism is welcomed and appreciated

There’s no arguing with what works. That said, I’m a little surprised you get away with that little hammock suspension. Looks like your stand ridgeline is tighter than hammock ridgeline? Does it stay taut when you get in? Any head/pole interference? Not that it’s “better” but I’m curious if it works as well for you if you remove stand ridgeline, add a little suspension on the head side, decrease the tilt a bit, and narrow the base a bit. That would be closer to the way I tend to set it up, and that’s increasingly finding way into prescriptive advice.

With that big a head counterweight, hardly any point to tether head end!

[OCDave]

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I dont use a head end teacher because I like to live dangerous
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I think I understood that the head tether was necessary with tarp extentions. Is there any reason for the head tether other than protecting me from my own hammock exit error?

[Latherdome]

I think I understood that the head tether was necessary with tarp extentions. Is there any reason for the head tether other than protecting me from my own hammock exit error?

I find that the tarp corner guys are functionally redundant with the head tether. If you have the hammock suspension and stand tilt adjusted properly, the head apex position shouldn’t have to depend on high tension guying to keep reasonably stable. Tarp guys enough IME.

But yeah, with no head tether, no counterweight, AND clumsiness you could probably rip out light tarp stakes and taco.


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[brutalguyracing]

There’s no arguing with what works. That said, I’m a little surprised you get away with that little hammock suspension. Looks like your stand ridgeline is tighter than hammock ridgeline? Does it stay taut when you get in? Any head/pole interference? Not that it’s “better” but I’m curious if it works as well for you if you remove stand ridgeline, add a little suspension on the head side, decrease the tilt a bit, and narrow the base a bit. That would be closer to the way I tend to set it up, and that’s increasingly finding way into prescriptive advice.

With that big a head counterweight, hardly any point to tether head end!

Stand and hammock Ridgelines are nice and taught together
If I remove the stand Ridgeline I will fall to ground.
How would one do that as the Ridgeline holds the pole end together??
If I narrow the base any more then this my head touches the poles.
I was at 80" to begin with and narrowed it down
I am unsure what you mean when you say to try and reduce the tilt?
I have the head end 18" lower then the foot end...
And if I add more suspension then I am.too.low for.my liking


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[Latherdome]

Stand and hammock Ridgelines are nice and taught together
If I remove the stand Ridgeline I will fall to ground.
How would one do that as the Ridgeline holds the pole end together??
If I narrow the base any more then this my head touches the poles.
I was at 80" to begin with and narrowed it down
I am unsure what you mean when you say to try and reduce the tilt?
I have the head end 18" lower then the foot end...
And if I add more suspension then I am.too.low for.my liking

Ah, you have the original ridgeline style that’s integral to the connector. Never mind. As long as hammock ridgeline reasonably taut, good.

If you add head-end suspension and/or lessen the tilt (shorten foot guy a bit) this should improve head clearance allowing you to narrow the baseline to regain the height you lost with additional head suspension.

I say again your way is perfectly fine if it works for you. These are not tips for improvement, but just notes how your setup deviates a bit from what we usually prescribe. We want to know if what we prescribe *doesn’t* work for anybody.

For example, latest documentation suggests 6’ base width. We definitely want to know if that doesn’t work. We figured it might be too short for some very tall people, but you’re not. We even thought of a streamlined setup where the baseline would be locked at 6’.


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[brutalguyracing]

So if I lessen the angle (shorten the foot end) I would be closer to 12" or less differential
I was trying to stay in between the 12"-24" range
I will try that out in the am
Thanks for the feedback back
I am excited to try out the tarp poles for the first time tomorrow
Then my first rain storm in the stand
Woot
Love this thing

I had a few drink today
And I tried to eliminate the ridge line before I even read your post and found out that would not work

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