- Broken tent pole is not a stress
with a tent pole repair kit.
I'm gonna show you how to fix it.
♪ Hit it ♪
(upbeat music)
Hey guys, it's Lauren from Snowys here.
I have with me today a fibreglass post
from a Coleman Montana 12 that's got a split segment.
Not a 100% sure how that's happened,
but if your tent poles are quite old
or they've been smashed in some really hard, cold weather,
it may occur.
So when you get back from your camping trip,
you need to repair them.
Now replacement pole sets aren't as readily available
for tents as you think
especially if your tent is an old one,
so being able to repair your pole kit
is a really awesome skill to have
that will make sure that you get 20 years out of your tent.
So there's a couple of things you need before we get started
and I'm gonna run through them with you.
So a couple of the tools that you require is a hacksaw
for cutting down your pole lengths,
a file for smoothing off the ends,
a tape measure, or even better,
a calliper for checking the size poles you need,
some tape, and some needle-nosed pliers or a multi tool.
Now in addition, you're gonna wanna have a repair kit,
so you can get these repair kits
that come complete with the shock cord and the poles,
and all the fittings you need,
or if you already have a couple of spare poles segments,
maybe you've got them from the tent manufacturer
or something along those lines,
just a little bundle of shock cord will see you right
for being able to do the repair.
So the first thing we're gonna do is measure up the poles
so we can work out what diameter repair kit we're gonna get.
You can use a tape measure here,
but we recommend using some callipers
if you can get your hands on some.
They come in handy from, even just from a cheap shop
or something along those lines,
'cause they're a lot more accurate.
Now I can see here these poles are measuring at 11mm.
So pole repair kits actually do come in fixed diameters.
If your pole that you need to repair doesn't equally line up
exactly with the repair kit option that's available,
just go with the repair kit that's the closest size smaller
than your original poles that you're fixing.
The other thing to note is,
it's important to get a repair kit that matches the pole
that you're trying to fix.
So if you're fixing a fibreglass tent pole,
you're getting a fibreglass tent pole repair kit.
If you're fixing aluminium lightweight tents,
or a swag pole, then you get a swag pole replacement kit.
So fortunately, we've got the 11mm tent kit here,
so we're gonna open up this packet,
and then we'll have a look through all the bits.
So in your pole repair kit,
you get a couple of different replacement segment lengths.
You have some different fixing options,
and you'll have a nice, big, long, bit of shock cord,
'cause it might be possible
that you don't need to repair a pole segment,
you might just need to replace some snapped elastic.
So I'm just gonna be using one of the segments today
to replace the busted one on this pole set.
The first thing we're gonna do is deconstruct this pole.
So this is where our needle-nose pliers come in.
We're gonna fish the elastic out of the end.
Can be a bit tricky.
Here we go.
Out of the end of the pole here,
and it should just be anchored by a knot.
So preferably, you're gonna be untying the knot if you can,
because that leaves you with a nice, big,
long length of elastic to reuse.
Otherwise, if the knot's a bit tight or tricky,
just cut it off and use your replacement elastic
that you've got in the kit.
Right, so we're gonna let that one go,
and just pull this pole out.
Now the next step is to prepare our replacement segment.
Now obviously, the repair kit segment is longer
than our original tent pole.
So what we're gonna be doing is cutting that down to length,
which is where our hacksaw and our tape come in.
So we're just gonna line them up next to each other.
We're gonna mark off the right length with our tape here,
and then the next thing we're gonna do
is just carefully cut through that fibreglass pole
with the hacksaw. (saw squeaking)
Once the pole is cut, we're gonna be grabbing our file,
and we're just gonna really gently and carefully
file around the edge of that pole,
just to make sure there's no splinters or splits,
and also make sure that that pole segment
is slipping in and out of the socket really easily.
So once your filing's done,
and we've triple checked that our segments are lined up
and all beautiful looking,
we're gonna reconstruct the pole.
So what I'm gonna do is because the original elastic
wasn't damaged in any way, I'm just going to reuse these.
And I like to put a bit of tape on the end of the elastic,
sort of just to harden up the end for threading through,
sort of like a shoe lace end.
Just roll that along.
Now the replacement segment, I've remembered,
was the one on the end of the pole.
So the first thing I'm gonna do
is thread the elastic through all the way to the end.
Now this can be a little bit time-consuming,
but it shouldn't really be difficult at all.
Alright, so once that's through,
we're gonna remove the tape,
and then we're gonna anchor that with a knot.
Make sure I've got enough to go back through the pole.
Pull that knot down into there,
make sure that's anchored nicely,
and now we're gonna go through the rest of the poles.
Okay, so I've still got one segment left to thread through
on my full length of pole.
Now because I'm using the original shock cord,
which is obviously under tension holding that pole together,
I'm gonna have to pull through a bit of excess,
and keep that pinned, so I've got enough to play with,
to thread through on that last pole.
If you are using replacement shock cord
that you get in the kit,
this will have more than enough length,
in which case you won't have to worry
about stretching it out,
and then once it is threaded through,
you're just gonna pull it a bit to give tension on it,
cut it, and tie a knot.
Threading through the last segment now.
Alright, so we've finally got that out the other end.
Just hold on to that tightly,
and we'll slip these two poles together.
Alright, so we're gonna take a hold of this elastic.
Now because this is the original one,
we know it's the right length from before.
Actually, what I'm gonna do is I'll tie just a random knot
in here before I remove the tape,
just to make sure I'm not gonna lose it
after threading it all the way through there.
So we're gonna remove the tape.
Oh shit, (muttering), that'll do it.
Okay, and then I'm just going to tie a knot in here.
All right, so once we have untied
that little fail-safe knot we've got here,
we're just gonna really gently just release that shock cord
back into the hop, and that's your pole repair finished.
Now honestly, threading that shock cord through
is not my favourite job.
It's a bit time-consuming, and it can be fiddly,
but it's well worth the effort
if it means your tent gets to live another day.
You can get your tent pole repair kits
or any other odds and ends at snowys.com.au.
If you found this video helpful, give us a like.
If you've got any questions or comments or even hot tips
for doing your own pole repair, chuck 'em below.
You can head here to subscribe,
or here for more helpful videos.
Catch you later, Snowys fam!
(keyboard clicking) (upbeat music)