Any tips for (seemingly) too tight tent poles?

I had a Moss tent back in the day with this problem. Cold temps made it almost impossible to setup the tent. I called MOSS they said to do the following (which I did, and successfully).

Shorten the pole shaft, by, initially, 1/8″ and see if that helps. This requires knowledge of and skills with dealing with tent poles/shock cords, hack saw, and sanding to remove sharp spots/burrs.

They key point is to take off very little at a time so as to avoid taking off too much!

Good luck!

The peak crossing pole of my Hubba was very difficult to install/remove when it was cold, but fit perfectly when warm. Part of that was cold hands but clearly the tent fabric was tauter when very cold. I just (carefully) muscled it in/out.  I think by design pole connection points are the strongest part of the tent.

I recommend using a pipe/tubing cutter rather than a hacksaw to cut tent poles; lot easier to get a square cut.

I used a tarptent for years (4500+ miles) and experienced the same difficulty on occasion.  All I can offer is that I just muscled the pole tip into the grommet and nothing every broke.  I suspect the pole materials and the direction of the force provide a lot more strength than we imagine.

“I recommend using a pipe/tubing cutter rather than a hacksaw to cut tent poles; lot easier to get a square cut.”

Ah, good idea!

Thank you for the advice and wisdom.  I’m going to try the “pipe cuter,” however I’m going to place a properly fitted wood dowel into the pole to prevent it’s shape being crushed by my ham-handedness.

The couple of times I did it, my cutter wouldn’t stay on the mark for some cuts. Perhaps it was dull or my technique is bad.

Wondering if a file would be a better tool since you are just shaving a bit and not resizing.

If using a pipe cutter, I would try to keep it flat against a surface and perhaps turn the pole. Maybe I am just clumsy…

Perhaps one of these cutters? I used more traditional ones in the past…

https://www.homedepot.com/p/AUTOCUT-1-2-in-O-D-Pipe-Tubing-Cutter-ATC12/100090448

The suggestion to use a file may be the prudent path.  I could foresee a problem with a pipe cutter as there will be a minimum amount you can remove from the end of the pole…that minimum may be too much.  Both sides of the tool must seat on the pole, so there will have to be a certain amount of pole left past the cutting blade for the tool to rest upon.  How much will obviously depend on the tool.

Here is a cheap tubing cutter

https://www.harborfreight.com/1-8-eighth-inch-to-1-1-8-eighth-inch-tubing-cutter-92878.html

• As mentioned you do have to cut enough off for the rollers on both sides of the blade to be on the tube.
• The proper way to start a cut is to rotate back and forth half way around the tube 3 or 4 times then rotate to the other half of the tube for a few more passes there. Once you have a single line scribed around the tube then you can just rotate around and around while tightening a little bit each time.
• Use rubber gloves or latex faced work gloves for the hand holding the tubing for good grip.
• A vise with the other glove protecting the tube from the jaws and giving the vise good grip is also useful.
• A large drill bit can be used to chamfer the inside and sand paper or steel wool for the outside.
• —–
• Alternately, if there is room you can add a grommet further out on the webbing. Nylon fabric stretches in different temps and humidity, so some adjustability can be nice.

“Alternately, if there is room you can add a grommet further out on the webbing. Nylon fabric stretches in different temps and humidity, so some adjustability can be nice.”

Dave, thanks for this bit of wisdom.  I think I’ll do this first.

I find it interesting that here would be another Tarptent complaint. If you do cut the poles use some sandpaper to smooth edges so you don’t rip the tent material.

i say get in touch with henry and ask if there is an alternate way of putting up the shelter to avoid this…just a thought.