Lost a tent pole in the rain at Yosemite and finally saw the value of a repair kit

I used to think those patch kits and pole splints were just extra weight in my pack. Then last April I was solo camping near Yosemite Falls and a gust snapped my main pole at 11pm. Rain was coming down hard and I had to rig a branch under the fly to keep it from collapsing. Next morning I hiked out and bought a $12 tube of repair sleeves from the gear shop in El Portal. Now I carry a splint for every trip. Anyone else have a specific piece of gear they ignored until it ruined a night?

3 comments

3 Comments

kimmurphy1mo ago

Tbh I had almost the same thing happen to me a couple years back. Lost a tent peg in a mudslide near Kings Canyon and spent an hour digging around with my flashlight before giving up and using a rock to stake down my fly. That rock held better than any peg I've ever owned. It's funny how those desperate moments teach you more than any gear review ever could. Ngl I still carry a repair kit but I also trust my gut more when things go sideways.

sage_green1mo ago

Did you ever go back and test that branch rig you used that night? Seems like you learned a good lesson but I wonder if that quick fix actually held up better than the repair sleeve would have in the same conditions. I ask because sometimes those field expedient fixes end up being more reliable than the actual repair kit when you're dealing with heavy rain or wind.

lewis.terry1mo ago

Honestly, I never did go back to test it on purpose, but that branch rig held solid through two more storms before I finally swapped it out. Ngl, it kinda backs up what I've seen with a lot of stuff in life - sometimes the quick, janky fix you come up with on the spot works better than the proper solution because you're actually paying attention to what's going wrong.