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Hi All,

Down in deepest Cormwall right now, (near lands End), and last night, (and right now), we had one heck of a wind come through. Our Vango Tigris 800 has sagged at one end due to a snapped support pole, (is that the right name?), and I need to either fix it or replace it today. The tent is brand new by the way.

Does anyone know anywhere I can go to get a new replacement pole down here?

Right, emergency action required. If you can'd get a replacement section (lots of good advice above on this) you need to mend it. Where is the broken section? If it's one of the end sections you can get away with only pulling the pole end out of the sleeve, if it's up top just get the whole pole out to work on.

Assuming you've taken the whole pole out (it is much easier...) then have a think about what section snapped and what areas are most vunerable. The very end sections almost never snap so it's worth reshuffling the sections so that a sound one is up in the most vunerable position and the soon to be repaired one is somewhere a bit more protected. Whach out for poles with fancy ferrules at the very ends of the poles though.

To bodge repair a pole you need a rool of gaffa tape and, if you can find them, some flexible splints like thin garden canes or long flexible twigs. (Cut to about 3" shorter than the pole section.  Start with taping the pole...long strips up and down the pole. Add one or two of your splints, wrapped top and bottom to hold in position then start wrapping the pole spirally. You can do this bit with the pole just sticking out from the side of the sleeve if the break is in an accessable position, but you'll need at least one other person to hold the pole steady and keep an eye on the tent. Watch out when you're taping the pole you don't foul the ferrules. Make sure the ends of the splints (if using them) are well taped down to avoid them snagging the tent. Use lots of gaffa tape...cheaper than a new tent!

When you've done the above and got the tent back up do remember a bodge repair is never as strong as a proper one and that your weak pole means other poles will be under more stress.Check your guying and if possible run more guylines out to give the weak pole more support.

One other suggestion though is to ask at the reception desk if they have any pole spares lying around. Many campsite owners keep a box of odds and sods scavanged from tents dumped in the campsite bins. You never know! 

theres plenty of spare poles in a bin at glen nevis

Quote: Originally posted by slinger on 26/8/2009

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Plenty of good suggestions above, alternatively a stronger fix is to use a spare peg, flatten it out with your mallet then bend it to roughly the shape the pole will be when the tent is up and wrap loads of duct tape round it with the damaged pole.

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I don't like using a tent peg. Reason? It's such a strong fix it won't flex at all and this places a lot of strain on the neighbouring sections. I prefer to use something with a little bit of give in it.

Quote: Originally posted by Valk_scot on 26/8/2009

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Quote: Originally posted by slinger on 26/8/2009

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Plenty of good suggestions above, alternatively a stronger fix is to use a spare peg, flatten it out with your mallet then bend it to roughly the shape the pole will be when the tent is up and wrap loads of duct tape round it with the damaged pole.

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I don't like using a tent peg. Reason? It's such a strong fix it won't flex at all and this places a lot of strain on the neighbouring sections. I prefer to use something with a little bit of give in it.

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Update:

Thaks for the replies, very useful and advice that will perhaps be used in future, I am very grateful.

Anyway, the site owner suggested a place called outback trading based in Helston. I rang them and they couldn't have been more helpful, told me to come over and they'd fix it there and then. Got there in 40 minutes. A young lady dismantled the sections, found a used pole of the same size and carefully cut it to the right length. She then put the whole lot back together, all inside 10 minutes. She charged me £2!! I was almost embarassed by the small charge. Took it back and it withstood another battering last night without incident. I can't sing the praises of outback trading highly enough. Really helpful, friendly and saved our tent.

The night the pole broke we were apparently experiencing the aftermath of Hurricane Bill and the winds in the site were 50-55 mph according to the owner. What an introduction to camping . We said that if we got through that then we can get through anything. So glad I read on here advice to get storm pegs and not rely on the Vango pegs! One family were holding there tent down from 3.30am to 6am to stop it blowing away as the kids slept inside.