Clam Rapid Pole Slide system

[PFUNK]

How do you guys like the rapid pole system on the clam portables? I can't seem to get them to work to save my life. They never snap into the locked position when i expand the poles to set the house up. The roof hoop poles slide off the lower pole section because the clips dont lock into place. The plastic clips want to rotate even after i tried to tape them in place with electrical tape. I haven't heard many complaints about these which makes me think I am doing something wrong but I can't figure it out. Anyone else having this issue?

[Corey Bechtold]

I don't have a shack with the bigge poles. Have you tried a white lithium grease?

I'll talk to my buddy in customer service to see what he says.

Later,

Corey Bechtold

[PFUNK]

Corey, I don't have the bigger poles either. This is on a Yukon TC. I haven't greased anything. The poles slide just fine, it's just a bear getting them locked into place with those black plastic handle pieces. I think they are called rapid pole slide extreme (rpsx). I appreciate you checking into it. I know Clam customer service will figure it out for me if I give them a call, I just figured someone here may have ran into this same issue.

[Corey Bechtold]

I wonder if drilling the holes out a tad bigger would help...

Let us know what Customer Service says.

Later,

Corey Bechtold

[gonehunting]

I'll be the first to admit that I'm a big fan of Otter fishhouses. A lot of the reason for that is the ease of use when it comes to their pole system. Clam/Fishtrap made big strides when they went to the 1 1/4 inch poles on several of their houses. The old conduit style poles have always had a tendency to stick. A friend of mine just sold a Clam Denali. I sold it for him on the list owned by Craig. The guy came to buy it and I fought forever to get the poles to slide and to get the Rapid Release clips to actually push the knobs in. I thought for sure it was going to cost us a sale. This was in a heated garage. My buddy was constantly fighting these poles on the ice. Maybe this is a unique experience but I will never buy another fishhouse with conduit style poles. My opinion only.

[PFUNK]

If it wasn't for this issue I would be very happy with this clam house. This is the only issue I have had so far but it is such a pain in the rear. I agree that the larger poles are probably much easier to work with and are more reliable, but I've never had an issue with the older conduit poles with the regular old snap buttons in them. I like the concept of these rapid slide collars to keep you from pinching your thumbs and a little quicker takedown, but they just aren't working right.

I called clam but got a message that email is the preferred method of communication right now. I would have rather just talked to someone but we'll see what they say. Hopefully they get back to me quickly.

Has anyone ever installed snap buttons to replace these rapid slide collars. I am thinking if clam can't remedy this problem maybe I can just install some of these into the poles?

[PFUNK]

Got an email back real quickly. They didnt offer suggestions on how to fix the issue but they are sending some new spring clips (I'm guessing like the ones I posted before) as well as some plastic "clip assist levers" which I am guessing make it easier to push the metal buttons in without pinching your thumb? Hopefully they work a little better.

[Scott O.]

I've had this same issue with my Legend Thermal. Most of the poles slide just fine, but there's always one or two of them, especially on the bottom pole set, that seems to not want to clip in easily. Generally with a little finangling and moving, it will lock into place. More of a small inconvenience right now. I still love the Legend for its features and maybe some more usage will alleviate some of the pole problems.