Hey,a65hoosier, quick question????

[tradarcher]

I saw your post about using the adjustable poles from cabelas for tarps. Do they come with a foot on them or do you stick them in the ground? Also, are there hooks for use of guide wires? Couldn't tell from Cabelas. Thanks.

[a65hoosier]

Re: Hey,a65hoosier, quick question????

I saw your post about using the adjustable poles from cabelas for tarps. Do they come with a foot on them or do you stick them in the ground? Also, are there hooks for use of guide wires? Couldn't tell from Cabelas. Thanks.

Quick question - long answer. Sorry. :he:

The Cabelas steel poles consist of 4 sections. 3 of sections are corded together with steel wire and 1 of them is a separate "bottom" section that has a cam style locking mechanism and a hard plastic foot.

The "adjustability" for height comes from sliding the assembled 3 sections up or down into the bottom section and locking your preferred pole height using the cam lock and lever. NOTE: When I use a 3rd pole (an 8 footer) for one of the wings on the Kelty Noah 12, I can further shorten the advertised minimum height of that pole by not using the bottom section at all. You'll want to make sure you shorten it sufficiently from the main poles to maintain a decent pitch so if you're expecting rain, it runs off properly. I just either use the height of the 3 corded sections alone (just a bit over 6 foot)...or I can reduce the height even further (and maintain proper pitch) by just using 2 of the pole sections (I velcro tie the wire corded 3rd section to the other 2 to keep that section from laying on the ground). I always bring 4 poles car camping. My actual set-up depends on my camping situation (is rain/wind expected? or am I shooting for max shade/headroom?), the layout of the campsite, and/or how far I can run guy lines off the wings. If I don't have much room to run a long line, using a third "shortened" pole on one of the Noah's wings to lift it up slightly really increases the headroom under the tarp (see the picture below). I've also occasionally used all 4 poles-two full 10 footers on the long seam and two modified shortened poles on the wings.

I suppose you could remove that hard plastic/rubber foot on the Cabelas poles and slide the bottom pole section over a nail style stake (the common Coleman 10" kind with the plastic piece removed) that you've pounded into the ground for increased security. But I have never had one of the poles slip on the ground (or lift in high winds) once the weight of the tarp is placed on the pole and the guy lines are tensioned down on the pole tip.

I always make sure the poles are fully dried inside/out before storage since they are steel. A shot of WD-40 and a quick wipe for good preventative maintenance. I have had no problems so far.

There are no "hooks" on the pole sections. Just a tip for putting through a grommet. You could add hooks I guess.

Measurements of the tarp tip on the pole is 1 7/8" long by about a 1/4" wide. They fit in a standard poly tarp grommet and thru the Noah grommets. Cabelas lists the overall length of each pole and how much it can be adjusted from the min to max height (although you can drop the pole height down even further doing what I described above).


Hope some pictures will help illustrate:


Picture of the Kelty using 2 full 10 foot height poles and 1 pole on a wing using only two segments (about 4.5 foot height). You'll notice that due to space, running a long guy line on that particular wing (by our popup trashcan) would cut right across the campsite and end up in front of one of the tents-an obviously clotheslining hazard-and tying that wing tight to the ground would have cut off our space/headroom under the tarp. The wing on the other side is tied out normally and guyed out a distance from the tarp into the grassy area beyond. The height of the guyed out wing is a bit lower than the poled wing.



A picture of the Cabelas pole so you can see the 3 corded segments with pole tip and the one segment with the foot and cam locking mechanism:


Take care. Let me know if you have any more questions, glad to help.

Brian-a65hoosier

[tradarcher]

Re: Hey,a65hoosier, quick question????

Thanks so much. Understood and it answered a lot of my questions. Thanks again.