My challenge was this: I wanted a place to store the poles of my trailer tent, and it had to be on the outside of my Jurgens trailer. So I started by making a drawing of the project at hand. When I’d finished that, I priced the materials needed – only roughly R100. That certainly wasn’t going to break the bank!
But please take note, if you intend travelling with a full set of tent poles for the complete tent and multi-room, you will need to build two of the tent pole boxes described. For my needs, one sufficed.
PROBLEM SOLVER
At the outset I realised that the project would have to meet four requirements:
1. I wanted the solution to be inexpensive.
2. The pole box had to be waterproof.
3. The installation needed to be easy.
4. Easy access to the poles on the outside of the folded-away tent was essential.
PARTS LIST
- 2 metres 110 mm household PVC pipe
- 1 end cap 110 mm
- 1 screw-type 110 mm end cap
- 1 tube PVC glue
- 12 cable ties, 400 mm long
- 1 tin black spray paint
THE 'HOW TO'
This project was really simple. First I glued the two end caps in place. Next I spray-painted the pipe black. (This was a personal preference, so you don’t have to do it.) I then inserted the pipe into the rack between the tent and trailer top, making sure that the screw cap end just stuck out of the rack for easy access. I also made sure that the access end was towards the front of the trailer.
I tied the pipe down to the rack in three places, using a criss-cross fastening method. If you’d prefer to drill some holes, then you can easily bolt the pipe to the frame. I wasn’t too keen on this, because I wanted the pipe to be as waterproof as possible.And that was that! Talk about a simple solution to a nagging problem!
I still use the pole bag, as it stops the poles rattling around in the pipe, and it also makes withdrawing the poles easier, after I’ve unscrewed the front end off the pipe.
The attached pics are pretty self-explanatory. Good luck with your DIY project!
(This article was published in the Dec/Jan 2011/12 issue of Caravan & Outdoor Life)
