Repairing the broken arch pole of a tent

Pull the pole-end out of the tent pole, possibly using pliers, but be careful not to damage the end stop. Untie the knot that attaches the elastic to the end stop and remove the end stop. You can now remove the broken piece of tent pole.

Make sure you secure the elastic behind the piece to be repaired. Otherwise the elastic will fall through the tent poles and you will have to thread it through again. You can prevent this by putting a clip around the elastic or placing a loop in it. Insert a pin through the loop to hold the elastic in place.

Is the elastic out of stretch? In another repair manual we explain how to replace the elastic of a bow stick. This way you kill two birds with one stone.

The included spare tent pole is probably longer than the piece to be replaced, so you must first adjust it to length. Check with a caliper whether the diameter of the new pole part corresponds to the old pole part.

Place the broken piece of tent pole next to the new piece and mark where the new tent pole needs to be shortened. Look carefully at which side you remove a piece of the new tent pole. In our case, one side of the new tent pole was slightly thicker than the other side. The thickened part of the pole slides over the next piece of tent pole. This thickened part must therefore remain on the new pole. It differs from brand to brand, so first check carefully how to proceed before you start shortening.

A mini pipe cutter is the most ideal tool for shortening the pipe. If you don't have one, you can also do it with a hacksaw. In that case, burrs will probably form on the inside of the tent pole. This will make it difficult for the pole-end or another tent pole part to fit over the sawn-off part. You can solve this by removing the burrs on the inside of the sawn-off piece with a rolled up piece of sandpaper.

You can now assemble the entire tent pole by threading the elastic through the tent poles again. To do this, tension the elastic and clamp it off at the last tent pole so that about 15 centimeters of elastic still protrudes. Now you can easily install the pole-end.

To do this, first tie a regular knot in the elastic (do not tighten the knot yet).  Put the end of the elastic through the pole-end. Then the end of the elastic goes through the knot again, after which you tighten the knot properly.

Tighten your knot firmly so that it is thin enough to fit into the tent pole and let the knot slide into the tent pole until the pole-end is back in place.

Your tent is nice and sturdy again and is ready for longlasting use!