How to Repair Split or Broken Tent Pole (with No Special Equipment)

Last Updated on 06/2024 by Diane

I have a lot of tents, including two old, cheaper tents with fiberglass poles. I let some friends borrow these tents to go camping at a music festival (no way my good ultralight tents are going to a festival!).  They ended up having a terrible time because a super-cell storm blew through the festival.  Yes, it was scary. Everyone was okay, but the high winds caused the fiberglass tent poles to break in multiple spots.

My friends ended up sleeping in the car. But it got me thinking about how they could have repaired the tent poles in the field.  So, I did some experiments and here’s how I fixed the broken tent poles without any special supplies.

By the way, my friend offered to buy me new tents. I refused since these are old, crappy tents anyway. But do read about the etiquette of borrowing camping gear!

How to Fix Snapped Tent Poles

If your tent poles snapped completely in two, the best solution is to use a “tent pole repair sleeve.”  It’s basically a straw-like metal tube that you put over the two broken sections to splint them together.  They are easy to use and sets of them only cost about $10. You can get them here.

But, seriously, who brings repair sleeves with them camping? I’m one of those insanely organized planning types of people, and I don’t bring them! Instead, you can use the two methods below to fix a snapped tent pole. They work for both broken fiberglass and aluminum tent poles.

1. DIY Tent Pole Repair Sleeve

With this method, you basically improvise a tent pole repair sleeve out of a piece of a disposable plastic water bottle. Another tube-like object would work, but I can’t think of anything I’d have handy other than a plastic water bottle.

You need:

• Duct tape: Medical tape or electrical tape will also work; cellophane tape tears easily so isn’t recommended
• Disposable plastic bottle: Ideally one with smooth sides and not a lot of bumps; thinner bottles work better than thick plastic (no Gatorade bottles)
• Way to cut the bottle: A sharp knife or the saw on your multi-tool will do the trick. The scissors from your first aid kit will also work.

Instructions:

1. Line up the broken ends of the pole.
2. Wrap the ends in duct tape to hold them together. Tape alone is not enough to fix snapped tent poles!
3. Cut a rectangular section from a disposable plastic bottle. Cut UP the bottle for the longer side.  You want the curved part to go along the pole.
4. Tape one side of the bottle along the pole. The taped broken section should be in the middle.
5. Wrap the piece of bottle around the pole. Secure it in place with lots of tape.

It looks messy, but hopefully you can see what’s going on in these pictures.

2. Tent Stake Splint

This method doesn’t work as well as the improvised repair sleeve because it puts more pressure on each side of the broken pole. However, it’s fast, easy, and holds up well enough to survive a night or two of camping.

1. Line up the broken ends of the pole.
2. Put a tent peg along them.
3. Wrap tape all around the peg to splint the broken poles together.

You can see how the tent stake splint works in the graphic below.

Pro Tip: I always keep duct tape with me when camping.  I have some of it wrapped around my lighter and more wrapped around one plastic water bottle. If you don’t have duct tape, you can use medical tape from your first aid kit. You do have one, right? If not, here’s what to put in a camping first aid kit. You could also use lots of band-aids instead of duct tape. I haven’t tried this, but it should work. 🙂

How to Fix Split Tent Poles

Fiberglass tent poles apparently often split lengthwise instead of snapping. If just a short section at the very end of the pole is split, just cut off the split part. Yes, this will shorten your tent poles. However, losing up to 5 inches of pole length usually won’t affect your tent functionality.  The tent might end up a bit lopsided, but should still stand.

A mini saw works great for cutting fiberglass tent poles. Just be VERY careful not to saw through the cord going through the pole! First saw one side and then saw the other side so you don’t go through the cord. You can also use wire cutters. I tried using a knife. It worked but was annoying so switched back to wire cutters.

If the tent pole splits all the way up:

Once a fiberglass tent pole starts to split lengthwise, it will keep on splitting upwards. You can see in the picture how much my tent pole split! To fix it, you will need to:

1. Cut off damaged ends. If the ends of the tent pole are very damaged, just cut them off.

2. Wrap the split pole with duct tape. Do NOT wrap the end. If you wrap the end, it won’t fit into the ferrule (the part that connects two pole sections).  Measure how much length needs to go in the ferrule and leave this unwrapped.

3. Insert into ferrule. The unwrapped end of the pole goes into the ferrule as it normally would. If the pole end isn’t too damaged, you can probably skip step #4.

4. Apply splint or sleeve. Use an improvised repair sleeve or splint to connect the ferrule and tent pole. This is optional, but it will strengthen the pole. You may need to remove the sleeve/splint when packing up the tent poles, though, since you won’t be able to fold them as normal.