Bivi, Bivvy, Bivvie, Tent, Camping poles?

[lostplanet]

We seem to be having a bit of a communication problem here.

my original question:

"Seem to be a few options with not great feedback.

Looking to put up a basha for some weather protection during the day, where there are no trees, so which poles work for you?

This is something I would like to carry in my pack, so not the ones that weigh 1.6kg or are organic please, meaning no branches or stick twigs etc...."

This means for those who are using bivvy poles, what have you found are any good? because:

webtex extendable bivi pole review on amazon:

"This is not a good product, I am an Officer in the British Army and I, like many of my soldiers have purchased these poles because of no alternative.

Within two days of light use on exercise (in the field) the thumb screw on both poles had cross threaded and become useless. The poles are too thick and the bottom end cap prevents you stowing them down the side of your bergen,

although the poles are robust they have been poorly designed with some serious drawbacks.

I did have an excellent set of poles that were two piece, that merely snapped together (like a tent pole) they were light, strong and had a diameter of around 5mm. Unfortunately my wife lost them.

Come on Web-tex, you can do better than that. Contact me for some ideas (25 years in the Army)."

The highlander, kombat, chinese whatever versions gets much the same opinion.

The Luxe poles suggested are way too expensive.

Go outdoors extendable pole was not in stock to view.

RVOPS use to do one but there are no longer trading.

I should have mentioned "No walking poles" but then i didn't expect to be offered anything but Bivi poles.

 

[TinkyPete]

Most bivi poles extend to about 1.5 m max, walking poles generally go further up to about 1.8 m, camping poles can vary in length but if you use collapsible ones you can use them straight of bend them to various shapes and designs like on normal tents.

I have used all three types for different things and different set ups.

The main factors are:
What size of tarp or shelter sheet you are using?
What is it's weight?
What type of shelter I want to make?
How am i planning on moving?

Yes if walking the easiest to use is walking poles, but if biking either bivi poles or collapsible tent poles are better. car then anything goes or even use the vehicle itself, you can do it the with a push bike or motor bike.

 

[lostplanet]

Now I have realised I may not need too much height to achieve what i am after, these could work for me as i would only need half the kit.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01I9JLJUI/ref=sspa_dk_detail_11?psc=1

 

[Billy-o]

I would like to make myself clear here:

Please read the original post. I Do Not want to use organics in this setup, meaning branches or any sort of stick. I can easily sort this myself and am well aware of whats available.

What i am trying to achieve is a portable lightweight low cost solution that works for me, Think of this setup as a would be sun shade in the middle of a sandy desert no rocks or much else around. Input from memebrs is greatly recieved and appreciated as many minds are better than one but we need to be reading the same book.......

Thanks for your interest and replies so far.

Good grief! Are you sure you want to go about things this way? Try adopting a different tone

Hope you find what you are after.

Some further ideas : buy a three section carbon fibre back country ski pole (or Pacerpole). Wait til the sales. Or look into carbon fibre blank poles from fishing suppliers. Or, find a cheap collapsible selfie stick in a pound store. Or, you could buy a drone. Very flexible

 

[Janne]

Or, if you like to have a very collapsible ( = very short length) you can make your own from Al tubes.
All you need is to find 3 or 4 ( depends on how short you want it to be when collapsed) Al tubes that loosely fit into each other.
Dead simple!

Edit: If you want to make two poles, then double the amount so all tubes it into each other.
This way you only have one short length to transport.
Obviously one pole will be thicker than the other one. Also a positive thing then is that you can make one pole, double length, if you choose to use one longer pole. More options!

 

[The Lord Poncho]

I have a couple of cheap green telescopic highlander basha poles. I've used them for maybe 15 nights, and they seem absolutely fine. Pretty light, and extend a moderate length.

 

[Billy-o]

I have those green poles. Theyre a bit heavy in the ultralight landscape, but I have found them really handy a lot of times.

 

[lostplanet]

I have a couple of cheap green telescopic highlander basha poles. I've used them for maybe 15 nights, and they seem absolutely fine. Pretty light, and extend a moderate length.

Finally, an answer, thanks lord. What would you say is the weak point?
Cheers

 

[lostplanet]

Good grief! Are you sure you want to go about things this way? Try adopting a different tone

Hope you find what you are after.

Some further ideas : buy a three section carbon fibre back country ski pole (or Pacerpole). Wait til the sales. Or look into carbon fibre blank poles from fishing suppliers. Or, find a cheap collapsible selfie stick in a pound store. Or, you could buy a drone. Very flexible

If you care to read the whole thread you will see. You don’t have to post and frankly if you have nothing to contribute other than sarcasm, please look elsewhere.

