How to temporarily join fiberglass poles?

Question

I need to be able to repeatedly attach and disconnect two solid fiberglass poles.

The poles themselves will be the same diameter (~3/8"). The joint doesn't need to be stronger than the poles when they are pulled apart or bent, but the poles shouldn't come apart easily and the joint shouldn't permanently deform easily. It doesn't matter if the joint is permanently attached to one of the poles or not—it just can't be permanently attached to both of them (they need to come apart).

As a bonus: it would be nice if the joint doesn't add much weight and isn't very difficult to make.

My first thought is to use some small-diameter steel pipe a few inches in length. But I can't think of a reliable and non-destructive way to keep the poles from slipping out.

Edit:

There will be a pulling force on the poles. It will be smaller than the bending force but still significant.

Answer 1

JPhil1618 said in a comment exactly what I was thinking: This sounds like a tent-pole situation.

• Epoxy an appropriately sized metal sleeve to one pole, putting 1/2 the sleeve on the pole.
• Drill a hole through (both walls of) the other end of that pole, then epoxy a small steel bar into the hole.
• Drill a hole through one end of the other pole and epoxy a small steel bar into it.
• Hook (or tie) a bungie cord to one of the poles, thread it through that pole, into the "non-bar" end of the other pole, then stretch it to hook over the bar in the other pole.

Now, all you have to do is line the two poles up at the sleeve and push them together to make one long pole. When you want to separate them, simply pull (maybe twist a bit) and they'll come apart. The bungie cord will keep the two poles together for storage, and to help pull them together so they don't come apart in use.

If it's not necessary to keep the poles permanently connected in some way, then completely eliminate all but the first step. I guess I just got a bit carried away with the tent pole analogy.

Answer 2

Use an exhaust sleeve clamp or a hose clamp. This is a tube of thin metal with two muffler clamps that you can tighten to cause the metal to contract around the poles.

you will need to find a thin-walled pipe with an interior diameter that matches the exterior diameter of your fiberglass poles, and long enough so that they don't bend or break it if held horizontally.

Answer 3

two 10mm poles to join end-to-end with a secure releasable joint.

steel or aluminium sleeves are commonly used to join tent poles but this wont give a joint that secure against pulling.

a 3/8 pipe extender could be used here. with the cup end cut off and glued to the other pole so that both poles go into the bore of the extender with the one entering the cut end glued in place and the other one glued to the cup end so the poles now screw together,

Answer 4

After thinking about it some more and pondering everyone's helpful comments and answers, I believe there's another solution, too:

Cover the joint with a few inches of snugly-fitting flexible tubing (perhaps of braided vinyl). Then slide a snugly-fitting metal pipe over the tube. Make sure the pipe is short enough to leave room for hose clamps. Then use hose clamps (one at either end of the pipe / on either side of the joint) to secure the tube to the poles. The hose clamps will also keep the metal pipe from slipping off.

The flexible tube will prevent the poles from being pulled apart. The pipe prevents the joint from bending. And the poles will be comfortably cushioned, so the joint won't damage them in any way.