Aluminium annex poles

[robbo1172]

Has anyone made the transition from steel poles to aluminium for their annex?

I like the idea of twist lock and no wing nuts sticking out etc (with and added bonus of a small weight reduction).

I'm wondering if it's worth the investment, as I it's something that I could do a little bit at a time.

Thanks

[Grungle]

Hi Robbo,

Alloy twist lock poles come standard on Aussie Swag Campers and I have been using them for 10 years. Still work perfect after 40+ camping trips and survived a few severe storms along the way.

Only problem I have had is one of the front short poles (with a 'C' clip at the bottom to attach to a rail) has part of the 'C' clip broken off but still usable.

Highly recommend them.

[ivan]

Kimberley Kampers use them . No troubles yet

[Rumpig]

Kimberley Kampers use them . No troubles yet

we've had no issues with ours in the 4 years we've had our KK either

[DIGGA]

Hi Robbo1172, Supa-peg make good ones, they are called big foot and come in 3 different lengths, not sure if you can buy direct, have to check their website.

[Roo]

Twist lock alloy are sooooo much lighter than steelies. I use a couple for awning poles and they can't be beat. Price for 2 piece 7ft poles has varied from $16 - $23 so if you find a good deal, grab 'em. 9ft are a buck or 2 extra and there are 3 piece poles available too but the bottom section is ridiculously skinny.

[#jonesy]

http://www.polesapartdirect.com/collections/frontpage

[whitey1]

Yep our AOR Odyssey has the Supapeg ones which are now 6 years old and still working great.
So much better than steel ones. Picked up a steel one the other day and thought "bloody hell these are heavy!"

[weeds]

Hi Robbo1172, Supa-peg make good ones, they are called big foot and come in 3 different lengths, not sure if you can buy direct, have to check their website.

You can buy direct and you can get any length you want....just have to give them notice, I needed one 12fter when I converted all my poles a couple of months ago.

[robbo1172]

Thanks all

I've got a few more things to get first, but then I'll start collecting the aluminium poles.

Robbo

[trevc]

Seems I'm the exception to the rule, I took 8 away on our around Aus trip and in a big storm/ mini cyclone on the Murray river broke or severely bent 5 of them.
The winds we had were pretty horrendous but still I didn't expect 5 super peg poles to end up in the bin - about $125 worth I reckon.

Trev

[edz]

Hi trev,  do you use springs on the ropes ?

[Elky]

yea the cub has alloy ones, but not twist lock, they have a lever, bad thing about alloy ones is the led light bar magnets dont work on them! otherwise all good!

[trevc]

Hi trev,  do you use springs on the ropes ?

Sure do Ed, doubles on the corners and singles elsewhere.

[edz]

The springs could have been a cause of your problems, most only have so a couple of inches  travel before they pull up and go solid, in realy heavy weather.
Have seen a lot of vans etc lose annexes and tents lost this way over the years, when ours using O Rings kept on allowing  movement and gave with the higher  winds .
O rings can be had from concrete pipe /  plumbing suppliers for about $2 ea, approx roughly 150 mm round and 12 mm thick, never had a failure using rubber, yet in well over 40 years .

[paceman]

The springs could have been a cause of your problems, most only have so a couple of inches  travel before they pull up and go solid, in realy heavy weather.
Have seen a lot of vans etc lose annexes and tents lost this way over the years, when ours using O Rings kept on allowing  movement and gave with the higher  winds .
O rings can be had from concrete pipe /  plumbing suppliers for about $2 ea, approx roughly 150 mm round and 12 mm thick, never had a failure using rubber, yet in well over 40 years .

can you advise specific places that might stock this size of o-ring?  i have asked a few places, but they don't have anything like that...

[GGV8Cruza]

can you advise specific places that might stock this size of o-ring?  i have asked a few places, but they don't have anything like that...

Reece or any plumbing trade shop should be able to help, they are the rubber rings used to seal earthenware pipework together for old sewer pipes.

GG

[paceman]

Reece or any plumbing trade shop should be able to help, they are the rubber rings used to seal earthenware pipework together for old sewer pipes.

GG

thanks, GG.  i'll give them a shout...

[Bird]

Seems I'm the exception to the rule, I took 8 away on our around Aus trip and in a big storm/ mini cyclone on the Murray river broke or severely bent 5 of them.
The winds we had were pretty horrendous but still I didn't expect 5 super peg poles to end up in the bin - about $125 worth I reckon.

Has anyone else had these issues with ally poles turning to bananas???

I have to get a couple of replacement 275cm poles (bought some from Rays but they are real Shit quality) and thinking of the twist lock poles instead of the other style

[MrCruza]

Hi Robbo1172, Supa-peg make good ones, they are called big foot and come in 3 different lengths, not sure if you can buy direct, have to check their website.

And if you have an odd length requirement they will custom make them for you as well.

[Pete79]

Has anyone else had these issues with ally poles turning to bananas???

I have to get a couple of replacement 275cm poles (bought some from Rays but they are real Shit quality) and thinking of the twist lock poles instead of the other style

One of my ally twist lock poles has a slight bend and it's a bit of a pain.
It locks as you open it passed the little bent section. Once it's opened fully it locks ok, just got to reef it hard to open it up.

[edz]

Hey Birdman .. I have some of the twist lok style ally poles, though dont realy like them as they jam or slip [ coastal camping / salt corrosion etc ] ..
Most of our poles are old skool,  ally tube section with rolled corner 25 x 25 x 1.2 mm [ ally supply stockist ] from memory  and a steel  collar with a thumb screw to tighten up against an ally inner tube ..
Only close up pic I have is of a cut off section we use on our shower set up ..Yellow arrows show ally section and a Gal steel metal collar [ 30 x 30 x 1.2 mm from memory ]   held in place with small pop rivet ..
Orange shows garden stake where the ally inner would normaly go .
Been in some realy wild storms over the years and never had any bend or fail or slip  ..