 

[Billy-o]

I am not being sarcastic.

You have barged on here and asked a, frankly, border-line impaired question about a tent pole and aren't paying any attention to the varied sage advice you are getting. And you shoot back with condescending, high handed and supercilious remarks.

There is a thousand ways of putting up a bivvy .... figure out some of the variations, work the issue out for yourself and if you aren't capable of governing your own manners, perhaps ask your parents to pay for some classes in civility.

 

[Janne]

A polite question: Why no 'biological' poles? "Leave no trace" ethos?
That ethos I applaud. Dead wood decent, suitable sticks are hard to find usually.

You mention daytime protection. Which means sitting? You need to have a decent length pole/poles then. The setup you posted is good for sleeping.

 

[The Lord Poncho]

Finally, an answer, thanks lord. What would you say is the weak point?
Cheers

The only downside that i have found to them thus far is that they don't quite extend as long as would be desirable - say when converting a shelter in the daytime to a lean-to configuration in order to provide a more sociable space prior to hunkering down to a more low profile shelter at night. They don't quite have the length to create a useful height on a lean-to. Its a minor point though. I've found them particularly useful when doing the likes of wild camping on Dartmoor - when there are no trees for many miles around...

 

[The Lord Poncho]

Whilst I think of it, SASS in Lancaster (when they existed) used to flog a basha with a tube and grommets sewn into one or both ends. The idea being that you could slide a supplied flexible fiberglass pole into the sleeve and create a impromptu tunnel tent type affair. It always seemed quite a good idea to me, albeit i have never got round to thus modifying one of my tarps.

 

[Janne]

That sounds like a very, very useful modification.
Are you able to get collapsible rods for that application?

 

[Robson Valley]

Not a cheap fix. I can't find a big store selling fiberglas poles any more.

Most everything is sectional/collapsable 9mm aluminum pole.
About 2m lengths and about $30.00 per stick in
>Mountain Equipment CoOp Canada
>Recreational Equipment International CoOp (Seattle, WA.)

One other place to look will be shops that sell fabric and parts for building kites.
#1 was the kit coming out of France, years ago.

 

[Deleted member 36581]

To be honest I understand the OPs frustration and nearly posted myself to point out that his question wasnt being answered. It's a question I have also had but every thread on the subject ends up derailed without a firm answer. I guess a lot of people either use walking poles or none at all.

I appreciate that there will often be sound environmental or alternative options for rigging and am aware of the options but feedback on poles would be helpful. The replies given were helpful and contained good info but they didn't answer the op's question and he was pretty clear what info he was looking for and what he wasn't. Perhaps his tone wasn't the best but i get the frustration. I can think of a few circumstances where I'd like one or two poles.

In any case MSR do some aluminium poles which may be good. I was bidding on a set on eBay the other day but I got outbid so can't say whether they're any good.

 

[Nomad]

Decathlon have some options...

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/2-quechua-poles-id_8358159.html

Two 4-section poles that clip together, 1.95m each. About 49cm when collapsed, plus male part of ferrule. Could be set up shorter (2 sections per pole, etc), so less to carry. Maybe a bit heavy at 1.3kg for the full set (made of steel). I'd imagine these would easily be rigid enough.


https://www.decathlon.co.uk/aluminium-camping-tent-pole-kit-id_4743808.html

Set of aluminium sections for making a replacement pole for hoop/dome tents (bungee and ends can be omitted for basha poles). Shorter than the above when dismantled (30cm plus male part of ferrule), and light at 340g for 4.2m of pole (note that one bit doesn't have a male ferrule). More choices for overall length due to shorter sections. Won't be as rigid as the steel ones above, but should be stiffer than similar types in fibreglass. Would need to come up with bits to prevent digging into the ground and supporting the tarp that fit the poles well (not much difference in outer diameter and diameter of male ferrule).


They have a few other offerings as well, but mostly sets of poles for specific tents and shelters, and they don't have much info like dimensions and weights. Also, quite a lot are fibreglass, which I would tend to avoid (too bendy).

 

[Janne]

Viglink, my dear Nomad....

 

[Janne]

Found this for you, dear original poster:
https://www.metals4u.co.uk/aluminium/c1/telescopic-tube/c177

You can easily make exactly what you require!

 

[Nomad]

Viglink, my dear Nomad....

I have no idea why it's going to viglink (I get it too). Hovering over the links shows the proper URL in the status bar.

EDIT: Following this and clicking the appropriate buttons gets rid of it...

https://www.viglink.com/opt-out