Another version of the Aluminum Surplus Military Pole Stand

**perchancetodream** · 12-22-2013, 18:13

Ridgepole structural insurance: Gorilla glued 1-5/16" x 6" wood closet pole dowels into ridgepole connectors today, as I'm not entirely confident in the material strength of the green plastic. The ID at the base of the connector is a little wider than at tip, so added a couple glue-saturated fiberglass wraps to the base half of the dowels to snug them up. Then glued connectors back into pole sections. Tested snugging that joint with one fiberglass wrap, but that made it too tight for assembly without major intervention by mallet. Before gluing, I scuff sanded the poles inside, and the connectors inside and out. When I knocked out the connectors (by slide-hammering inside the pole with a section of closet pole), hardly any of the original green glue stuck to the slippery fiberglass pole interior and it flaked right off the connectors with hardly any scraping effort. Mediocre glue, maybe, and slick substrates. This might be one source of the popping and creaking people have experienced with the fiberglass poles.

**Squirrel bait** · 12-26-2013, 21:00

Thanks to all who have added advice to this thread. I ordered my poles today, the wife is going to kill me.

**perchancetodream** · 12-27-2013, 08:42

Snap button installed in fiberglass tripod legs. As recommended by the pioneers, used Grainger Item # 3DPZ8 - Snap Button, A, 0.250D x 0.390 H, Pk10, $7.51. They worked!

Important note, though. My poles came with two types of connectors - a thin wall 1/8" x 1-5/16" ID and a thick wall 1/4" x 1" ID. I sorted out the thin wall connectors to use for the lower tripod legs to get maximum protrusion of the snap buttons. They won't stick out as much with the thick wall connectors, reducing engagement with the pole. I think they'll work, but YMMV.

I drilled the tripod legs as it was set up, using a fender washer as a guide to get uniform distance for each pole. First 7/32" (fender washer ID) through pole and connector. Then pulled out the lower legs and drilled out the connector hole to 17/64". Drilled out the poles to 9/32", figuring that would help compensate for slight differences. Inserted the snap buttons (a cinch) and put the lower legs back onto the tripods randomly. All fit, all snapped in place. A little dressing of the hole in the fiberglass with a small rat tail file to clean up fuzzies helped.

It's good to put the snap button fairly close to the connector stop so the bend doesn't stick out the end. I suppose it would be possible to put the snap button in with the bend first, but harder to manage. They slide right in and easy to maneuver with needlenose pliers. Once snapped into the hole, no worries.

**perchancetodream** · 12-27-2013, 09:18

Ridgepole snap pins installed. I glued wood dowels into the connectors for reinforcement of the ridgepole joints, so internal snap buttons were not an option. Instead, I used external round wire safety snap pins. For convenience, Model # 11618 from Home Depot at $2.90 each: 1/4 in. x 2 in. Zinc-Plated Round Head Wire Lock Pins. Available for a buck less elsewhere.

The two end sections of the ridge pole have 9" of wood dowel glued into their ends as reinforcement for the suspension loads. Their dowel-reinforced connectors fit into the middle pole section which has had its connector knocked out. Total ridgepole length 132". I glued the middle pole section's connector into one of the 17" pole pieces left over from shortening the tripod legs so it could be used to increase ridgepole to 149".

Drilled 1/4" holes 180 degrees apart, 1-1/2 inches from ends of the middle pole, then used those as guides for drilling the end pole connectors in place. No drill press, just the bubble level in the end my portable drill, assembled poles clamped to the bench with guide hole eyeballed at 12 o'clock. Drilled halfway through from each side. I used 1/4" bit to keep things tight for the ridgepole loading. It worked pretty good - sometimes the pin goes all the way through, sometimes it doesn't quite align to the hole on the far side of the pole.

I might drill out the pole holes to 9/32" later to compensate for the slight misalignment, but it's not really necessary for the pin to extend all the way through and out the pole. The double wire retainer on the pin snaps nice and tight around the pole, holding the pin firmly held in place. When the pin does make it all the way through and out, the retaining wire snapped around the end stands off from the pole, which might be handy as a light-duty hang point for gear or tie-offs.

**Tbuck** · 12-27-2013, 10:00

Insane, good stuff by all. Something to think about down the road.

**perchancetodream** · 12-28-2013, 14:13

Added limiter limiters

aka retainer loops.

After testing paracord spread limiter, concluded that the plastic connector stop and snap button are too shallow to keep the cord from sliding up or falling down the pole. Compare to Agfadoc's photo of his aluminum pole stand with the limiter retained by the reinforcement collar at the bottom of the pole and the snap button protruding quite a bit more. https://www.hammockforums.net/forum/...8&postcount=26

Cut six short pieces of bike brake cable, bend them into U shape, and epoxy them into small holes drilled into the lower legs at the connector. These retaining loops will serve as loops to keep the limiter cord from slipping. Also the limiter will sort of corral the lower leg segments when tripods are not assembled, make it less likely one gets left behind. These cable loops don't stick out so much as to be a nuisance (I briefly considered screw eyes).

**perchancetodream** · 12-30-2013, 19:25

I didn't notice when shopping, but the guy I got the poles from on ebay (cajunfisherman) also sells fiberglass poles that have a reinforcement ring at the bottom like the aluminum poles. Only 20 cents more each! Oh well.

**hppyfngy** · 12-31-2013, 16:20

Originally Posted by perchancetodream

I didn't notice when shopping, but the guy I got the poles from on ebay (cajunfisherman) also sells fiberglass poles that have a reinforcement ring at the bottom like the aluminum poles. Only 20 cents more each! Oh well.

I think you have to start over.