Aluminum tent poles

[bob91yj]

I have an REI Hobitat tent. It came with aluminum tent poles. It seems that most of the more expensive tents come with aluminum poles as well.

What am I missing, why are the aluminum poles better? Mine are all slightly bent, where a fiberglass pole wouldn't be. My tent has been in some pretty high winds, had to park the Jeep on the upwind side and tie the tent off to it. It's a high profile tent, I can stand up in it. I haven't had one of the aluminum poles fail yet, it just seems to me that fiberglass would hold up better long term.

 

[Christophe Noel]

Fiberglass poles are the pole of last resort. Fiberglass is usually found in the cheapest of cheap tents. There are a few different types of aluminum poles with the most common being DAC aluminum poles. Because poles can often comprise about 30 - 40% of the price of a tent, poles are darn important.

In a nutshell, fiberglass poles are heavy, and lack the flexibility of premium aluminum poles. When a fiberglass pole is over flexed, say in a wind event, it shatters, and shatters badly. The entire pole section is usually blown to shreds. Aluminum poles not only endure a higher degree of bending, which allows your tent to survive those wind events, when they do fail they often just kink. Repairing a failed aluminum pole is as easy as sliding a tube splint over the kinked section.

Poles are like the foundation of a house. They're pretty essential. There really is no such bird as a good tent with glass poles.

 

[bob91yj]

So it's normal for my aluminum poles to be warped/curved after severe use?

 

[Jonathan Hanson]

Not necessarily "normal," but probably not a concern unless they're kinked. Many aluminum tent poles are formed prebent from the factory to relieve stress. If yours came straight and are bending in specific areas, it could mean your tent isn't tensioned evenly, which could be either a pitching issue or a design flaw.

 

[Christophe Noel]

Some poles are shaped with those bends from the factory. Many of the newer designs require the poles to have more acute, or structured bends in them. Also, there's a chance your poles have developed a slight bend through use, and that bend may have been exaggerated if your poles suffered a great deal of flex from wind, snow loads, etc. Not a big deal.

I was camped at 12,000 feet in my Bibler tent when 60-75mph winds rolled in. Several times during the night my tent was completely leveled by the wind only to spring back up again. The poles did get a "set" bend in them after that trip, but I've been using those same poles for over a decade since. Glass poles would have been blown to bits. There's a reason why the most budget of budget tents like $40 Wenzel tents come with glass poles. They're cheap.

 

[762X39]

It has already been covered that aluminum poles are better for severe use. About 5 years ago, our Eureka tent (with aluminum poles) was set up behind our cottage. A tornado blew through and the tent was found in the trees in the back.The only casualty was 1 bent pole section which Eureka replaced under warranty. I have a small 1 man tent that came with fiberglass poles and I have had to replace a pole section that shattered for no reason that I can discover.

 

[ssssnake529]

Only thing better than aluminum poles are carbon fiber, but you won't find carbon poles on a typical tent.

 

[thedjjack]

Fibreglass poles do not like cold weather either....A. poles have outlasted all my tents...

 

[taugust]

After many years of having cheap tents with fiberglass poles, and replacing them because the poles broke when the tent was flattened in high desert winds, I went with a good tent with aluminum poles. The instructions say that the poles could develop a slight bend, but to not attempt to straighten them. In normal use, they are bent anyway.

 

[aruss]

I think part of the problem is that the hobitat is a high profile tent with long thin poles, and they don't do well in heavy winds. Some of the Eureka Cabin tents (e.g. the Titan) are pretty bombproof with aluminum poles, but they are about 1" in diameter. I have a REI basecamp 6 and the poles got tweeked in heavy winds at Assateague (but they did not break). For storm resistance you are better off with a dome or something low to the ground, but the stand up tents are nice for changing clothes in, etc. The cabelas alaskan 8 has a really good rep and offers the best of both worlds, but is expensive.

 

[lam396]

I have what I considered to be an "expensive" family, general use tent that came with fiberglass poles. After very little use and none of it in high winds or snow loads, one of the poles has split. I was able to temporarily fix it with some duct tape so that it didn't damage the tent material but it will need to be replaced. I haven't spoke with the customer service department yet to see what they say so I will refrain from posting the manufacturer. I would like to upgrade to alum if it would be worth it but I'm not sure what new poles go for yet.