Packing tent poles

[Sweep]

I always put my tent poles in the tent pack - roll the tent around them, put the lot in the tent bag, lash it very tightly with bungees to to the top of the rack.

I assumed that this was OK as this is how the tent was bought, and also assumed that however tightly lashed everything was the tent outer and inner would prevent any undue strain on the poles.

But I keep coming across posts saying that folk lash them to the bike frame or pack the tent on top of the rack but put the poles in a pannier.

Why? Am I missing something?

I know that the way I pack my panniers, any poles in there would surely be destroyed.

I do pack the pegs separately from the tent.

(edited for confusing typo)

[eileithyia]

They are perhaps minimising the risk of the poles either damaging the tent, or the tent bag?

[Ron]

There is nothing wrong with your method, but others may like to do it differently.
By packing the poles separately it allows the packed tent to be compressed to a greater degree which may allow it to be stored in a different place on the bike, making more efficient use of available storage space.

[Barrenfluffit]

It can be down to other things. I wanted to keep the sleeping bag on top of the pannier rack (its light but bulky). Tent can be damp so it can't go there. So it goes in a "wet" pannier which is one of the small ones at the front. The poles don't fit in there so go in a back pannier.

[gbnz]

I simply roll the tent up around the tent poles and then bungee it to the top of the rack, rather than putting tent or poles in a pannier (Keeps the panniers dry)

[andymiller]

I'm always amazed at the ingenious ways people on Internet cycling forms find to make their lives more difficult.

[gloomyandy]

I tend not to use the top of the rack for anything other than my tent poles (and possibly a bladder full of water if I think I won't be able to get any where I'm planning to camp). I have one pannier that contains the tent plus camp shoes, plus anything else that can be/is wet. I separate and pack the inner and outer individually as often the outer will be damp but the inner dry. The poles for my Terra Nova Voyager are simply too long to fit easily in any of my panniers so they go on the top of the rack and are secured by a loop around the seat post and a couple of small bungees. I don't bother folding or rolling the tent simply stuff it into a stuff sack. Not very complicated really

[iviehoff]

I find that the end of the poles are very good at damaging things, so I take care to put my poles where they won't damage things. Where I put the tent itself depends upon whether it is dry or not.

[meic]

I wrap my closed cell mat around the tent poles and put that along the rear rack.

The simple reason being that they are the two items which are too long to go any where else.
Yet pack very nicely together.

[RickH]

I wrap my closed cell mat around the tent poles and put that along the rear rack.

The simple reason being that they are the two items which are too long to go any where else.
Yet pack very nicely together.

I've done that too &, last time I did it, without the poles the rest of the tent packed up small enough to join everything else in a pair of Ortlieb front rollers (used on the back).

Now I have a smaller packing sleeping mat (Thermarest NeoAir - which is also more comfortable) I would put that in a pannier & have the tent and poles on the rack top to keep it away from other stuff if the tent is wet.

Rick.

[foxyrider]

My current poles are too long to fit into my panniers sensibly (they will fit but i don't want to risk damaging the bags or poles!) so they (and sometimes the mallet) get strapped onto the rack stays out of the way from harm. Bag of pegs (and mallet!) and canvas go nicely into the bottom of a pannier, sleeping bag in a waterproof compression bag on top - about half fill of one of my back rollers.

The poles don't need to be kept dry but i do prefer to carry dry canvas as its a lot lighter!

Top of the rack is home for my raincoat if it looks a bit iffy as everything else is in a bag.

[daddig]

I pack my Saunders Jetpacker, is wrapped as a complete package minus the pegs and strapped to the rings on my Carradice Long Flap, the pegs go in a pocket of the same.

[soton]

find that the end of the poles are very good at damaging things, so I take care to put my poles where they won't damage things. Where I put the tent itself depends upon whether it is dry or not.

I carry the poles in cut lengths of old inner tube, strapped to the bike frame, (to avoid rattling/scratching). You could use very short lengths of tube just covering the sharp ends of the poles to avoid them damaging panniers.

[drossall]

I have heard stories of people putting them down the seat tube...

[psmiffy]

To me this is all a revelation - poles in tent pole bag - tent pole bag in tent bag with tent