Took me 3 hours to figure out my tent poles were twisted not broken

I was at Indian Lake last weekend and my tent kept sagging on one side. I spent forever thinking the pole was cracked or bent, turned out it was just twisted 180 degrees around at the hub. Has anyone else done something dumb like that with a dome tent?

3 comments

3 Comments

grant82613d agoTop Commenter

Oh man, that exact thing happened to me at Yellowstone two years ago. I was fighting with my tent for an hour, cursing at the poles, thinking I finally broke them for good. Turns out I had them twisted at the connector and the tent just looked like a sad pancake on one side. My buddy walked over, twisted it back, and it popped right up. Felt like a total idiot. The worst part is I have used that same tent like twenty times before too. Sometimes you just get in your own head and overthink the simple stuff.

grant82613d agoTop Commenter

Had a buddy who did the same thing but with a camp stove. He was out in the Smokies, couldn't get the damn thing to light, kept adjusting the valve and clicking it, nothing. Finally pulled out the manual and realized he forgot to open the fuel bottle valve. Completely closed, not a drop of gas getting through. It sat right there in plain sight too, he just never looked.

patricia6345d ago

Wait, are you telling me that tent pole connector thing is actually a common problem? I always figured those stories were just people who didn't know how to set up a tent properly. But honestly, reading this makes me think I've been too hard on folks. I've done dumber stuff myself, like spending twenty minutes looking for my phone while I was talking on it. Guess we all have those moments where our brains just check out.