I just completed my 11 foot pyramid tent (full post coming after I get back from Denali and the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska in mid-August). I installed a vent near the apex (a la MLD Supermid) and needed some sort of batten to hold the vent open. It had to be fairly stiff, pliable, light and on the soft side, about 14" long, and it had to deploy in a semi-circle. I considered metal, plastic, fiberglass, etc.

Finally a friend suggested using 1/4" poly tubing, the milky-white kind (not the really soft clear stuff). It worked perfectly, it is available in most hardware stores, and it costs next to nothing. I have no idea what MLD uses.

I will post pictures when I show off my new tent after returning from Alaska.

another option i have used is cord from the weed-eater (thanx Roger C for that idea) just like your tubing it can be stuffed and it pops out once unstuffed.

-Tim

I used plastic (as opposed to plastic coated steel) 'boning'. This stuff is normally used in dressmaking for wedding dresses and theatrical costumes. It is light and about the right stiffness/flexibility and comes in various widths. It's name comes from when whale bone was used in Victorian times.

I've used weed eater cord, which worked pretty good

But, it comes so tightly wound on the reel that it's a little difficult to get to straigten out enough to make a good vent stiffener.

But, I got it to work.

You can take a long length, stretch it out, maybe in the sun, leave it for a few days, straightens it a little.

But, I found a small vent doesn't really do that much. To prevent condensation you need a large vent, like leaving the door open, that's better.

> I used plastic (as opposed to plastic coated steel) 'boning'.

I once suggested a friend used tubes used to hold surface-mount (SO) ICs for boning, as they're light, flexible, stiff (being a tube), and, above all, cheap, if you know an electronics manufacturer...

zip ties work well

+1 on zipties