DAC Poles Challenge

I had only worked with alloy poles in technical tents when this set arrived last summer and that is what I thought the were.. . . . . Alloy poles can come in a variety of different colours so didn’t think twice.

Taking the broken section and the next one along to ‘size them up’ it turned out that neither a 8.5mm nor a 9.5mm alloy pole would fit – the 8.5mm too small and the 9.5mm too big.  mmmmmmmmm

On closer inspection one of the poles had DAC 9mm inscribed onto it

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I had not come across this name before – I knew that they were from a North Face Nebulus tent – so went off to investigate further. . . .

DAC poles are used in high specification technical tents,  they are 15% lighter than alloy poles of a comparable strength & are considered stronger as they are made from one section. THe insert from one pole to the next is extruded from the pole – this reduces the risk of breakages by avoiding having to glue or ‘crimp’ an additional insert.

DAC poles are not easy to get hold of  AT ALL ! I ordered a spare set for a Hilleberg tent as they use DAC poles & thought that this would be the solution.

BAH HUMBUG – they did not fit 🙁

Now befuzzled I try again with the DAC pole and 8.5mm and 9.5mm Alloy poles that I have. THe DAC pole will not fit snuggly into the  9.5mm Alloy pole – too loose, however – the 9.5 alloy pole will fit into the DAC 9mm pole – BINGO Why didn’t I try that before ?? This works because the 9mm DAC pole is thinner (hence lighter) – so is able to take the 9.5mm insert – which is smaller as alloy poles are thicker  . . . . . .

I would have to change the order of the poles and replace an additional pole, but – it’ll work – HAPPY DAYS 🙂 The tent lives on 🙂

I then sized and cut the poles ready to replace.  & TADA

The satisfaction to ‘finding a fix’ for this repair was great – as was the facebook review ‘very happy bunny with the new tent pole (that no one else could fix) ‘ – 5* rating.

Bring on the next one !

Cheers

Rosie

YHA Adventures

Not the 1st way I expected to try YHA , thought it would be with the family, but a night away without the girls organised by my husband – I’m in! (Summer ’14) Dropped the girls with family and set off , found the building relatively easy, lovely grounds tucked away in the middle of Ledbury and checked into our room. I have to admit I was a bit apprehensive of the age range that would be there but to be honest felt neither old nor young.

On arriving at our room…

Not quite the romantic night away I expecting – but nonetheless was clean, tidy and had a sink in the room. There were ladies and gents in the corridor just outside the room in the hallway.

After rectifying the bed situation – we ventured  into Ledbury for an evening meal at a local pub –  obligatory ‘selfie and food  pic’.

Deciding then to head back to the YHA  for the evening,  we called in at the Co-op for supplies –  were you  even allowed to drink in the YHA??

Yes it could have gone one way or the other – on return to the YHA were most delighted/relieved to come across a wine fridge….

Settled down to an evening of cards and a vino or two (there were glasses !) . . . . The lounge area was welcoming although we were the only ones in it for the evening, it had for comfy sofas/TV and a table – unfortunately I only recorded the evening entertainment!

Breakfast. Bacon bread and Marg  had bought at the Co-op the night before and with use of 3 cooker/3 sink kitchen we were sorted.  There were plenty of guidebooks and walks in the property,  so after finding one for 4/5 miles we set off .

This is what it is all about. Happy  Days 🙂

The instructions were ambiguous to say the least  . . .

OK too small to read but basically 4/5 pages of narrative that were open to interpretation . . . .

After walking  and having to double back on occasion after not full in understanding the instructions, we were relieved to be coming to the end of them.  I glanced ahead  at the end of the final page ‘ now retrace your steps back to the start’ – NOOOOOOOO ! Husband of course didn’t believe me . . . .

At this point, we took the Executive joint decision to take the normally not  allowed technology out of the pockets,  and used ‘maps ‘ on our phones to walk back to the Ledbury on the no ‘ is it this ”is it that ‘ way straight road. Which meant we were actually able to  talk and not deliberate lol x

Time to pick up  our stuff, settle the bill  and head to the campsite 🙂

I would definitely go back to the YHA with the children,  the accommodation  is set for a  brilliant ‘ base camp’  to explore an area –  particularly out of the camping season .

Cheers

Rosie