: Actually, the point would simply be weight. My buddy needs to carry
: this on a plane and every trip he's "packed to the
: gills" trying to get his retirement home set up. Sorry
: about the really long response time. Thanks for the feedback,
: Bill. I think the designs, with some "snap in" points
: at the station would be up to holding the point loading. The
: reason tent poles bend funny is they don't have any "hard
: points" to push against so they just stretch tent fabric
: out of place. I may be wrong. I'm thinking I'll buy some to test
: it all out. A sub 25 pound folder would be pretty damn cool, I
: think.
While tent poles support the tent, the tent fabric also supports the poles, preventing them from bending excessively and crimping. You won't get that same level of support from a folding kayak skin and the frames will create hard points that will stress the poles. To equal the strength of larger diameter tubes, you'd have to use so many extra tent poles that you probably won't save much weight and you'll add a lot of complexity. Additionally, tent poles tend to crimp and crack when they bend, making them essentially useless afterward. The tubing that Tom recommends for his folders is much less prone to bending, crimping and cracking.