Modern mountaineering tent pole material and replacement

Hi all,

I have an old school Mountain 24 North Face tent that I accidentally broke a pole on. I'm using a sabot as a fix; it's fine for now but I'd like to replace the pole. 

I had a few questions. First, for context, here's the tent model:

It's pretty bomber. A bit heavy, but for the price (re: I already own it) I'm fine with that. Anyways, I was wondering if I could just upgrade all the poles to carbon fibre to reduce the weight? Or is carbon fibre not as strong as the aluminum poles this thing came with? I'd sooner have the weight and the peace of mind. When this thing is full guyed out it's not going anywhere.

Thanks in advance for any advice. 

YOLOLZ Bicarbonate wrote:

Hi all,

I have an old school Mountain 24 North Face tent that I accidentally broke a pole on. I'm using a sabot as a fix; it's fine for now but I'd like to replace the pole. 

I had a few questions. First, for context, here's the tent model:

It's pretty bomber. A bit heavy, but for the price (re: I already own it) I'm fine with that. Anyways, I was wondering if I could just upgrade all the poles to carbon fibre to reduce the weight? Or is carbon fibre not as strong as the aluminum poles this thing came with? I'd sooner have the weight and the peace of mind. When this thing is full guyed out it's not going anywhere.

Thanks in advance for any advice. 

When I did a lot of custom sewing and repairs, the top standard was Easton aluminum poles. Tents I’m using and selling now are using DAC poles. I have had no problems with them and they are quite stout.

Aluminum Pole sections can be cut with a tubing cutter. Poles generally have shock cord with a barbed fitting inside each end of the pole and then the fittings are pressed into each end.

Fiberglass are easily available at most sporting goods stores and can be cut with a fine tooth hack saw. However, fiberglass will be heavy. I’m not sure where to get carbon fiber poles. Might contact tent manufacturer (s).

Have you tried contacting North Face, to see if they have a replacement poles available?  If you do get a new pole. Save the old one for parts as most times just one section is damaged and if you take apart the pole you can replace the bad section.

If your tent has Easton poles look on the sections for the diameter as this will help with finding the exact replacement. 

That piqued my interest so I did some snooping.  This outfit offers Easton carbon tent poles, as well as aluminum.  https://www.questoutfitters.com/Tent_Poles_CF.htm..  You'd have to do some investigation re: weight, stiffness, cost, etc.

When I did more peakbagging, I used to replace most of my tent poles with carbon fiber poles. The latter are significantly lighter, just as strong, but more fragile and need more careful handling.

I used to get replacements from raptorresins.com in Tennessee, who would build custom sets if they didn’t already have them built to spec. Looking at their website now, I can’t find them listed under Products.

The site below lists Fibraplex tent poles, which is what RR used, though I don’t know if they have replacements for the tent you mention. If not, you could enquire if they accept custom orders.

https://fibraplex.fatcow.com/index.php/store/#!/Tent-Pole-Sets/c/13883042