Scarp 1 and 2. 4 season pole tensioners and clip mods.

For those poor souls, myself included, who have had one or more sleepless nights in the Scarp when the excess material from the pole tensioners are slapping on the taught tent flysheet and sounding like a mass drum orchestra.

Also the Glove `Clip is not ideal for this installation because when the clip is located over the pole, the locking tang just gets pushed to the back of the clip. On 5 of my 9 clips the tang doesn’t spring back and lock.
They are are also quite hard to remove from the pole when packing up the tent. Especially in the cold, snowy and windy conditions that we have here at the moment or when wearing a glove.

So you could say "well why not just cut off the excess". Too easy i’m afraid.
The excess is required to create the tension on the pole. Also the length needed can be a variable.

I was thinking of completely changing the design and just going for Bungie cord loops or Bungie cord with clips already attached. But one of the things i didn’t want to do was modify the actual tent structure and ruin the integrity itself, where i might have to start sewing new ribbon ties in.

I also didn’t want to increase the weight and i din’t want to spend quite a few quid doing the changes or spending loads of time.
It also had to allow for a quick and easy removal of the complete tensioner when the 4 season poles are not needed.

All in all my solution covers all these points.

 The photo at the bottom is a little clearer. First of all you can see that i have removed the tang from the Glove Clip. The pole is now a slight interference fit through the gap.
Coming down the ribbon you see the double folded and sewn end of the excess ribbon and then below that is a piece of elastic ribbon holding the tensioner ribbon and excess length.

It’s easy to make.
Take a length of elastic ribbon, i have used 1/2" wide ribbon but i suggest using 1" wide to anyone slightly interested in this post and doing it themselves.
Cut the length of the elastic ribbon to exactly twice the width of the tensioner. Don’t make it too long or it will fall down the tensioner with gravity. It must grip the tensioner.

Sew the two ends together and then turn the band inside out so that the seam is inside.
Locate the band over the head of the clip and then push the excess tensioner through the loop and voila Bobs your uncle as the saying goes.

The tensioner cannot fall back through the band due to the folded and stitched end of the ribbon.
I think it looks quite an unobtrusive and simple modification.

While i am posting this mod. I have also added 1mm Dyneema cord to all the zip tabs as per photo below.

I hope Henry at Tarptent will integrate these mods or similar into the next upgrade.