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Backpacker Magazine – November 2008

Eco-Friendly Tent Poles

How do manufacturers make your trusty tent poles better for the environment? We discovered the magic formula right here.

by: Berne Broudy

(Courtesy Photo)

Gear
Tents
Environment

Light-but-tough aluminum poles are an essential ingredient in high-performance backpacking tents, but they have a hidden cost. To make aluminum strong enough, manufacturers have to super-heat it, which leaves a thick, ugly, dull gray coating. To remove the coating, they have historically had only one method: dip the poles in a tear gas-cocktail of phosphoric and nitric acid. The brew is toxic to the environment and to factory workers.

Enter DAC, a South Korean company that makes poles for many tent manufacturers in the outdoor industry. DAC has created a completely nontoxic alternative using a series of brushes that mechanically strip the gunk off the poles, leaving them bright and shiny. The greener poles are called DAC Featherlite NSL, and next spring they'll be available with select Big Agnes, Black Diamond, Kelty, MSR, Sierra Designs, and The North Face tents. DAC plans to switch entirely to the new process by 2010, and hopes to adapt the process for other aluminum gear, like carabiners.

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READERS COMMENTS

If you are worried about getting struck by lightning from a tent pole perhaps you are better off sitting onteh sofa...
Posted: May 30, 2009 Anonymous

A tent manufacturer does not necessarily have to manufactur all partsof a whole. Geesh. A hundred tent makers probably all get their poles from somewhere else.
Posted: May 30, 2009 Anonymous

How much and can I retrofit them to a tent I already have? Also, are they shock corded or what?
Posted: Jan 11, 2009 James Dickason

The answer to the question makes the question sound right. Change manufacturers to manufacturer and you'll see what i mean.

"How do manufacturers make your trusty tent poles better for the environment? We discovered the magic formula right here. "

Now read it as;

""How do manufacturer make your trusty tent poles better for the environment? We discovered the magic formula right here.""

1 letter makes all the difference :)
Posted: Jan 10, 2009 Rob

Are there any figures on lightening strikes using aluminum tent poles? I'd feel more comfortable with other than aluminum.
Posted: Jan 09, 2009 D. Larrabee

An apostrophe generally indicates possessive, not plural. Did you mean more than one manufacturer in your headline? Or were you indicating some sort of weird possessive sentence construction...? Either way, any editor worth the title would have caught and corrected the error.... Sheesh!
Posted: Jan 08, 2009 Paul Svrcek