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That time a park ranger fixed my tent pole with a cigar tube

Last summer in Acadia I snapped a tent pole right in half on the second night of a 6 day trip. A ranger walked by while I was staring at the pieces and pulled a metal cigar tube out of his pocket. He said it fit perfectly over the break, so he always carried a few spares in his pack. We wrapped it in electrical tape and the tent held up for the rest of the trip, even through a sideways rain. I now keep a cigar tube in my own repair kit, and it's saved me twice since then. Has anyone else found a random object that worked way better than an actual repair part?
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stellam89
stellam896d ago
...and that’s why my go-to field repair kit now includes a random plastic fork. It held a broken strap together for three days after my actual strap buckle gave up. Honestly, the fork worked better than the official replacement part ever did. Kinda makes you wonder if gear companies are just charging us for the shiny packaging. My tent pole fix was a chopstick taped to the outside, so like, congrats on the fancy cigar tube, but we’re not all living in luxury, ranger.
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