Took 4 hours to figure out my tent pole was just twisted wrong

I was setting up my tent at Lake Tahoe last weekend and the main pole kept snapping out of the socket. I spent a good 20 minutes trying to force it, then gave up and sat there staring at it for another 15. Finally realized one section was rotated 180 degrees, so the curve was facing the wrong way. Flipped it and the whole thing clicked together in 5 seconds. Has anyone else wasted way too long on a stupid simple fix like that?

3 comments

3 Comments

wesleyburns1mo ago

Oh man, this hits way too close to home (it's honestly painful to admit). I once spent a solid 45 minutes trying to get my tent fly to fit right, only to realize I had the whole thing flipped backwards. The color coded clips were, you know, color coded for a reason haha. But you get so focused on one thing that you just tunnel vision and miss the obvious stuff staring you in the face. It's like the tent equivalent of trying to push a door that says pull.

blair_green861mo ago

tunnel vision and miss the obvious" haha yep that's me anytime I try to do anything outdoors. It's like my brain just turns off.

the_robin1mo ago

45 minutes is still faster than my first attempt, and @blair_green86, maybe your brain just knows better than to overthink it.