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  1. #1
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    DIY Tensahedron Stand (Video)

    I've been working on a couple of different stands lately after a recent confrontation on a scouting trip (long story).

    I had some 2" galvanized fence rail that I salvaged off of a recent fence project. I had our fab shop weld up the brackets with the eye bolts to lock everything in place.
    I found some lighter guage top rail that I put through it for now and everything seems to work well. I should be getting the splice pieces for the bigger pipe next week. I need to pick up some end caps for hanging the caribiners properly. This thing is HEAVY as hell and will probably only fit in my truck since the legs are 6' long.


    I also made this Tensahedron stand. It's Mike Jones' design that I found on Tensa's website :https://www.tensaoutdoor.com/make-yo...ahedron-stand/
    I like it A LOT better than the turtle stand in that it packs smaller (not that I'm backpacking with it) and it's a lot lighter.

    I used stainless cabling at the tube connections because I don't have any material to make my own continuous loops (not really sure the best way to purchase amsteel)

    When I showed it to my son he didn't believe it would hold so we made a "Maiden Voyage" video. I've thought long a hard about sharing this. There's no fancy Shug editing but it's mildly entertaining. Let me know what you think.

  2. #2
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
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    HA! Hilarious! I have been going through much the same thing lat couple of weeks! I also settled on using steel cable to loosely connect my poles, after wasting time installing rubber grommets, but some of which popped out and I still could not feel good about the metal maybe cutting thru the grommets and cutting the rope, sooner or later. I have used a home made boom stake which has worked perfectly, I can't tell it has moved even 1/4" even after rain.

    I had the additional problem, on the smooth surface of my patio, of the feet tending to skip towards the foot end if my weight got the least too far towards the head end. It would not mouse trap, but instead just gently lower me and the head end poles to the ground. Also, at least once I got out in too big of a hurry and even using a head end a counter weight, mouse trapped. But I finally ran some cordage from the feet past the head and past a door hinge, wrapped around a shoe on the other side of the door. Plus, I ran a slightly loose rope from the head end apex down to those same cords which runs to the door. Perfect! Solid as a rock! No more slippage, and if I do something stupid, I just get a little threat of mouse trap, but it never completely happens. Love it!

    Now it seems like the most solid stand I have used, and I have plenty of room with all of my gathered hammocks. Next project is to get it to work with my bridge and 90º hammocks, trickier!

    Great video, thanks for posting!

  3. #3
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
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    Just curious: are you using 3/4" EMT which telescopes into 1" EMT?

    What kind of clips are you using for adjusting the pole length?

    In the next to last picture, the pole openings look oval rather than circular. Is this just a distortion caused by the camera angle? Or did the poles compress into that shape after using?

    Thanks!

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    Haha, awesome video! Actually, seconded on the "Hilarious".

    It can be a bit scary at first. I tried 550 paracord for my first try for all the connections. Worked great. For about 10 seconds, then it got cut and then there was a hole in my tarp

    If you can't find "Amsteel" specifically, I'm using UHMWPE (what Amsteel is made out of) "kite line" now (at the appropriate strength). So you may be able to find it under either different names or for different purposes, but as long as it's the same underlying material and at the right strength you should be good.

    I do have the same concerns as BillyBob58 about it being cut, but so far it's been holding. I also tried putting in some tubing so that it doesn't contact the edges of the holes, but it just gets pushed in and I can't really get it to hold (tried different glues and also melting it) or if I cut it longer, trying to get it to just bend instead, it still gets pushed in and the other end sticks out waay too far. For now I'm just checking the UHMWPE from time to time, but I gotta figure something out. I haven't been able to find copper tubing in the right size, but that looked really good (I think someone here on the forum had used that on his).

    I have _one_ room in the basement that has no ceiling put in, so I have the foot end connected up to the steel I-Beam, so no concerns there We only car camp, so I made sure to measure the individual parts so that they'd fit in the trunk. I really like that you don't need a truck, just to have a DIY Tensa. I made mine out of 1" and 3/4" EMT in 3 parts. Two equal length 3/4" and a longer 1" diameter middle part but they are all small enough in length to fit in a Subaru Impreza trunk. Is yours bigger diameters or same?

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by BillyBob58 View Post
    Just curious: are you using 3/4" EMT which telescopes into 1" EMT?

    What kind of clips are you using for adjusting the pole length?

