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The old ranger who fixed my tent pole in Shenandoah
Back in 2019, I snapped a pole at Big Meadows campground. A ranger named Dale patched it with a splint and some zip ties, took maybe 10 minutes. He said, 'A tent is just a story you sleep in, kid.' Still use that same pole every season, no issues since.
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avery_stone951mo ago
That line about "a tent is just a story you sleep in" really got me. I read a piece a while back about trail crews and how the older rangers tend to have this whole different way of looking at gear, like it's not about the fancy stuff, it's about what keeps you going. There was this one story I remember about a guy in the Smokies who patched a busted pack strap with a bootlace and it held for years. Sounds like Dale was cut from the same cloth. Those zip tie fixes are no joke either, I've seen them outlast actual replacement parts. Cool that you still use that pole every season, kind of makes the tent part of the story now.
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