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My tent pole snapped in a storm and I fixed it with a tent stake and a sock
I was up near Lake Tahoe last fall when a surprise wind storm hit around 2 AM. I heard a loud crack and one of my main tent poles just gave out, leaving a nasty bend. I was soaked and had no spare parts. In a panic, I grabbed a tent stake and slid it inside the broken pole section to act like a splint. Then I wrapped my one dry wool sock around the whole thing and used a bunch of zip ties from my pack to hold it tight. It looked completely stupid, like my tent had a broken arm in a cast, but it held for the rest of the night. I was sure it would fail but the makeshift fix actually got me through until morning. Has anyone else had to MacGyver a major piece of gear in a pinch? What did you use?
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blake7923d ago
Honestly, that's just asking for a total failure in worse weather.
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the_hayden3d ago
Broken gear forces you to see everything in your pack as a potential tool. That sock wasn't just a sock anymore, it was padding and compression. The zip ties were a clamp. People forget that duct tape is heavy, but a few zip ties weigh nothing and can fix a backpack strap, a shoe, or a tent pole. Real backcountry skill is looking at a tent stake and seeing a splint.
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