Saw a thru-hiker fix a broken tent pole with a stick on the AT last month

I was hiking near Harpers Ferry and this guy's pole snapped. He just grabbed a fallen branch, whittled it down with his pocket knife, and slid it right inside the broken section. Worked perfectly for the rest of his trip. Now I always carry a small piece of repair tubing and a spare ferrule. Anyone else ever MacGyver a fix like that on trail?

3 comments

3 Comments

maxm501mo ago

Whittled it down with his pocket knife" - you serious? That's insane. No way I'd trust my whole trip to a stick I just found.

nina1801mo ago

@maxm50 I think you're mixing up two different stories, he didn't whittle the stick on the mountain, he already had it shaped and used it to check the snow. Still a risky move though, right?

skyler_white7d ago

Took my own hiking pole once and snapped it halfway up a trail, ended up using a fallen branch I found on the ground. It honestly worked fine for the rest of the day, just had to make sure it was solid and not rotten. I mean, I get being careful about trusting random sticks, but sometimes you don't have a choice when your gear fails. idk, maybe I'm just lucky, but that branch got me through the whole hike without any issues.