Tensa stands - Trekking Treez and Tensa Solo

[lkmir]

Hello fellow hangers!

From time to time, my backpacking pals - all ground dwellers, unfortunately - plan an adventure that will be treeless for camping (the beach, mainly).

I cannot bear the idea of going to ground. So I've been looking at the Tensa stands.

I would love to hear from anyone who's actually used either/both of the stands:

• What are your thoughts on the setup?
• If you've camped on the beach, what kind(s) of stakes worked best for you?
• What about wind? How does each keep you stable?

Many thanks for your input.

[JollyRoger70]

I have a Tensa Solo, but I’ve not used it on a beach. I’ve mostly camped in grass with it. The orange screws have generally worked well. I have had one pull out of our sandy soil here in southeast NC, fortunately on a test in my back yard rather than while camping; I’ve made a couple of Amsteel dog bones so I can double up the two sets of stakes I bought with it (orange and boom) if I need to use it around here or a similar spot. Generally I’ve had no trouble with wind; it helps that the tree end provides stability (I’ve had terrible luck with a DIY tensahedron in high wind). So overall I like it a lot, though I prefer two trees if I can get them. My advice with sand would be some sort of sandhog stake (the ones with the wide vane on them), and possibly figuring out how to rig two stakes to each strap. Others may have more useful advice for the beach, though.


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[dwighop]

I have struggled with the orange screws in the southeast with moist ground and pulling up. Last trip had to find some ground roots even after doubling the orange screws, they kept pulling out.

[lkmir]

This helps a lot... Thank you.

[lkmir]

Thanks... The sand should at least be dry on the NC beach.

[cougarmeat]

You can see the Solo at work in my "Around Orcas in eight days" trip report.

Unlike the Tensa4, the Solo needs a very secure anchor. You have Orange Screws (two sizes), the Peggy Peg (see tensaoutdoor website), and boomstakes (two sizes), in addition to local features. In the trip report, I mentioned using the picnic table for an anchor at one site - it worked great. But on my last trip (not yet reported), I tried using a picnic table again and it didn't hold. The difference was that the table was on dirt/grass the first time. The second time, it was on beach pebbles (think, "small marbles"), so it slid 4 inches when I just got into the hammock. Even then, I'm pretty sure that it would have worked if I had added an orange screw or boomstake in line with the picnic table.

I like the "split" anchor idea and will make two long dogbones (one for each leg) to accommodate it. The idea is to spread the anchor job on each leg between two devices (two orange screws, one screw, and one boomstake, etc.) separated enough to make their own triangle with the suspension line.

The Solo pole absolutely works and opens up so many possibilities. I am usually camping with tent people and we all know campsites are usually cleared of useful trees. They don't even locate the picnic table so it's between two trees for easy tarp covering. With one Solo pole, I need just one tree and a secure ("good" isn't good enough) anchor. It's especially nice with a bridge hammock like the RidgeRunner because the bridge style usually requires a more demanding tree/support placement.

I can't count how many times, when I've finally found two trees just the right distance apart, nature pulls an "April Fools" by placing another tree, off to the side just in the area to interfere with my tarp guy out. When driving to a campsite, I can let any "tenter" put up their shelter where they'd like. For my Hammock, I can use a Solo at one end and tie off to the kayak rack on the Jeep for the other end.

But - if I haven't mentioned it - you need a secure anchor for that Solo Pole.

[LowTech]

I wrote a whole long reply earlier and then Tapatalk made it disappear.
We've just moved our pole stand hammock camp to the coast for a few days and when I get a moment I'll try rewriting that post.

"Sent w/o me knowing"

[lkmir]

I wrote a whole long reply earlier and then Tapatalk made it disappear.

yes, we looooooove technology
thanks for your input

[lkmir]

You can see the Solo at work in my "Around Orcas in eight days" trip report.

I'm afraid I can't find your report. Do you have a link to it? Thanks...

[lkmir]

hammockSetup.jpg
ok. try not to laugh at this

It's my attempt to illustrate how you'd use a dog bone to attach two stakes to one of the lines coming from the solo stand.

Am I close?