Prof--
The tent poles I'm talking about are VERY cheap two-piece mild steel tubular extendables, typically four feet long extending up to eight feet intended for awning use. Not the kind of tent poles (shock-corded, bendy, etc) you may be used to.
REI sells a very expensive kind that IS shock-corded, 1-inch diameter alu tubing, but I can't remember how high they go, even though I have two of them sitting in a storage cabinet right now.
Look on the Cabelas site or similar for reasonably-priced steel poles.
I assumed you'd guy it out like crazy. Go to Wally to find cheap 3/8 X 12 inch spikes for tent pegs. I have a huge collection of tent pegs of all kinds, and the (heavy) spikes work best unless you're in deep sand dunes.
FWIW, I did pretty mush the same when I first got my TT and eventually gave up because it became such a whopping bother to set up.
