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Impossible to predict what might be needed. 

Radixon's suggestion of Gaffa tape sounds good.  Along with one or two of those wire pegs that everyone seems to be throwing away as a splint, quite strong repairs can be made.

One spare section of each type the tent needs, plus one of each type of ferrule, would be the absolute minimum IMHO. Hardly a large outlay of cash compared to the cost of a tent. If a section breaks then a bodge repair will still result in more stress being passed onto the other sections, and you can end up with a catastophic failure of the whole of that pole plus others if condistions are that extreme.

It's quicker though if you have an entire spare pole to hand, and in fact if you do then you can often substitute it into the sleeve without having to take the whole tent down. Mending a pole while the tent is still up is an interesting learning curve, belive me.

Remember to also  take a rethreading needle or bent wire, spare shock cord, needle nosed pliers etc and have a look at a pole before you go, so you can see what might need to be done to repair it.

Edit: Regarding some of the above suggestions? Think...you arrive on site after a five hour drive, trired, grumpy kids, everyone hungry. You want the tent up as fast as possible but then a pole cracks. Is it less stressful to grab the spare pole, get the tent up and do the pole repair the next day? Or start messing around with gaffa tape and glue?

Quote: Originally posted by Valk_scot on 23/4/2008

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One spare section of each type the tent needs, plus one of each type of ferrule, would be the absolute minimum IMHO. Hardly a large outlay of cash compared to the cost of a tent. If a section breaks then a bodge repair will still result in more stress being passed onto the other sections, and you can end up with a catastophic failure of the whole of that pole plus others if condistions are that extreme.

It's quicker though if you have an entire spare pole to hand, and in fact if you do then you can often substitute it into the sleeve without having to take the whole tent down. Mending a pole while the tent is still up is an interesting learning curve, belive me.

Remember to also take a rethreading needle or bent wire, spare shock cord, needle nosed pliers etc and have a look at a pole before you go, so you can see what might need to be done to repair it.

Edit: Regarding some of the above suggestions? Think...you arrive on site after a five hour drive, trired, grumpy kids, everyone hungry. You want the tent up as fast as possible but then a pole cracks. Is it less stressful to grab the spare pole, get the tent up and do the pole repair the next day? Or start messing around with gaffa tape and glue?

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One spare section of each type the tent needs, plus one of each type of ferrule, would be the absolute minimum IMHO

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trouble is the montana 6 has steel poles. and there are at least 3 different types ,

1 , the curved ones that form the roof,

2 , the angled ones that connect the legs to the roof 

3, the straight ones for the legs

and there ar'nt any ferrules , carying spares of all these would be quite bulky and heavy , gaffer tape and splint for me , for an emergency repair . then the day after ,go out and get the fiberglass repair kit as "rexgrant " sugests.

stu

Is it an Outwell Montana 6 as the tent poles are metal so if they break you really are in trouble. If the weather is sufficiently bad to break those poles I would be out of there lightening speed.

If its not an Outewell and they are fibre poles then you can easily buy new pole sections as replacements. I always take a roll of duck tape away with us as it is so versatile and is a good repair for a multitude of repair situations.

I agree...duck/gaffa tape is a camping essential!

Got to add though that even if Monty poles are metal and heavy it's still worth carrying spares. There's unlikely to be a camping shop in the nearest town, and that will go fivefold if you're abroad. And given the weight and pack size of a Monty will another pole really break the camel's back?

And as to breaking metal poles, ask me about the time my late SIL parked on top of the pole bag for her trailer tent.......

Just don't let us confuse you with all the options Joan.  Some of us can get a bit anorakish about these things.  :)

A good set of answers though giving a good spread of solutions from different styles of camping and different individuals.

Hi JC10

Dont worry about the poles breaking on the Monty 6. We dont even have any guy ropes set up on our display model Monty 6 and it just stand there no matter what the weather throws at it. Now im not saying you should not use your guys but it just shows how strong the frame is. The most important thing is to spend £20 on a bunch of good long plastic and metal pegs to suit all ground conditions as the pegs that come with most tents are only good for calm weather.

Gary