Help! Discover THE 2 Main Problems With Bell Tent Poles

Types of Poles

There are two types of bell tent poles on a standard bell tent; the central pole and the a-frame or entrance pole. These can fail in certain conditions from simply coming loose to snapping completely.

We’ve considered how poles can become misshapen due to heavy loading during storage, but what can go wrong while the tent is in use?

The 2 Main Problems That Occur

Wind

Bell tent poles most commonly fail during windy conditions. Excessive wind can dislodge the pole and forces on the tent’s canvas can cause the pole to snap. You can reduce the likelihood of this happening by pitching the tent correctly (with its back to the wind), by checking guy ropes are secured properly, and by checking the tension on the slides is correct – all before the wind hits.

During windy conditions, the tent’s entrance should remain shut and in extreme conditions the occupants should be asked to evacuate the tent completely.

Keep an eye on the weather forecast. If gale force winds are forecast, you may have to consider cancelling your bookings for a short period.

User Error

However, the wind isn’t always to blame for failed bell tent poles. Poles are often abused by glampers, also leading to their failure. Young children will hang on to the central pole and swing their bodies in a circular motion around it, children and even adults will climb up it, heavy, wet clothes get hung from it, dogs are tied to it – the pressures put on the poles are certainly not limited to the weather conditions alone.

As a glampsite owner, or even if you simply loaned your tent to a friend; you may never know the true reason for a bell tent poles failure, but you can certainly be prepared for this eventuality. Have some spare bell tent poles ‘in the wings’ to quickly replace failed poles, and gently inform your glampers of the dangers of their abuse.

Pole ‘Stirrup’ Failure

Definition: This is the material webbing loop sewn into a patched area of the groundsheet and found on either side of the entrance, inside the tent. It is into these two stirrups that each foot of the a-frame is secured.

Occurrence & Avoidance:

Unlike the central pole, it’s very rare that the a-frame is misused by the glamper themselves as its position is a little more tucked away. It is less useful as a wet clothes hanging area, with it being at the entrance. Most will want to keep this area free of clutter and soggy clothing. Besides, it’s difficult to hang items from this pole without them sliding to the ground, and so is less likely to be abused in this way.

Instead, this failure tends to occur during extreme windy conditions, especially if the tent has been pitched with its entrance facing into the wind. If the guy ropes are over-taught and the tent is in a vulnerable position, eventually something has to ‘give’ and if the pole itself doesn’t fail, the pressure is transferred elsewhere, in this case onto the stirrup.

To avoid this happening you will need to keep an eye on the weather forecast and weigh up whether you really want to leave your tents pitched if the forecast is looking extreme. Whilst bell tents have yet to be tested in terms of an official wind rating, they are widely known for being able to handle winds of up to 50mph if pitched well.

Fixing a Failed Stirrup

Fixing a failed stirrup is difficult. During production, the webbing material is stitched onto a patch of the groundsheet material and then the patch is adhered to the groundsheet itself by the process of heat sealing. Most of us don’t have the necessary equipment to achieve the same level of finish as the production line, but with a basic skill set it is possible to stitch the loop back on in order to get the tent ‘over the line’ toward the end of the season.

If possible, don’t remove the patch from the groundsheet, and with a strong needle and strong nylon thread, stitch the loop back into position by following the original stitch holes. You may need to go through both the patch and the groundsheet beneath to complete this, and so create new holes in the groundsheet. These new holes can be filled from the outer side of the groundsheet with a flexible waterproof adhesive.