My tent pole snapped in Big Sur and a rubber hose saved the trip

Last month I set up my 6 person tent at a spot near the coast and one of the fiberglass poles just cracked right at the joint when I was tensioning it. Wind was picking up and it was getting dark, so I grabbed a 3 foot piece of old garden hose I keep in the truck and slid it over the break, then duct taped the ends tight. It held the whole night through gusts that had everyone else scrambling, and honestly the fix worked better than the original. Anyone else ever jerry rigged a pole repair that actually outlasted the gear?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_spencer1mo ago

Did you leave the hose on there after the trip? I did something similar with a tent pole in Yosemite once, split a piece of PVC pipe and clamped it over the crack. Worked fine for two more seasons until I finally replaced the tent. The duct tape is the real hero though, that stuff never quits.

eva_thompson1mo ago

Ha, PVC pipe is a classic fix! I did the same thing with an old tent pole once, except I used a chunk of an old garden hose and some zip ties. Ugliest repair you ever saw, but it held up through a whole weekend of sideways rain. Duct tape definitely deserves a spot in every camping kit, that stuff is basically magic.