Poles Too Long or Too Short - Tarp Stretch

[OnTheMove]

My new 13' WH Silpoly XL with triple pole mod and catenary cuts measures 134" at it's widest point, the centre pole pocket and Line-Loc position. Collapsed the poles measure 16", but extended they're 137.5". Jared cut them and all 3 fit perfectly,...no bend or curvature whatsoever. They're held in place with a clip secured to a small piece of elastic webbing stitched to the ridgeline. Inserting the poles is a breeze! To avoid the possibility of any leaking he's added an additional layer of silicone where the webbing is stitched to the ridgeline seam. Truly a beautiful, 'simply' design product, with ingenuity and made by a very real craftsman.

[MikekiM]

That little extension you made looks to have worked well.. kudos.

I might have done that with a short grosgrain tab with one hole in, and secured that with a loop of 1/8" shock cord through a grosgrain eye sewn to the tarp seam. the shock cord would stretch only as much as needed and if the tarp wets out and stretches, the shock cord would take up the slack. No human intervention needed.

All of my tarps have a length of 1/4" ribbon sewn to or in the ridge seam to secure the pole.

And, as far as the pole length, my total pole length is the same length as the tarp width from pole pocket to pole pocket. Keeping the section lengths the same (accounting for the end fittings) makes for a neater package once the pole is broken downs

[SteveE]

That little extension you made looks to have worked well.. kudos.

I might have done that with a short grosgrain tab with one hole in, and secured that with a loop of 1/8" shock cord through a grosgrain eye sewn to the tarp seam. the shock cord would stretch only as much as needed and if the tarp wets out and stretches, the shock cord would take up the slack. No human intervention needed.

That's a pretty good idea! I've also toyed with using the system that UGQ uses for their internal pole mods and simply angling the end poles inward and attaching them at the center to the D ring on the tarp....And as the tarp stretches just pulling the tension on the cord keeping it taught. I did this with a toggle and shock cord and it worked really well and was easy...just doesn't work for that centre pole

[Heavyhiker]

That's a pretty good idea! I've also toyed with using the system that UGQ uses for their internal pole mods and simply angling the end poles inward and attaching them at the center to the D ring on the tarp....And as the tarp stretches just pulling the tension on the cord keeping it taught. I did this with a toggle and shock cord and it worked really well and was easy...just doesn't work for that centre pole

This is what I did on my Superfly. I use Dutchware stingers so I just attached shock cord to the center of my poles angling inward and attached the other end to the stingers
IMG_0256.JPG

[SteveE]

I may end up just going with this system and skipping the grommets on the tarp ends all-together...I'll leave both on for a bit and see which works best or if I only end up using one method....

[reznix]

This is what I did on my Superfly. I use Dutchware stingers so I just attached shock cord to the center of my poles angling inward and attached the other end to the stingers
IMG_0256.JPG

What length poles are you using on the superfly? I just ordered a center pole for mine and figure if I ever go with end poles it will be on a huge winter tarp setup.

[Heavyhiker]

What length poles are you using on the superfly? I just ordered a center pole for mine and figure if I ever go with end poles it will be on a huge winter tarp setup.

I went with a set of .344 11 ft. poles w/ tips from Dutchware. They are actually on sale right now $25 marked down from $33.06