Bushwalk Australia

Got a First Arrow recently - my first 3 hoop tunnel tent. I'm used to carrying one spare 'sleeve' for a broken pole, but was surprised to get 3 of them with this tent. I guess it makes sense that conditions that result in one pole breaking may take out the other poles at the same time - unless I camp under a snow-laden tree.

Does anyone have/know of experience of more than one pole breaking in the wind? Perhaps they did that Easter, was it? in the carnage at Pigsty Ponds...

Ta for your thoughts.

Funny. I've been in some windy spots but never had a broken pole from it. Maybe I've just been lucky (so far, touch wood and all that).
Tunnel tents tend to be more forgiving with the wind than domes, although the bigger the tent, the more stress on it. Still, it would take an awful lot to do that much damage.

Most often poles are broken when setting the tent up or taking it down (by bending them too much, wind often helps here)
The other major cause is not inserting one pole section fully into the next one, the typical result is a crack close to the end of the female part.

My FairyDown Plateau came with 2 narrow sleeves and a large one
Every other tent I have bought came with one until I got the S/H Coleman which had a selection as there were two different diameter poles and there were two of each size and type 6 in total

The hille's come with one spare pole section and a spare sleeve. Usually poles break as Franco says or by accident when stood on. Carry as many as feel comfortable carrying.

At need many things can be pressed into repair duty and probably why I still carry an old Vango V shaped tent peg as a spare tent peg
you can do a lot with some copper wire and duct tape but the Hilleberg spare pole section make the most sense in terms of ease and strength

Ta for your thoughts, folks. The only time i've had a broken pole in 35 yrs is when somebody tried to be helpful and straighten a pole section that didn't need to be straightened!

Love the idea of the copper wire, MD. While I'm still trying to go lighter, I reckon a bit of that won't weigh much.

I've only snapped a pole once when I tried to move my tent with my gear inside by picking it up by the poles.

I found that a shepherd's hook peg fit inside the pole perfectly. A rock and some bending removed the hook part and a little tape helped keep everything in place. I used the tent like that for some time before finally ordering a replacement section. I think improvisation is the best answer.

If I thought I would likely break poles often enough to carry one or more repair sleeves I'd choose a different tent.