IdahoSmitty
FNG
I recently have purchased a Luxe Hexpeak XL and the Octopeak tipi tent and found a way to utilize a pair of crutches that I found at the goodwill for $6 bucks. This took me approx. 30min to accomplish and I feel that it is sturdy and will work well even though I have not field tested this yet. If you have any ideas on how to improve the project, I'm open to suggestions. Hope this helps someone who was in the same boat as me!
So first off, here is the initial crutch ( I gave the other half to a friend to modify)
I started off by drilling out the rivets and breaking the crutch down and got to this point:
As you can see, you end up with 3 pieces. (this gives me 3 chances to screw up) The two thinner sections can be as small as 18" retracted and as long as 29" expanded. The thicker section is a touch smaller when contracted and 30" when expanded. It also has the nice rubber stopper on the bottom.
I threw away all pieces except for the 3 expandable sections.
My next step was to take off the terminal end of my trekking pole and on my poles, this came off with a firm twist.
I then just inserted crutch pole over the trekking pole. The crutch pole stopped after 7.5" and provided some rigidity and structure. I secured the crutch to the trekking pole with a harbor freight hose clamp with the manual tightener.
So combining the two (trekking pole and crutch) I was able to get a sturdy 75" pole (6'3")
The thinner pole weights in at 5 oz and the thicker pole .......
I did not end up using the the thicker pole and have a backup trekking pole extender. I still need to add a rubber stopper/foot to the thinner pole to protect the top of the tent. I also did not worry or get into diameter of the poles as we all have different trekking poles and I'm sure that there are different brands of crutches that have various sizes. It may take you walking into the 2nd hand store with you trekking pole!!
So first off, here is the initial crutch ( I gave the other half to a friend to modify)
I started off by drilling out the rivets and breaking the crutch down and got to this point:
As you can see, you end up with 3 pieces. (this gives me 3 chances to screw up) The two thinner sections can be as small as 18" retracted and as long as 29" expanded. The thicker section is a touch smaller when contracted and 30" when expanded. It also has the nice rubber stopper on the bottom. I threw away all pieces except for the 3 expandable sections.
My next step was to take off the terminal end of my trekking pole and on my poles, this came off with a firm twist.
I then just inserted crutch pole over the trekking pole. The crutch pole stopped after 7.5" and provided some rigidity and structure. I secured the crutch to the trekking pole with a harbor freight hose clamp with the manual tightener.
So combining the two (trekking pole and crutch) I was able to get a sturdy 75" pole (6'3")
The thinner pole weights in at 5 oz and the thicker pole .......
I did not end up using the the thicker pole and have a backup trekking pole extender. I still need to add a rubber stopper/foot to the thinner pole to protect the top of the tent. I also did not worry or get into diameter of the poles as we all have different trekking poles and I'm sure that there are different brands of crutches that have various sizes. It may take you walking into the 2nd hand store with you trekking pole!!
