New to me Tarptent Squall pole issue

So I scored a couple of smaller Tarptents here and over at White Blaze (a Squall and a Contrail) for an upcoming trip this August.

Today I was setting up my new toys and had an issue with the Squall (the Contrail was successfully pitched and is awaiting a seam sealing test, ie, an afternoon thunderstorm.)

As I was inserting the rear pole in the Squall, I noticed a small tear in the sleeve which isn’t that unusual — I have one like it in my Rainshadow 2 from times I have shoved the pole through the sleeve too quickly.

Well, that rear pole was really hard to get into the grommet, nothing like my Rainshadow 2. I double checked for adjustment buckles but Squall is too old for that sort of thing. I was like, well maybe they are supposed to be even tauter than I thought, so I used a little extra elbow grease. Snap! Whoops. The pole broke right where that tear in the fabric was and made it a little bigger. I’m guessing this is not the first time this has happened with this particular tent.

So how to fix? I’m thinking I should try to get a new arch section to replace the broken section, and then maybe use a hacksaw to trim down the section by 1/2″ or so so that it will fit right in the future. Or try to buy two 18″ arched poles and replace both of them, and save the 1/2″ right there.

The pole I have measures at 62″ with a soft measuring tape. I have two straight sections that are 12″, and two arched poles that are 18 1/4″ long (leaving out the insert lengths). There are two 3/4″ tips. The broken section is one of the arched sections.

Any thoughts or advice? (other than to go buy another tent that doesn’t use poles, ha ha! I do want a Notch…)

I have had no problem threading the pole in my DoubleRainbow2 when I follow the right procedure, namely push through slowly.

Sounds like to me that previous owner might have broken a pole and replaced it with one that did not really fit.  I think the Squall is not longer on the market but TT would probably sell you a new one.

Or you could buy the parts on line (quest outfitters, fibraplex, etc) to repair the one you got. At the very least I think you need to find a right length.

I bought a couple arched poles from http://tentpoletechnologies.com/

They’re in Vancouver Washington

If you can’t go there, maybe talk to them on the phone, maybe send then the broken pole and they can make a replacement.

Kind of cool to go there because they have a lot of poles in stock

Jerry — That’s cool that they are in Vancouver, WA.  My upcoming trip is going to be on the Timberline Trail and I’ll be going through Vancouver WA on the way there. I’ll get in touch with them.

Bruce — I think you are right. They probably snapped the first pole then bought a replacement that was a teeny tiny bit too long.

Timberline trail, nice, I was up there a month ago, maybe I’ll do the whole thing in September

Contact them to make sure they’re open when you go there, as I remember they have slightly weird hours.  Bring your broken pole and they’ll be able to make a new one that matches.  Maybe they could repair the old one.

<p style=”padding-left: 60px;”>I have a squal as well. The rear pole is extremely tight to install and remove.</p>

Not 100% sure for the first version but the arch pole for the Squall 2 was 72″.

The original one did have a pretty tight sleeve and given that silnylon shrinks a bit in the heat it could have been a bit tricky to feed that pole through it.

BTW, there was a similar problem with the original version of the Rainbow, I fixed that on mine by adding a triangular buckle (that I happened to have…) so that I used that when hot and the original when not.

I might post a photo of it later on. (so don’t trim the pole…)

(you can order single pole sections from TT)

I took a close look at my Rainshadow 3 for inspiration, and I’m going to add in some buckles and additional ribbon so I can adjust the tension and avoid trimming the poles, and I just ordered a replacement arch from TT.