They decided to just give the poles to me and purchased other poles.
After this I disassembled the broken pole and quickly traced the problem to what I'll term a broken plastic "split ring." I'm sure if I could replace that little plastic part function would be restored, but I haven't had the best luck so far.
I'd like to attempt this repair since it seems so trivial, then... hey... free poles assuming my friend doesn't want them back.
Contacting Kelty Customer support thus far they've said there isn't anything they can do and instead refered me to Quest Outfitters because I am guessing that:
- Quest Outfitters might be a supplier that manufactures tents that Kelty then brands as their own
- The customer service representative I'm talking to keeps thinking that I'm talking about TENT poles not TREKKING poles despite my efforts to clarify this point...
I've thought about visiting Kelty's location in Broomfield in person but it appears that location is actually "Exxel Outdoors" (who owns Kelty amongst other brands) and from Google Street View I see that visitors are expressly discouraged.
Maybe I could contact Exxel directly...
I know a bit about manufacturing so I just know that somewhere, wherever these poles are manufactured, there's a big plastic bin full of these yellow plastic rings that I'd happily pay for. I mean really one of those things can't cost more than a few cents?
Any thoughts?