Types of Pegs:

600mm pegs - these are used to peg the main poles

450mm pegs - these are used to peg canvas on the grounds or secure straps to the canvas which are the water run off straps

Central Radial Frame - L & R Clips

The central radial frame is what ties everything in the kata tent together

Radial Frame -> it has 9 sections for the 9 main poles - this sits right at the top of the tipi

To hold the poles, there are:

• 9 x L clips - attaches the pole bracket to the radial frame

• 27 x R clips - goes to the hole in the bottom once L clips is placed in order to attach the pole

Note: In the pole bracket-> large bracket section on upper side always***

Laying out Radial Frame

• There are 3points in the radial frame

• For your Initial measure out, measure 5.15m out from each of the 3 points of the Mercedes Radial frame and place stake. Needs to be accurate***

• Orientation important: from one of the points and to initially raise the frame, you have two poles beyond that measure, make sure you have 8m clearance on one of the 3 points

• Also, make sure that your tape measure is in line with one of the points in the radial frame. Otherwise, there will be issues on the spacing, etc.

Invert Radial Frame

• When you setup, the Mercedes sign is pointing to the pin where the poles are gonna lie

• Take the Radial frame off peg and walk back 5.15m to peg.

• Once at peg, rotate Mercedes sign 180 degrees

Lay 4 poles on Ground (from radial frame):

Poles will dictate the position of radial frame. Make sure pole ends are on pegs***

Attaching initial poles onto Radial Frame:

• Once you get the poles in place, you need to clip them in the radial frame

• Doesn't matter if poles little bit out, what matters is the distance

• When attaching the two poles, this is why we invert the Mercedes sign (so the line goes in the middle of the poles)

• Pole 1 & 2 attach poles in small sections (2 gap in between for additional pole later)

• Fat end of pole bracket ontop (L& R clip). Clip into small circle of radial frame

• Check poles are on pegs after R&L clips attached***

• Pole 3 + Pole 4 -> next to each other PUSHING POLES. Need to be adjacent.

• Pushing poles bit closer together (to assist pushing)

Secure 2 poles before Quad Pod lift:

• This prevents poles slipping when lifting

• Use 3 x 600mm pegs/ pole

• Build a little triangle around the pole -> place it about half way in between the hole and the peg -> this builds a little cage around the pole so it wont slip

• If the peg is too far forward, it can turn and can slip out it between so make sure the pegs are in a good spot to secure the pole

Quad Pod lift - How to raise radial frame (& initial 4 poles):

• 3 person lift - one person in each of the 2 pushing poles and one in the middle to raise the main poles up above his shoulder

• Middle person pushes upwards while the other 2 persons push inwards

How to push pushing pole:

• 1 man/ pole

• Get the pole and put your thigh in front -> one hand in the bottom of the pole -> get in a wide stance with pole on the thigh

• The middle man counts to 3, then pushers must give a really good push on the poles to get it up

• ***Be careful when its wet so you wont slip so better have good shoes on

• ***Don't get your back out in a mad weight that's why keep a wide stance 

• ***Make sure there's nothing in your way

How to lift radial frame:

• 1 man in middle facing the 2 pole pushers

• Heavy**

• On count of 3, push upward

• Place poles infront of peg

• Pole pushers stay  2m apart

How to peg Quad Pod:

• Go around all four legs of the quad pod

• Use 600mm pegs

• Only put the pegs in half way to secure them on the ground -> later on, ladders will be put in there and you dont want it slipping out

Aligning the Pushing Poles:

• Line up the pushing poles with the radial line (middle person to direct)

• Place pole in front of and touching peg

• Pushing poles approx 2m apart (ladder needs to rest on them)

• Before getting the ladders out, take the big stakes -> go around all 4 pods -> hammer peg in 1/2 way

How to raise and position ladder:

• Set up the  ladder on the ground first

• Get the end of the ladder pointing in the middle of the pushing poles -> check the bottom of the ladder is in the middle as well

• Rest the ladders on the two poles (the poles in between the ends of the ladder)

• Don't get the ladder too sharp (feeling of falling backwards) of an angle or too less of an angle (too bouncy)

How to layout remaining main poles:

• Once the ladder is up, layout the main poles to lessen the time of the person who is up in the ladder

