So in the never-ending change & evolution of my hiking (or rather, packing) style, I am starting to carry my tent poles separate from the body of my tent: I am putting them in one of the side pockets, secured in place with compression straps. But I am starting to worry that I might end up regretting this if the pole ends start to aggravate a hole in the mesh of the pocket. So I am pondering the relative merits of putting them into a separate pole bag to protect the pack's mesh pocket.

On the one hand it feels like it will just be one more thing to buy and keep track of, and on the other hand it feels like that minor irritation would be worth it to save holes in the mesh of my pack.

Seems like a good cost-to-benefit ratio, but I'm curious what others have experienced or would recommend?