Thursday, August 21, 2008

Upcoming backache

I have signed the boys up for a cub scout camping trip. Last time I went with Ken, we borrowed a tent from the pack. It was not entirely to my liking as it was very well vented and it was a rainy cold night. So I searched online for tents. Target had some nice ones. So did Walmart. So, I narrowed it down to a nice Ozark Trail 6 man tent from Walmart that got some great reviews. At this point, I don't think we will be doing a lot of camping. As it is, one night in a tent will have me pretty well incapacitated for by the next morning. I keep having these visions of the fun I used to have as a Girl Scout. It's just not fun anymore. But I can't keep my boys from experiencing something that gave me such great joy as a kid. And Cub Scouts requires a parent to attend with the child. Not that I can argue with that.

I'm also attending a letter boxing event next weekend with Firstborn. Because it is in a remote area of Ohio, there are few hotels. So we will be camping. It's too far to drive there and back in one day.

All this camping gives reason for a tent. Hopefully, I will gain some camping muscle and I can do this with the boys in the future as well. But because we are not going into this with high hopes, a cheap tent should be fine. Besides, no rain has been predicted here in Ohio for the last 2 months and we are not expecting any more soon.

So, off I went to Walmart only to find that the great cheap tent with the good reviews was all sold out. Big surprise, I know. So I bought a Coleman 7 person tent for what was still a made-in-china-great price. A bit big for 3 people and no, there's no chance that DH will join us.

So last Saturday, I decided that I should set it up myself before we arrive at the camp site. No use making a fool of myself in front of the Cub Scouts. I have some pride you know. Enough pride that I didn't want to set it up in the yard. I chose the garage. With the door closed. The neighbors get enough entertainment without watching me struggle with a tent raising.

I was able to do most of the job myself calling Firstborn in only when it was time to raise the poles. This is a two-person job even for the most experienced, unless you are a giant octopus; which I am not.

The tent looks great and is large enough for a party. I had visions of bringing the dog. We could fit her crate in there. I'm not courageous enough for that yet though. After she goes to her training class next month -- maybe.

Sunday, I decided to take it down. It had aired out enough. The magic is always in the refitting in the duffel it came with. Will it? Take down was a 1-person job. All went well. The tent folded nicely and even fit in the bag with some room. Would the poles fit as well? That would be too much to ask for.

I gathered them together and tried to fit the first folded pole into the plastic bag it came in. There was no bottom to the plastic bag. The pole fell through the sleeve and hit the garage floor. The impact of the aluminum poles against the cement caused the shock cord in the poles to break at every joint. Holy tent pole, Robin! What do you do in this case?

You immediately search the Internet for Coleman replacement poles. It says to call Coleman. So, the next day, I get on the phone with Coleman to see if they can ship me a new pole and maybe a spare. No. They are out of stock and it will take a month for them to get new ones. Is this why the tent is so cheap? There are pole fabricators out there, but that will no way provide 5-day turnaround like I need. What to do?

So Tuesday, I dragged the boys to Jo-Ann Fabrics to find a replacement shock cord. I'll let you in on a secret. Shock cord is really just thin elastic. They have it but not in the thickness of the tent pole I have. I chose the thinner weight one because it could fit in the tiny holes of the pole pieces. I spend the afternoon stringing poles together. It turns out that one package of elastic cord is just the right length for the Coleman 7 person tent poles. Voila! I bought two packages. The second will be slipped into our tent duffel for future repairs. It happened once, it will happen again.

I'm sure I will have stories to tell on Monday. Let's hope I'm not too incapacitated to type.

1 comment:

Michael Lockridge said...

Looks like you found a good solution. I just split a section of a tent pole, and went looking for repair kits. There are some, and I was delighted to find it is sold at a local sporting goods store. It is less than ten bucks, comes with all of the pole bits and a bit of shock cord.

It might be good to find one for the inevitable. Happy camping! Cub Scouts, eh? You are brave!