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Pro tip: my tent pole snapped at 11pm near Truckee and a $4 roll of duct tape saved the run
Back in 2019 I was camped off a dirt road near Truckee, about 20 miles past the last gas station, when one of my tent poles just folded in half during a wind gust around 11pm. No cell service, temps heading to the high 30s, and my spare pole section was sitting in my garage 200 miles away. I dug through my pack and found a roll of duct tape and two tent stakes, then splinted the broken pole with the stakes and wrapped it tight. It looked ridiculous and sagged a bit on that side, but the tent held through the night and the next morning. What bugs me is that my old 90s tent never had this problem, those poles were heavy but they never snapped. Now everything is ultralight and I get it, but there has to be a middle ground between 2 pounds and bombproof. Anyone found a pole repair sleeve that actually fits snug, or am I just carrying duct tape forever?
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shane1707d ago
Did you ever think duct tape would outlast fancy gear?
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fionanguyen7d ago
Duct tape is great and all, but it's a bandaid, not a fix. The real problem is that gear makers keep shaving weight off poles until they're basically straws, and no amount of tape changes that math. Carrying a repair sleeve that fits right is smarter than trusting tape to hold when it's cold and wet and you're dead tired.
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