Lots of post concerning broken poles at the moment. so here goes .
The poles are held together by elastic shock cord.this may or may not snap when the pole breaks.( If it has broken , mark the length you need on a new piece of elastic , but don't cut it off until after you have finished threading it )
Pull the end of the elastic out of the end pole, it will have a knot in the end and maybe a tiny washer to hold it. Undo the knot and take out the broken section .
You may need to cut the replacement pole section to fit .
To do this mark the length and cut through the pole with a junior hacksaw. smooth any roughness off with sandpaper. Be careful when handling the broken pole, fibreglass can give nasty little splinters .
Re thread the elastic through the poles ,knotting one end first, like stringing beads , making sure that the ferrrules (the shiny metal connectors)are all facing the same way . The new pack of elastic comes with a threader wire, but it may be easier to singe the end of the elastic with a lighter to stop it fraying and just drop the end of the elastic throught the poles . Holding the poles upright so it drops through is easier than trying to push the elastic through with the pole held sideways. Pull the elastic so that it has some tension , finding the mark you made and cut and knot it at this point.
New elastic is about £5 a pack, enough to replace several poles, and can be bought from millets or any camping shop. The replacement poles , don't have to be the same brand as your tent , but must be the same diameter .
Sounds a bigger job than it is, its very easy and quick to do , depending how fast you are at sawing the pole, (took me 15 minutes to saw one , hubby took about 3 mins .
Before sawing the pole, wrap a bit of masking tape directly over the marked section, check measurements, mark on tape then cut through it. It gives a better grip when startiing to saw and prevents most of the splintering.
Carry a couple of spare ferrules as well. They can split and need replaced.
Sometimes you need tweezers to get the knot out the end of the ferrule. If you really can't get hold of it, stretch the elastic out the other end as far as possible and cut. It's elastic, remember? It will still be long enough to rethread the pole. If you are replacing elastic then leave a long tail on the knot. Easier to get hold of.
If you are mending a pole, take an extra moment to check the other sections for damage. White streaks indicate stress fractures and if you can feel any fine longuitudinal fractures in the section (use fingernails to detect) then replace that section too. It's annoying to get the pole mended and then find another cracking section.
If it's peeing with rain and blowing a gale the easiest way to mend a pole is to have an entire new replacement one ready to use, then mend the damaged one asap later. Yes it can be pricey but get to know the chaps that put up the display tents in your local camping emporium and it's amazing what they'll have secreted away in the spares shed. they never throw away bits of damaged ex-display tents. Also if you see your campsite neighbours ditching a tent in the bins after a rough night get on over there and cannibalise it for spares. If not you someone else will! Guylines, pole sections, sliders, inners, fixings and the odd square of flysheet for patching are all worth having.
One more thing ,always handle your poles with care .The easiest way to cause damage is to drop them , people think because theyre heavy its okay to do this , its not. this can cause stress fractures. So many times I've seen people sling the pole bag out of the car and throw it down on the ground, I'm cringing .
Quote: Originally posted by beefysmum on 24/3/2009
One more thing ,always handle your poles with care .The easiest way to cause damage is to drop them , people think because theyre heavy its okay to do this , its not. this can cause stress fractures. So many times I've seen people sling the pole bag out of the car and throw it down on the ground, I'm cringing .
Or pack the pole bag at the bottom of the boot and pile a ton of other gear on top!
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Topic: How to replace a broken fibreglass pole .
