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Boooo Hoooo!

We went camping recently up the east coast of Scotland and after pitching the lady in a nearby static van (who waited till the tent was up by the way. grrr!) let us know our pitch was renowned as the windiest place on the site and she'd seen many tents flattened!

Next morning 3 lassies in pjs trying to hold down a coleman columbia 10 fly sheet with 6 kids sleeping inside!

Anyway among the damage some the ties that tie the outer fly sheet on to the poles between inner and outer tent have come away, I don't know if I can sew them back on with normal needle and thread or do I need anything special?

We also ended up with a bent steel pole at the front, a broken plastic pole connector thingy and two large rips along the mud flaps on the porch!

Any help on the sewing thingy would be greatly appreciated  Thanks so much in advance we want to go away next week!

Aww, that's such a shame. But at least it is repairable.Try to get someone with a sewing machine to stitch them back on for you, this is stronger than hand sewing.

if you are worried about sewing it yourself, try your local shoe menders, they might stitch it for you, ours repaired a seam on an awning for our friend.

 If you can't get it done by machine, then sew them back on by hand, using a strong needle and thread.  A dab of seam sealer on the stitching afterwards, be careful to let this dry properly, or you might stick the tent to itself.

Broken plastic pole connector? is that the metal ferrule that joins the fibreglasss poles together? If so you can get these cheaply at most camping shops, take one with you, as they do come in different widths.

Duct tape both sides might fix the mudflap?  or is that another sewing job?

Cheers Debbie I've got a machine but never thought of the sealer ta!

The broken bit connects a fibreglass pole with a steel pole it's like angled black plastic, we have another tent that uses the same sort of thing I need to dig it out & if it's on the same angle sorted!

Now the mud flap is actually  fabric, would duct tape do or do I need special tent stuff???

Again ta v much in advance I just know you lot will have us operational again in no time! 

Cheers x

You might want to try visiting Outriggers in Dunfermline for advice about the tears, we found them really helpful when our tent was damaged by a neighbour's cat.

In the end though we claimed on our insurance and for the price of our excess (£35) we got a brand new Outwell Indiana 8.

Hope your other tent pole connector fits.

Mud flap, I was thinking of the thick rubbery plasticky type stuff, not the tent material, sorry. If its the same fabric as the tent, duct tape wouldnt be the answer , you can get repair patches from camping shops, but if you can't get a patch big enough, you can order tent fabric online.

As you need it for next week though, if you're absolutely desperate, how about cutting a patch out of your tent bag if it's the same material, and repairing that with some other fabric. Or maybe the cheap tents like the ones you get for kids from tescos for about £4, would be okay for a patch as its only on the mudflap? Again you'd need to seal the seams.

How big is this tear?