I've been frustrated by the central pole in my Duomid so today I put together an A frame which seems as if it will do the trick.

Alpkit do a 170mm pole (Vertex), so I started with two of those. I took the knobs of the tops of the poles so that the pole would fit into a sleeve. Though I left the internal so the string won't disappear into the pole. Next up I melted a couple of holes in the bottom bung through which I looped some dyneema cord. I had another length of dyneema with some hooks one of them a cam to lengthen the cord to suit. The sleeve is some 22mm (external) plumbing pipe from Wickes.

Additional weight over a single central pole is ~260 grams.

The shelter is noticeably more stable.

That’s a pretty neat idea. I get irritated by the pole in the middle of the Gatewood. Me not being a weight-weenie, the extra weight might be a worth-while penalty.

frogatthefarriers wrote: ↑Fri May 03, 2024 8:28 pm That’s a pretty neat idea. I get irritated by the pole in the middle of the Gatewood. Me not being a weight-weenie, the extra weight might be a worth-while penalty.

I had a gatewood and yes, I agree it would be a worthwhile experiment.

Just found this while looking for MYOG tarp info .. the tarp design I sketched out came from my frustrations with the central poles on the otherwise excellent Gatewood cape and Bearpaw Lair I have. It's a neat trick, might see what I can do with 2 poles I have here. I'm thinking A-framed to each side rather than front-back.