Tent pole packed length?

[cornfedkiller]

How big of a deal is your tent pole length when packed? Obviously you want them to fit in your pack, but do you place your poles upright or lay them across the bottom?

How long are the poles on your tent? Have you had poles that were too long for your liking?

Durston offers the x-dome 1p with two different pole lengths (18" and 13"), and he has mentioned there will be two sets for the x-dome 2p when its released - wondering if the shorter pole set is worth the extra money (the weight difference is negligible).

 

[MT_Wyatt]

I don't think it is a big deal for backpack hunting if < 24" or so. I always pack poles separately and in a side/long pocket on my pack. With a carbon set, I would recommend trying to pack them where a fall, or throwing your pack down will not result in a pole fracture or something - a little padding there makes sense.

 

[TaperPin]

How big of a deal is your tent pole length when packed? Obviously you want them to fit in your pack, but do you place your poles upright or lay them across the bottom?

How long are the poles on your tent? Have you had poles that were too long for your liking?

Durston offers the x-dome 1p with two different pole lengths (18" and 13"), and he has mentioned there will be two sets for the x-dome 2p when its released - wondering if the shorter pole set is worth the extra money (the weight difference is negligible).

Good question. I’ve have long poles with a long stuff sack for the tent that was strapped to the outside of the pack vertically and transitioned into a tent with short poles and a shorter stuff sack and it took some head scratching to find a good way to strap it down. In the end I ditched the short factory stuff sack to a longer medium length that worked well being horizontal on top of the pack so the short poles didn’t really help, but they didn’t hurt either. If you have a monster bag on the pack and the tent is going inside you’ll probably like shorter poles since it allows more flexibility in where it will fit.