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Tent pole modifications/alternatives

Tent pole modifications/alternatives


Postby cprobertson1 » Thu Jun 04, 2020 12:45 pm

Good afternoon folks!

I have a Terra Nova Zephyros 2-man tent - and I love it to bits, but one thing that bugs me is the length of the pole sections. They're actually longer than my backpack, and they're the only bit of my kit I can't also shove in my bike pannier for bikepacking.

It uses a single pole in the center, and a much shorter pole at each corner. The center pole is a straight length that is arched over, the the corner poles are just straight-sections.

Does anyone have any experience with adding extra joints into tent poles to allow it to fold down further? Alternatively, do you know if you can buy tent poles in custom sizes that I can use as a drop-in replacement?

Many thanks!
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Re: Tent pole modifications/alternatives

Postby davekeiller » Thu Jun 04, 2020 7:26 pm

You can buy replacement pole sections which you cut to fit.
Simply cutting your existing sections in half won't work because either the end is narrow to allow it to fit into the adjoining section or there's a sleeve on it for the same purpose.
What I would recommend trying is buying a replacement pole trim to fit kit, making sure that it has twice as many sections as the pole you want to replace. Then cut the sections to be half as long as the ones in the original tent. This may or may not work depending on the rigidity of the pole and the arc through which you are trying to bend it - it might simply snap.
Replacing the central pole like this won't be as strong as the original, but might work.
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Re: Tent pole modifications/alternatives

Postby cprobertson1 » Thu Jun 11, 2020 1:08 pm

davekeiller wrote:You can buy replacement pole sections which you cut to fit.
Simply cutting your existing sections in half won't work because either the end is narrow to allow it to fit into the adjoining section or there's a sleeve on it for the same purpose.
What I would recommend trying is buying a replacement pole trim to fit kit, making sure that it has twice as many sections as the pole you want to replace. Then cut the sections to be half as long as the ones in the original tent. This may or may not work depending on the rigidity of the pole and the arc through which you are trying to bend it - it might simply snap.
Replacing the central pole like this won't be as strong as the original, but might work.


Hrm... if I cut them I could add in a little aluminium sleeve with a flange in the middle of it at the joint - a bit like those cheap fiberglass poles... it'd rely on the arch shape to stop it popping out (but the joints in the current set do that anyway).

Nah, lets not risk my good pole!

That's a good shout on the trim-to-fit kits, I'll take a good look into that tonight hopefully :)

Thanks for that! =D

--EDIT--
Just saw this item from decathlon - a little on the pricey side (£20), but 30cm sections would be ideal (provided 4.5m is long enough... which Im almost certain it would be!)
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