Can I bend a DAC Featherlite Green tent pole?

[gunwharfman]

I own a Marmot Pulsar 1P tent and it uses Dac NSL Featherlite Green tent poles. Three of my poles were broken by a group of school children when I camped on a site a while ago. I believe they were larking about and one fell onto to my tent?

I've discovered that I can buy straight individual pole sections but my original poles are curved.

Is there a way to bend them a little, or if I try will they just snap?

[Innominate Man]

I made an equivalent post a few years ago - as one of my straight aluminium poles was bent after my son borrowed the tent for use at a festival 
I seem to recall being underwhelmed by the lack of responses. Hope you fare better GWM.
Perhaps there is a lack of engineers on the forum to help us with such things.

[Percy]

I also had a tent pole snapped by teenagers, I think drink was involved.


Anyway, it was one of the short lived range of Mountain Equipment tents, I contacted ME and they sent a complete set of replacement poles free of charge. 


I'm not saying you'll get the same treatment from Marmot but they might be able to supply replacements at a cost, it sounds like you are already resigned to spending some money.

[alan de enfield]

I think that if you have a local 'real engineering' firm (that make things not just assemble) you will find that they have a pipe bender.
If you have an undamaged pole, take that with the straight poles and they would easily match it - you could even have some spares made.

Being in rural Lincolnshire we have several such firms, and, for the price of a 'couple of pints' (donation to the coffee fund) they will bend, weld, fabricate all sorts of bits and bobs.

You really do need a pipe-bender when using thin walled tubing other wise (if you try by hand) you just end up with a 'kink' that closes the tube down.

[jimbob]

If tempted you could make a jig to the correct bend by cutting out a piece of plywood as a template and clamping the pipe around it.However you must pack the pipe with fine sand as tightly as you can and warm the pipe up gently and evenly.(A hot air paint stripper or your missus' best hairdryer would do that) What is the diameter of the tubing involved? What material is the original tent pole made of?

[gunwharfman]

I tried Marmot UK and Marmot USA just after the problem happened but they were of no help at all. I learned a lesson though, when buying a new tent, does the manufacture or disributor have a help plan in cases like this, or if a repair cannot be managed, an individual like myself would then just throw the tent away and buy something else. That for me is why I became intersted in Nature hike tents, I could buy two or three of their tents for just one of Marmots, etc.

Thanks everyone for your views, I'll take a chance and order the poles and then hopefully come up with a workable plan.

[Patrick1]

We used to have a dome tent with aluminium poles. They were straight, but after a windy night in Coire Mhic Fhearchair several had acquired a significant bend! Clamping them and carefully bending the other way straightened them out without any need for heat, sand or pipe benders. So assuming you're simply aiming for a slight curve I think you'll be find just gently bending them, preferably round some sort of former. If its a sharp bend you're looking for you might need the other strategies discussed here.