    In the next to last picture, the pole openings look oval rather than circular. Is this just a distortion caused by the camera angle? Or did the poles compress into that shape after using?

    Thanks!
    You're right on the EMT Dimensions. I used Round Wire Lock Pins for the clips: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt...7488/204225915. The poles are round. I'm not sure why the look oval. It must be an optical contusion. =)

  6. #6
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by arutha View Post
    Haha, awesome video! Actually, seconded on the "Hilarious".

    It can be a bit scary at first. I tried 550 paracord for my first try for all the connections. Worked great. For about 10 seconds, then it got cut and then there was a hole in my tarp

    If you can't find "Amsteel" specifically, I'm using UHMWPE (what Amsteel is made out of) "kite line" now (at the appropriate strength). So you may be able to find it under either different names or for different purposes, but as long as it's the same underlying material and at the right strength you should be good.

    I do have the same concerns as BillyBob58 about it being cut, but so far it's been holding. I also tried putting in some tubing so that it doesn't contact the edges of the holes, but it just gets pushed in and I can't really get it to hold (tried different glues and also melting it) or if I cut it longer, trying to get it to just bend instead, it still gets pushed in and the other end sticks out waay too far. For now I'm just checking the UHMWPE from time to time, but I gotta figure something out. I haven't been able to find copper tubing in the right size, but that looked really good (I think someone here on the forum had used that on his).

    I have _one_ room in the basement that has no ceiling put in, so I have the foot end connected up to the steel I-Beam, so no concerns there We only car camp, so I made sure to measure the individual parts so that they'd fit in the trunk. I really like that you don't need a truck, just to have a DIY Tensa. I made mine out of 1" and 3/4" EMT in 3 parts. Two equal length 3/4" and a longer 1" diameter middle part but they are all small enough in length to fit in a Subaru Impreza trunk. Is yours bigger diameters or same?
    BTW, Arutha, I don't worry about the cutting of the cord any more because, like the OP, Doowahderek, I have switched to wire rope joined by wire rope clamps. I love it!

    Quote Originally Posted by doowahderek View Post
    You're right on the EMT Dimensions. I used Round Wire Lock Pins for the clips: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt...7488/204225915. The poles are round. I'm not sure why the look oval. It must be an optical contusion. =)
    OK, thanks!

  7. #7
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    Thank you for this I love it! I'm currently working on my own tensa (of the same design) but I am going to be using soft (or) button shackles instead of wire rope. I too am a little nervous about getting into it the first time, but an adventure is an adventure.

  8. #8
    Senior Member BillyBob58's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by DarkJoker View Post
    Thank you for this I love it! I'm currently working on my own tensa (of the same design) but I am going to be using soft (or) button shackles instead of wire rope. I too am a little nervous about getting into it the first time, but an adventure is an adventure.

    You are going to be using soft shackles to go thru the drilled holes in the poles and join the apex of the poles together? That's fine as long as the metal is prevented from cutting the rope. You will need something(grommets, or flared copper tubing, something) to go between the rope and the metal, or the rope might end up cut thru. I initially tried bolts, then rubber grommets. But it didn't take long for some of the rubber grommets to pull out. Plus, I worried that the metal would sooner or later cut thru the grommets and then the rope. So I decided to try wire rope a try, which is worry free regarding being cut by the metal poles.

  9. #9
    all secure in sector 7 Shug's Avatar
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    Well Done~~~~!
    Whoooooo Buddy))))
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    Whooooo Buddy)))) All Secure in Sector Seven

  10. #10
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    Quote Originally Posted by DarkJoker View Post
    Thank you for this I love it! I'm currently working on my own tensa (of the same design) but I am going to be using soft (or) button shackles instead of wire rope. I too am a little nervous about getting into it the first time, but an adventure is an adventure.
    It's definately a mind game. Everytime I look at it I think, "That should not work".

    I appreciate the comments on the stand "walking" and ending up on the ground. I had not thought of that as a possibility! I will probably change the knot out for one that can't slide.

    As far as using wire rope instead of regular rope to connect the ends, I would highly recommend using (2) cable clamps on each wire loop. They're not going to add that much weight and it will help keep the end of the cable from going off in weird angles. Also, make sure you DON'T put the saddle of the cable clamp on the end of the cable. The rule is "Never saddle a dead horse". Here is a description of how to properly use the cable clamps: https://www.e-rigging.com/Wire-Rope-Clips-knowledgebase.

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