Looking for a hollow/blind tent pole end

Hi Troy,

Here in Europe you can buy ‘pole bungs’ used to thread elastic into fishing (aka roach) poles.

They have a conical bung with a hook for the elastic.  In the rear centre you attach a short insertion rod to push the bung to the position where you need it lodged.  You can remove and re-insert the bung as often as you need (to replace the elastic) using the insertion rod.

Maybe you could get hold of a couple of these?

Here’s an example:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Drennan-Winder-Bungs-Small/dp/B00C5A7H72

Not sure what you are dealing with in terms of size and application, so can’t be very helpful.  Maybe a photo of the lower end of one of the pole sections; or even better, two of the sections separated and folded over each other, would help.  Not even sure if we are talking about rigid trekking pole sizes, or lighter flexible alloy or carbon.

Either way, the shock court runs through the pole sections and is suspended at the ends of the sections, put together, and from your description, you want to know the best way to connect the ends of the cord to the ends of the whole pole.

If so, two short fittings are needed that telescope into the pole ends and have another short and smaller tube that telescopes into the fitting and holds the well-knotted cord in place.  When the whole pole is assembled, you may need another fitting at the higher end to connect with the hardware at the upper peak of the tent.

But yes, it is only only takes a knot on the shock cord, which must be strung through the sections, and the fitting, then extended, knotted and strung through the smaller tube fitting on the inner inside of the pole , then allowed to snap gently into place.

There are also inner pole end fittings available with a hole in the inside end that allows one to tie the shock cord to the inner fitting.  But that fitting must must fit snugly, or even screwed in place, or may be lost if the cord snaps.

If the shock cord snaps, the pole must be repaired.  Many just carry a short tube that fits over the outside of the pole tube, and is taped in place with one of the ten essentials – duct tape.  Then at home or on a rest day, the whole length of the cord can be slid into the sections and knotted in place.  This is hard to articulate; but simple if you look at a shock -corded pole.  Hope this is of some help.

I agree that it would be helpful to know more about your constraints, because my first thought was to simply tie a bulky knot that can’t fit into the tube, or to tie the cord around an object that won’t fit into the tube. But that’s so obvious that I’m guessing you’ve already ruled it out as a solution, and I’m guessing that you don’t want the cord to protrude.

If so, you need to have something inside the end of the tube to attach to. A cheap and simple solution would be to use a rivet or cotter pin. You would have to get creative to make the attachment, but you could do it. For example, you could drill the hole near the end of the pole then pass the cord through and tie a largish loop under tension. Then allow the loop to go into the end of the pole while holding onto the end, and insert the rivet/pin through the loop before securing the rivet and releasing the cord. Could be a little fiddly to make sure the pin goes through the loop, so I probably need to think it through a little more.

OK, a variation on this would be to use a hacksaw blade to cut a slot across the end of the pole, tie a loop under tension around a pre-formed rivet or pin, and then slide the rivet/pin into the slot, using the tension of the cord to keep it in place.

I need to have each end of the assembly of poles open.

Well, if you don’t like my ideas above, here’s one that even easier. Pull the shock cord through the pole, insert a rivet or pin through the pole about an inch from the end, then tie a knot in the end of the cord under tension that is small enough to get into the tube, but won’t go past the pin.

https://www.tentpoletech.com/a3-2/

they have some parts for doing that – might work for you