Thanks, cmc4free! Having both end and center mods, do you prefer on over the other?
Thanks, cmc4free! Having both end and center mods, do you prefer on over the other?
I prefer the end mods, but they come at a weight, bulk, and cost penalty. The end poles are significantly longer, and of course there's 2 of them. The end poles also cost more than twice as much as the center pole.
With the center pole, and no guyline tie-out there, you tend to get that raised area in the middle (as seen in my photo), where the pole is pulling the tarp upward and there's no guyline to counter it. That raised area in the middle sort of goes against the intent of a winter tarp, if you're actually using it in the winter.
The end poles also allow you to have a "floating porch mode" on one side, without the use of trekking poles to hold up the tarp corners. Just loosen the guylines on one side and the end poles will "raise the roof" on the porch.
For car camping in any season, the end poles would be a no-brainer for me. For backpacking, especially in non-wintery conditions, I'd probably use the center pole.
For a bridge hammock, I'd contact Paul or Missy at UGQ and ask whether they think the internal end poles or the external poles would be a better choice.
I recently acquired a 12' WD with end pole mods. The first 'in the wild' use came this last weekend at the Okla. Rendezous hang. Storms and high winds were expected friday nite so I set up low in storm mode. As it turned out we only got @ a dozen drops on a brick but we did get high winds- guessing 40- 50 mph. You could hear it coming like a freight train through the woods and with the end pole mods there was no tarp to hammock contact nor any annoying tarp slap from loose material. Very impressed and plenty of dry usable room had it rained.
I recently got a 13 ft WD with end pole mod, because I intend to use it with a RidgeRunner. I’m definitely preferring the internal poles to the external pole mod I used with the WB SF. It spreads the tension more evenly over the fabric and provides plenty of room as the many pictures prove.
I would suggest the Center pole mod for GE hammocks to save weight, although obviously there is nothing wrong with GE hammocks and end pole mod.
Bookmarks