Cimarron Pole

[tttoadman]

We setup our cimarron for the first time with a Jimmy Tarps porch and 2 of the REI Tarp Poles. Over the first 2 nights, the wind had broken both poles.

The fix:
I returned both of the broken poles. I got the REI 8' pole that is significantly larger diameter. I was able to disassemble this pole and cut the segments down to fit the cimarron in about 1/2 hr. the pole is only $35.

 

[G5Archer]

Nice! Any other pics of your setup? Looks like I might play with that setup with my Cimarron.

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[tttoadman]

We are heading back out in a couple days. I will snap a couple pics of the connections I made. I tied the tarp down to same stakes as the tarp on the sides. It lays the linelocs against the side of the cimarron. I think this time I will tie the tarp out further to avoid that so it won't rub a hole in the TP. It really is nice to have that cover when you open the door to get in. Especially in the nice dry OR elk hunting weather. look for more pics after 11/18.

 

[450]

Do you have any pics of the broke poles? I am using the REI pole with my Luna 6 and it has worked fine. I'm using the 6' but maybe I should upgrade to the 8' and cut it down like you mentioned. How hard was it to shorten and was it still adjustable? Was it the wind or snow load that broke the poles? Thanks

 

[LBFowler]

Interesting feedback! I've played with the REI pole a bit and thought it felt pretty strong, have to rethink it if I ever need one for a project. Any idea of wind speed?

 

[G5Archer]

We are heading back out in a couple days. I will snap a couple pics of the connections I made. I tied the tarp down to same stakes as the tarp on the sides. It lays the linelocs against the side of the cimarron. I think this time I will tie the tarp out further to avoid that so it won't rub a hole in the TP. It really is nice to have that cover when you open the door to get in. Especially in the nice dry OR elk hunting weather. look for more pics after 11/18.

Sweet!... Thanks.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

 

[tttoadman]

Do you have any pics of the broke poles? I am using the REI pole with my Luna 6 and it has worked fine. I'm using the 6' but maybe I should upgrade to the 8' and cut it down like you mentioned. How hard was it to shorten and was it still adjustable? Was it the wind or snow load that broke the poles? Thanks

My brother has a pic somewhere with a pile of tubes wrapped with 550cord. They failed right at the midpoint of the pole which would be expected. Wind only. No snow after we setup. I have to believe we had pretty severe winds because Kevin would never recommend a pole that wouldn't be good most of the time. REI notes that the pole is 6000 series material. I looked for a 7000 series pole in comparable size, but couldn't find anything. Now that I know how to take the pole apart, I can say that a guy could replace the 3 slender sections with a 5/8dia 7000 series material and have a significant improvement. A guy could buy 3 of these 26" .625 poles and put together with the original adjustment section, and likely have a winner. (Buy 2 @ 26" with insert, and one @ 26" without.) The only serious work is at the grommet spike end that is glued in. I cut the end of the tube off with the grommet tip glued in it. You have to grind the tube off of the pressed in fitting. Clean it up a little, and tap it back into the finished pole (after!!) you finish cutting everything to desired lengths.
.625 Diameter 7075-T6 Aluminum Tube — TentPole Technologies

I had to make a move pretty quick, and I had to figure it out on the weekend. I am setting up for another 2 weeks off, and the work is stacked up. What I ended up with is not extremely heavy, and should work forever for us. If I want to get another pole for the end of the tarp porch, I may go with my 7000 series noted above.

LBFowler,
I think we ended up setting up in a weird spot where the wind spiked(swirled) at high speed. You could hear it coming through the trees, and it still startled me a couple times when it hit the tent. We set up in a corner of a small meadow. We already picked a different corner of the meadow to setup in next time. I have not done much spiking at high wind areas, so I can't guess at wind speed.

My hat is off to the Cimarron and the tarp from Jimmy Tarps. With all that force to break the poles, there were no places where the stitching or corner ties showed any signs of failure.