Hallmark Snowcave - tent poles stolen

[aksbor]

Hi there,
I own a Hallmark Snow Cave, a tunnel tent similar to the MacPac Olympus.

The poles were stolen the one night I stayed ina Youth Hostel (not sure how they would benefit anyone else???), but I am at a loss as to how to replace them.

Can someone point me in the right direction as to how / where I could get the measurements of each of the 4 poles ?

Andy

[blacksheep]

perhaps using a pole set from another tent-you'll then mark and measure off the correct length for yours- replacement poles available from remote repairs in Melb.

[Son of a Beach]

Does the snowcave just use plain straight (flexible) poles, or does it have some specific angled sections? The straight (flexible) poles can be purchased an any good tent shop and cut to length.

So you just need to find the lengths?

I'm sure there are at least two people on the forums with Snow Cave tents. Hopefully one of them may be able to measure their poles off for you. How many different models of Snowcave were there? Did the pole lengths vary across models?

Failing that, you may just have to get long poles, and slide them in until they fit, then mark and cut.

[aksbor]

Thanks guys for the replyies.

Best outcome, yes if someone else had that tent and could measure the poles.
I have another (dome) tent, but was concerned about bending the poles to the same degree as required for the tunnel tent. I may do it anyway as a last resort.

Given the tent is somewhat dated (I bought it pre 96), I was hoping there might be a site/blog/something where such technical specs might be available ????

AndyB

[corvus]

G'day askbor,
I have just come back from a walk so have only caught up with your post ,I will measure my Snow Cave poles and post soon.
c

[corvus]

Good news and bad!!
The poles are precurved but not so that straight ones could not be used I think
Ridge 232cm
No 1-267cm
No 2-297cm
No 3-230cm
Good luck securing your replacement poles -but bugger I have fallen in love with my Snow Cave again and it is set up in the backyard right now !! I cannot believe how roomy it is ,slept in my Macpac Stellar for the first time last night and it was sort of roomy and I now dread squeezing back into the Microlite on my next LW walk
c

[Franco]

Here in Melbourne I would do the rounds of the shops and ask for spare replacement poles and make my own. I have several spares bought from Kathmandu for $5 a set (from discontinued models) that I use for experiments .
Possibly the easiest way out is to use these guys
http://polesforyou.com/
You can also purchase poles from people like Remote Equipment Repairs remote@mira.net (03 96707412) 373 Lt Bourke st Melbourne
I have used Remote , good service, and friends have used Poles For You.
Franco

[aksbor]

Thanks Franco - great idea to chase shops for spares - Here in Sydney, I have already been quoted $12 per segment to have new ones made up - based on Corvus' measurements (Thanks heaps), that'd make it $300-400 worth. I'll start doing the rounds tomorrow...

Thanks guys
AndyB

[Franco]

Your quote sounds about right ( or wrong...) compared with what I was quoted here retail. Getting the poles here at shop cost was still more than twice the price from the Poles For You guys.
Franco

[Son of a Beach]

Thanks Franco - great idea to chase shops for spares - Here in Sydney, I have already been quoted $12 per segment to have new ones made up - based on Corvus' measurements (Thanks heaps), that'd make it $300-400 worth. I'll start doing the rounds tomorrow...

Thanks guys
AndyB

That sounds outrageously expensive. You could get a half-decent tent, complete, for that price. Another $100 dollars and you've got a really decent tent. (from some online retailers, you wouldn't need even that much).

If you can buy lengths of the the poles yourself, they're quite easy to cut them down to fit your specific measurements. I did this with my old tent about 20 years ago, after lending it out to somebody and getting it back with all the fibre-glass poles broken. It was a good opportunity to replace them with metal poles, and they were really easy to cut and fit them. The most difficult part was threading the elastic back through.

I've still got several spare segments (sorry, probably not enough to make a full pole length).

[tasadam]

Sorry to hear of your misfortune.
Two things.

1. I no longer use my Hallmark Snowcave. The time came to part with it, a sad day - like parting with a good friend. The outer is now in Canada. The poles have been sold to someone from Melbourne who lost / misplaced their poles.
I have sent them an email making them aware of this topic so that if they locate theirs, they might be able to help you out.
I still have the inner that I no longer need.

2. I replaced my tent with a Hilleberg Nallo2. I am very impressed with this tent. It is exactly half the weight - the snowcave with poles, pegs weighed as carrierd, 4.2 kg's.
The Nallo2 is 2.1 KG's. Very solid too.
It has similar room, but only one vestuble and one entry. I was very hesitant to go to one vestuble, but I adapted easier than I thought and there is plenty of space in this vestuble. The inner of the tent is easier to unclip than the velcro tags to separate the inner from the outer in the snowcave. I now sleep with my head at the door instead of the back entrance as in the snowcave.
I got the Hilleberg from Moontrail, when the dollar was well over 80 cents. Now it's quite a bit more because of the exchange rate. Still, an excellent tent and as I said I am very impressed.
Some earlier Nallo2's suffered from a bit of condensation - now they have made adjustments to the design by installing a window and there is a fold-up but at the back of the outer to allow a bit ov extra ventillation. The inside seems to be just a little wider than the snowcave. I didn't intend to turn this into a gear review, sorry.

[Mahtee]

Hi Andy,

I can sympathise with your predicament, having lost my Snowcave poles and having investigated many avenues for their replacement (including trying to contact the company, Macpac, that had taken over the company, Fairydown, that took over Hallmark and getting nowhere). I couldn't believe the cost of have a new set made, so I was investigating the new tent option and trying to work out what tent came close. In the end I contacted Adam, when I saw his post on this forum that he was a Snowcave owner that had purchased a new tent. We were very fortunate that Adam was so happy with his new tent that he was prepared to break up and sell the components of his old Snowcave - and luckily for us we were also passing near his place on our family holiday to the East Tassie Coast earlier this year which made buying them easier.

I'd have to say that a tent recommendation from a fellow Snowcave user on a good replacement was something I'd value highly and in particular about an equivalent tent at half the weight. And having met Adam briefly when we picked up the poles I'd trust his judgement all the more!!

Unfortunately we haven't had our old poles turn up (I think we may have failed to notice the tent come back without poles after lending to friends, but we could be blaming others for our mistake), but if they do turn up I'll add another post.

Good luck,

Martin

[rsser]

I've got a couple of poles left from a Fairydown Assault. You can have them for the cost of postage. If you're interested I'll measure their lengths.

Email me ... ern_at_reeders_dot_net

Cheers,

Ern

[Overlander]

Hi Andy
I opened my Hallmark Snowcave last night to see if it was still OK but the inside of the outer shell was stuck together in some places. I put some powder on it to see if that would help, I have probably ruined it now. The inner portion of the tent seems OK. Have you managed to get poles for yours yet as I may be able to help you out.