Cotswold: Vango Soul

[alwayscurious]

Hi all,
I have a lovely "Vango Soul" 100 tent from cotswold outdoor (uk brand). It's a bivy style tent. it is my son's tent, and I borrowed it for a hike up Mt Barney recently. (Great hike!!)

It's light and really weatherproof..

One issue i recently faced though was that the fibreglass pole (rear pole) split. it's a 6mm pole, and it split as I put it up (just before a storm). Lucky i had duct tape with me, which held for the evening.

Because it's my son's tent, I would like to quickly replace the pole

I have a question about replacing these poles: Where to buy good quality replacement poles from in Brisbane? (or online if need be?)

I wouldn't mind going aluminium - any good suppliers out there?

I once bought some ebay aluminum poles, but they wouldn't flex enough, and often broke.

So, I would love to hear of some suppliers for new poles (I can cut to length / size if need be)..

Cheers in advance!
alwayscurious.

[sambar358]

I've bought Easton alloy tent poles from Ansco in Melbourne here : http://www.ansco.com.au/Tent-Poles-Acce ... s/1925.htm

They've always been very good to deal with, have reasonable stock of most sizes and diameters and post-out fast. As well as the actual poles you'd need pole inserts (joiners) and probably end tips and .355 (9mm) is a good size for strength while still reasonably light. Try and match the original Vango pole lengths and number of sections but the Easton poles are easy to cut to length with a hacksaw and a sharp blade. Cheers

s358

[Moondog55]

As the curve in the bivvy tent is a tight one get the precurved wand sections; lees liable to buckle or break

[Franco]

I had a look yesterday at that tent.
The pole radius at the back did look to me a bit too tight so I would also suggest one or two pre-bent sections.
(two only if there is an even number of straight sections (probably only one...)) on either side of them.

[alwayscurious]

Wow! Thanks you helpful lot. I might preview the aluminium pre bent. Your right.. It's a tight radius. They are prone to breaking, so I will investigate pre bent sections. Tops!

Ps.. Mt Barney is a delight!

[alwayscurious]

Also.. Do you think I must match the original thickness? Original is 9 for front and 6.9 for rear.. Rear is Too thin in my opinion and thus weaker. If I go al, can I just go 9 overall?

[Moondog55]

Go 9mm diametre on both

[alwayscurious]

I had a look yesterday at that tent.
The pole radius at the back did look to me a bit too tight so I would also suggest one or two pre-bent sections.
(two only if there is an even number of straight sections (probably only one...)) on either side of them.

There is 3 sections. Left, Middle and right. THe middle one bends quite significantly, but so does the left/ right (which tend to snap).

So do you think I should only get 1 pre-bent section (middle) and have the end ones straight? Or all 3 bent?

Cheers
A/c

[Franco]

Easton give 1 m as the minimum radius for non pre-bent 340 poles (8.74mm)
Slightly less for smaller diameter .
I don't know the exact radius of your tent but you could work it from there.
If close to 100cm get one pre-bent, if say around 80-90 get all three .