Post History

Source: https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/4412
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://outdoors.stackexchange.com/q/4412
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

<p>I have a nice and small tent I really like that is around 30 years old.  It is from Sierra West, but I don't remember the model name.  Here is a picture so that you can see the size and general construction:</p>

<p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/NYgij.jpg" alt=""></p>

<p>This tent is held up with two bows of fiberglass rods that fit into each other.  A small bow of 4 rods makes the arch at the foot end, and 6 rods are used at the head end.</p>

<p>Unfortunately, one of the rods has just broken:</p>

<p><img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/nZW9I.jpg" alt=""></p>

<p>The rod is 14 inches long, the fiberglass part is 6.5 mm in diameter, and the outer diameter of the aluminum piece is 9.5 mm.</p>

<p>The fiberglass is cracked near the aluminum sleave, and it is rough with fibers sticking out at the right end where it fits into the aluminum sleave of the next piece.</p>

<p>The problem is, the company that made this tent seems to have vanished and I don't know how to get replacement rods.  I'd like to get a complete set of rods, since if this one went the others are probably not far behind.  There seem to be aluminum rods available with bungy cord in the middle, but finding a set that is exactly the length this tent requires seems to be impossible.</p>

<p>Anyone know how to get parts for this old tent, or have any other ideas?</p>

<h2>Added:</h2>

<p>Yes, it's easy to find generic replacement tent poles, but the ones I have seen are all quite different from what my tent uses.</p>

<p>This is a particularly small tent and the radius of curvature is significantly smaller than other tents.  This means the thicker poles that are easy to find would be stressed much more.  Mine are only 6.5 mm diameter, probably for a good reason.</p>

<p>The replacement poles are also much longer than mine.  I suppose the long poles could be cut down, but cutting fiberglass is tricky and can easily damage the material if the right tools aren't used, which I probably don't have since I don't know exactly what the right tool would be.  I am imagining just cutting with a saw would fray the fibers, which is basically cracking the fiberglass, which can't be a good thing.</p>

<p>Another issue is that the pole ends need to fit into the grommets on my tent.  I rather doubt there is such a thing as a standard grommet diameter.</p>

<p>This is not as easy as just Googling for "tent pole replacement".  Surely someone here has been thru this process before and has some words of wisdom?</p>

<h2>Added 2:</h2>

<p>This is in response to a comment asking for more details of the rods.<ol></p>

<p><li>The grommets that the end of the tent poles fit into are just circular metal disks with holes in them.  I don't have the tent here, but the inner diameter of these holes is a little larger than the diameter of the tent poles, which is 6.5 mm.  The picture shows a middle piece, but the end pieces have black plastic end caps, with the tips of those being about the same diameter as the fiberglass rod (6.5 mm).</p>

<p><li>The fiberglass rods are solid, so have no inner diameter.</p>

<p></ol></p>