Blowy tarp set up - what' s yours

[Dartmoor navigator]

Now, don't get me wrong, I love wild camping in a gale of wind. I have taken great delight in owning half the Hilleberg range of tents and trying to destroy them. Now I realise all that old cobblers about finding a sheltered spot in the leeward of nice wall, mound, copse etc etc....

But!

There is something nice about setting up in a breeze. I used to carry an anemometer just to varify the extent of the blow and I think the top gust hit 72kts one night while I was pitched up in a Hilleberg Jannu with my dog

I also believe that sometimes a more flexible set up in wind is more desirable than a rigid one. An oak tree will eventually uproot where a blade of grass will bend with the breeze kind of thing. So what's your favourite tarp set up for a good low pressure system with tightly packed isobars????

[video=youtube;fhpl5p75DXE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhpl5p75DXE[/video]

 

[Shewie]

So what's your favourite tarp set up for a good low pressure system with tightly packed isobars????

MLD Trailstar without a doubt



- Colin Ibbotson

This is the lightest, largest, most storm-proof sub 1kg shelter I have ever used or seen, and quite possibly on
the planet. Stability is so good that I cannot think of any other shelter even at up to three times its weight
that could match it.

- Chris Townsend

The Trailstar performed astonishingly well. It’s one of the most stable shelters I’ve used, regardless of weight. On the wildest, wettest nights I felt completely secure and had ample room to live under cover.

 

[Dartmoor navigator]

Oh......Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiich! Chris Townsend knows nothing about trail camping; and no mistake



Anyway, I don't mean 'tented tarps' I mean a straight 3x3 sheet of nylon type of thing - how would you configure yours?

 

[martsim73]

Hmmmm.... Now that is something I will have to experiment with when we get the next low pressure system in! Not sure a tarp/basha will hold out in a wind like that demonstrated on the glacier! LOL I noticed when I was out with it last weekend, that it was only single stitched.... Not even double! :O

Martin

 

[Dartmoor navigator]

Hmmmm.... Now that is something I will have to experiment with when we get the next low pressure system in! Not sure a tarp/basha will hold out in a wind like that demonstrated on the glacier! LOL I noticed when I was out with it last weekend, that it was only single stitched.... Not even double! :O

Martin

Well, Martin. Here's my starter for ten. Firstly have a longer span or ridgeline than normal to give the set up some absorbency. Set out broadside to the wind and the windward side's geometry alters to suck toward the ground lifting the leeward side slightly..... These are my observations thus far but I haven't concluded

 

[Harvestman]

My basic set-up, as used on a windy hillside in the Wye valley last summer. Basically a lean-to with one end dropped, a low profile angle, and a lifter line on the windward side to keep it tight.

You can see the arrangement better from the other side, in better conditions, here, with the addition of my modified poncho to create an extra windnreak at the head end.

The basic lean-to arrangement gives you a lot of scope, as it is easy to adjust if weather worsens - you can lower the top edge, drop corners down for protection, and so forth, according to conditions. I've only had the wind change direction 180 degrees in the middle of the night once, and that I coped with by dropping the top edge down and using a lip - essentially the support pole wasn't at the corner, but one loop back from the corner, so you can creat a rain baffle on the open side. It helps reduce wind flap in the tarp too.

 

[Dartmoor navigator]

OOOooo, I like this one

 

[martsim73]

I just kept ours tucked in low and as we had a second tarp, used that to close us in a bit more. Well I slept like a baby underneath it without a problem... Twas fun too!



Martin

 

[SimonM]

DD 3 x 3 tarp on a windy night out...

...and from the inside...

Simon

 

[Dartmoor navigator]

Very roomy too, Simon

 

[Shewie]

Oh......Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiich! Chris Townsend knows nothing about trail camping; and no mistake



Anyway, I don't mean 'tented tarps' I mean a straight 3x3 sheet of nylon type of thing - how would you configure yours?

If I'm not in the Trailstar then I'm in a hammock, then it's just a case of getting some good stakes in the ground.

It's pretty rare I use a tarp on the deck, if I do then it's just a simple A-frame but I just drop one end into the wind.

 

[martsim73]

I like that setup Simon... Very nice!

 

[Robbi]

Amazing !!! :yikes: all these tarps are looking like TENTS that let the rain in !

 

[Dartmoor navigator]

Hmmmm....'strue, Rich. Tarptents are pretty much made for the job. Perhaps I shall stick with the Hex, the pyramid shape is pretty good at dispersing wind (like a limpet)... And besides, it's quite funky sleeping in a wigwam

 

[Harvestman]

Amazing !!! :yikes: all these tarps are looking like TENTS that let the rain in !

Basically, yes


We're all mad, mad I tell you...

 

[hobbes]

Amazing !!! :yikes: all these tarps are looking like TENTS that let the rain in !

Hehe!

I like rain

 

[bilmo-p5]

Amazing !!! :yikes: all these tarps are looking like TENTS that let the rain in !

But they only look that way. Generally they don't let the rain in, and in milder rainy weather (windy or not) enable the user to have the 'door' open yet remain dry; something you can't do with a tipi-type tent.

 

[Dartmoor navigator]

No that's true, Ian. What's you best configuration for a windy night?

 

[Dave]

Like this:

http://dzjow.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/tarping-with-the-grace-solo-spinntex-97/

Not my tarp, but some nice photos here!

I've been wondering about the merits of one of those MLD Trailstar's. Or a similiar tarp, with the ability to use poles inside the tarp. The Alpkit Rig 7 tarp looks like a good bit of kit, with some well thought out attachment points.

All I really know, is that there are very few bits of kit that i stay happy with and keep!

 

[Dartmoor navigator]

That looks lovely, Dave. But let's face it; it's the middle of August and (I don't know about you) but it's pi**ing it down here.