MLD Duomid, Pole extender MYOG.

I bought a second hand MLD Duomid recently from Dawn. I knew it would be in good condition coming from her and it came with a solo Oookworks inner too. What it didn’t come with was a walking pole extender which you need to have.
I asked around a few people that have blogged about the Duomid and received a wealth of advise. Thanks everyone, you know who you are.
I decided to make my own but taking into consideration what Colin Ibbertson had wrote about the extending pole in bad weather.   And also the poles which were on offer from MLD and Backpackinglight UK.  (You can read Colin’s post here.)

I don’t use walking poles at all. I tried the idea years ago but we never got on and i ended up carrying them more than using them. So they ended up relegated to the loft.
I knew that i would have to use at least one entire pole and after searching the loft i could only find one. What has happened to the other i am at a loss. I weighed the pole and considering this Komperdell pole is ancient, it weighed 260 grams. Quite good i thought.

So i had a go at making a prototype with a piece of central heating copper tube and then when i had proven the right length, looked around for some aluminium tube to make it lighter. I had nothing suitable at home and the price of tubing at the DIY stores was too high. I had to buy a metre and i only wanted about a third of that. Eventually i came across a complete pole at GoOutdoors and it only cost £3.99. Strip it down and use the materials i thought. How they make this pole and sell it at a large markup is quite something in itself.

The central section of the new pole was a near perfect size to suit the pointed end of my Komperdell. It was quite tight and very little wobble under pressure. But i came up with the idea of how to make it a perfect fit. I wrapped the sharp end of the pole with cling film and then after positioning the extender tube, i filled it with builders expanding foam and let it harden. The inside shape of the extender now matched the shape of the Komperdell perfectly and it should prevent any wobble in bad weather.  I warmed up the small rubber bung that you get supplied with a pole in boiling water and i just managed to fit it over the exposed end of the extender tube so that it will protect the tent material when its located in the apex.

With a bit of pressure i managed to remove the handle from the Komperdell. After all, i will not be using it as a walking pole and therefore it is a bit superfluous. I cut the rubber handle down off the new one and fitted it to the Komperdell. This will give the pole its support on the ground. I can also refit the old handle if i ever need a walking pole.

Complete finished pole and extender weight. 280grams. Cost of extender £3.99. Time to make around 30 minutes plus overnight curing time for the foam. (It does dry quicker but i left it overnight.)

The walking pole extender at 27cm long complete with strengthening ferrule and protective bung.

The adjustable walking pole and extender assembled.

The reworked handle