Originally Posted by Tourist in MSN

I bought an 11mm diameter Aluminum tent pole on Ebay, to be shipped from China. And a couple trekking pole rubber feet that would fit on the ends, also Ebay from China, one for each end. Reason I got two trekking pole feet is that I used a rubber tip where the pole goes against the bike frame because I did not want a metal pole to damage the finish. The 11 mm pole was five sections, total length of about six feet. I cut each section (all five sections) to shorter lengths. I wanted it to fit in my handlebar bag, that is 9.5 inches wide. That is why I bought such a long tent pole, to get five sections so that each section could be short enough that when folded up it fits in my handlebar bag. (Wrap a rubber band around it when folded, I have no bracket for it.)