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
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