Often, Gin Poles (aka monopods) are considered pretty unstable. I mean,… really? However, when considering the entirety of how “guying” a monopod works, the stability moves up in scale considerably. Gin Poles have begun to get a lot of attention as of late and this will continue to happen in the coming months and years, both positive and negative. Anything worth value will always have naysayers, as well as over-zealous proponents. And like every good example of resultants and force vectors, the proof and direction will be easily seen… Dang! I like that example! Anyway….
Four Things To Consider
- A great rule of thumb for spacing tensioned back-ties is 60-90 degrees.
- Always secure the legs from skidding out backwards.
- Make oppositional front-ties and normal way of life.
- Always “error” forward in order to maintain tension on the back-ties (the resultant will settle in in front of the fee).
One Thing To Understand
Guying a monopod/Gin Pole is never about applying equal tension to all legs. A full understanding of the direction of forces (both compression and tension) are crucial.
We’ll talk more about this soon, but for now…. here is a quick clip of a system using two monopods in one system. See how many examples of these 5 Thing To Remember you can find.
Cheers, Lance
