Repairing My SOTABeams Pushup Pole

 

I have a SOTAbeams Tactical 7000hds that I got from DX Engineering.  It’s a tough little bugger but not as tough as I wanted on the base plug / bung.  The base screws off so that you can clean it or remove / replace some of the elements and has a rubber pad to absorb the shock of the elements coming down.  It’s made out of thin plastic and over time it’s been getting damaged from being jammed in between rocks.

Before the base cap was completely destroyed, I decided to do a little repair with some two-part epoxy.  Here’s what I did.

1. Remove the cap from the pole and clean the bottom.  You don't want to glue it onto the pole.
   
   
2. Cover any holes from cracks from the inside.  You don’t want any epoxi leaking in.  There is a breathing hole, make sure you cover that too.  It's OK to stuff a bunch of painters tape on the inside.
   
   
3. Wrap a layer or two of painters tape around the the outside with the hard side up.  You’re making a form.
   
   
4. Mix some two part epoxi and pour it in the form you made.  You shouldn’t need more than a 1/8th or 1/2 inch. 
   
   
5. After it dried harder than concrete, I pulled the tape off and then ground it down a tad to ensure that my 2 inch PVC cap with a hole for a spike still fits.  By the way, the PVC cap with a spike is super handy as it keeps the base from sliding out, allowing me to just tie the top part to a tree branch or something.

 The pictures below show what I’ve described.  I’m guessing the base of this thing will outlast the rest of the pole now.

See how the plastic is broken off.  This thing is about to go full failure

I fixed the tape so that it didn't have a large dimple.

Finished product.  You can see where I ground it down a tad.

That's it.  I'm pretty stoked, it should take quite a beating.  The bottom is rock hard.  Any new pole that I buy will get this treatment.

Chris Claborne, N1CLC
(aka christian claborne)