• Looking up on the radial frame, there are two empty sections, lie the poles in between these sections

How to raise remaining main poles:

• Climber take up ladder:

  • 6 x R clips

  • 5 x L clips

  • Pulley with rope threaded through & carabiner attached

• As soon as climber gets up to radial frame: clip on***

• Ground person 1: pull rope

• Ground person 2: manoeuvre fat end of pole

• Commands:

  • Climber - Ground person 1: "OK"

  • Climber - Ground person 2: "PUSH"

  • Climber - Ground person 2: "GROUND"

  • Climber - Ground person 2: "SECURE + NEXT"

How to push pushing pole into position:

• When pushing up, feel it against the bracket

• Make sure while you're grounding it, push it forwards and hold it into the bracket so when its grounded, its still secure -> must be nice and tight

• Sometimes, there's a little bit of slippage so L clips cant get in -> in case, just get underneath the pole and give a little shift up there to allow the person to get the L clip in

Raising Main Poles - EXECUTION

• Climber clip into radial frame (usually in the middle section)

• Secure the rope 

• Send carabiner down and girth hitch pole skinny end of the bracket with sling

• One person on the rope and one person on the end -> raise it up and try not to hit the ladder'

• Once up, remove the carabiner -> start pushing up the pole very gently 

• Person on top must get a good underhand grip of the pole itself -> raise the pole while someone pushes in the ground 

• Ground the pole and inform the person on top once pole is grounded

• Get the L clip on the top, lock in the R clip

• Repeat the same process

Laying out Cross Poles:

• All 9 main poles are raised by this time

• Cross poles join all the main poles together by attaching a horizontal line around all main poles

• Each cross pole has an L bracket on both ends, these L brackets go into the brackets of the poles and this holds the structure together

• First step is to place on ground 1 cross pole into each of the gaps

How to install cross poles:

• 3 person job:

  • 2 on ladder inserting L bracket into main poles & securiung with R clip

    • person on the side of the already secured pole will secure that side of the pole first

  • ground person:

    • lift cross pole to ladder persons

    • maneuver main poles to enable cross poles to fit

Cross Poles - positioning r-clip:

• The straight edge is against the pole and the curvy edge is facing inwards

• The ground person might help in twisting the pole a little bit so the main pole doesnt interfere in placing the R cloip through the hole

Cross Poles - mounting execution:

• Two guys in the ladder -> guy on the ground passes the cross pole

• The guy on the side of the secured pole will secure that part of the pole first -> put the R clip first -> then follow the same step for the next poles

Cross Pole - troubleshooting final pole:

• Usually when  you get to the last cross pole, the gap is a little bit wider because either 1) there's a slight change on the way the poles are set or 2) the  grounds unlevel

• So, close the gap to get the  last cross pole on

• Get people into either 2 or 3 poles > get underneath the pole using your hand, supporting the pole then push the pole up and inwards

• If 3 people will do that, it will close the gap so you can now put the final cross pole in

Pegging down main poles:

• Use 600mm pegs

• Go through each main pole and place peg in each hole

• Before pegging, take weight of pole underneath, lift it up in the air and let it fall in natural position

• Sometimes, the main pole can get a little bit twisted and the hole might be pointing outwards a bit, in such case, stake peg as vertical as possible

• When hammering pegs in ensure 10mm gap between underside of metal spike and top of main pole (helps with crow bar peg removal)

Raising Sides (Poles) - Intro:

• By this time, the main poles are on, the cross poles are secure, and the main poles are pegged to the ground

• If you want to make the tipi with all sides down, you leave it as is and put the canvas on but if you want to raise the canvas up, having the sides open, then we have to attach the raising poles on first before putting the canvas on

• Place a raising pole on ground at end of each main pole so the canvas can be raised all the way round (you can have the option which sides you want to be open)

• Pin always faces up to sky

• Make sure all 9 raising poles are on same side as each main pole

Raising Poles: Band Pins

• To attach the poles, start using the hardware with different sizes. All 3 sizes are used to raise up the canvas

• Hardware Band pins - 3 sizes:

  • Small

  • Medium

  • 9 x Large: long straps (600mm)

• Use the large pin first then feed the 60mm strap into it. Make sure the button on the black end is pointing upwards. This will be the band pin.