Tents

[Kath]

I took the kids camping in Capel Curig last night, but had to bug out at 3am this morning when the wind started gusting to the point that I felt like the tent might rip apart or worse still roll over and deposit us into the flooding river. :yikes: Finally gave in and went home when it started leaking like a seive too...

Our tent is a semi geodesic Wild Country "Monsoon" (very apt name for last night!). I remember the old ridge tents blowing away, but has anyone had any experience of modern tents blowing away?

Ta! :-D

 

[Andy]

I've known quite a few tents blow away or get damaged on woodcraft camps, never known a vango force ten to have that problem

 

[Kath]

I've known quite a few tents blow away or get damaged on woodcraft camps

While they were occupied?

 

[Wayne]

Been in some right hoolies on the hills in my Quaser sounded like it was going rip apart but no problems. Just long nights wondering.

Had a cheap tent collaspe at 3am due to high winds not funny.

Also had horses destroy me tent in new forest. come to think of it haven't had much luck there

 

[Kath]

Just long nights wondering.

Oh yes, I know those well!

Had a cheap tent collaspe at 3am due to high winds not funny.

We had a cheap Gelert tent (similar design to the Monsoon, but with plastic poles instead of alloy) that just flattened one night in a relatively light wind. Had to bug out that night too, well more sort of wriggle our way out really.

The Quaser looks good. Wish they made a 4 person in that series. Their Endurance 4 person is £750.00!!!! :shock:

 

[george]

Ki Kath

In answer to your question - yes a couple of very notable times!

Most modern quality tents, and the monsoon is a quality tent though not a mountain tent, will cope with suprising amounts of blowing about without sustaining too much damage. Often they can be flattened right down to the ground in a big gust and they spring back up again. Usually its the poles that cant cope and you end up breaking one or two. I always carry pole sleeves (a piece of alloy tubing just big enough to slide over a pole to support a weak point or repair a break) and a bunch of small cable ties to reinforce anything that needs reinforcing. In the depth of winter I've sometimes double poled - slipping two sets of poles inside the pole sleeves, and that really makes things a lot more rigid. Only problem is some tents are made to move in the wind and rather than blow apart they will flatten and spring back when the gust passes, so you don't want to make them too rigid.

If I'm confident in my tent, I peg it all down. Pack my kit up totally ready to go if things do blow up and I need to move (except for what I'm sleeping in) put in some ear plugs and go to sleep - cos theres no point in worrying.

For a cheaper, quality mountain tent have a look at the Vango Hurricane range - much cheaper than Quasars but pretty bombproof. I think the biggest they go is 3 person though.

I remember one very notable night where I was using an older Saunders Jetpacker camped on the col between the Cobbler and Ben Narnain. The wind got up in the night and changed direction. I got woken up by the noise about 3am and got up to check pegging points etc. Went to go back in just as a huge gust hit, opened the door just at the wrong time. The wind filled the tent and blew it inside out - and off down the hill. Left me chasing my kit across the hillside. Spent the rest of the night wrapped in the remains of the flysheet just waiting for first light. Ah - fond memories...

George

 

[jakunen]

Thankfully I've never had a tent bust or blow away, but I have regretfully seen it happen.
I used to work in a camping shop and a scout leader came in looking for good quality budget tents for a troop camp. He DEMANDED Vango ridge tents as that was what they always used but I tried to persuade him to go for a different one that to my mind was superior. Can't remember what now, was 20 years ago.
Two weeks later I was camping with a number of friends in the same valley as the troop. The weather was NOT good!
We heard what sounded like a small explosion and rushed out to see one of the nice new tents on the other side of the valley literally blow-up! The wind was going in thru the door flap and bursting the tent!
We ended up with the troop sheltering in our, now very cramped, tents.
The next weekend a very shamefaced scoutmaster came and asked me, very sheepishly, if I'd do an insurance quote for him and show him the tent I'd recommended (and been using that weekend).
I thought about being smug, but thought "No, he doesn't deserve that and at least he's got the guts to come back to me and listen to my advice this time." Even gave him a few bits and pieces for the troop and offered to help with the next camp and teach them what little campcraft I knew.
Had fun, but will NEVER be caught singing 'gingangoolie' again

 

[Andy]

I've known quite a few tents blow away or get damaged on woodcraft camps

While they were occupied?

seen the fly sheet get ripped off and left the poor sods wondering where it went.

was once camping with the family and on the whole campsite only about 10 tents survived. sadly i was to young to remember

 

[Kath]

Thanks for sharing those stories with me. I'm glad I bugged us out when I did!

One more thing ... what about guy lines? Heard difffering opinions over the years about whether you should do them tight or loose. Also close in and short or far out and long?

 

[maddave]

Guy lines should be fairly tight but not like guitar strings and there is very little adjustment needed on modern nylon tentage. Guy lines are better placed further out rather than close in, as the "angle of pull" on the peg is more horizontal than if they're close in. Again though, it's a bit of a balancing act. You don't want them that short that the pull on the peg is near vertival, but ya don't want to be tripping over ten foot guys in the dark either. A good rule of thumb I use is this. If your peg is driven into the ground at about a 45 degree angle, the guy should be roughly 90 degrees to the line of the peg. Hope this helps :-D

 

[Kath]

Cheers mate - never thought of it in terms of angles before. Generally I just think of guys as something to trip over! (that's the strings on tents not fellas!! ) It's only when the wind gets up I start to wonder about proper technique!

 

[jason01]

Thankfully I've never had a tent bust or blow away, but We heard what sounded like a small explosion and rushed out to see one of the nice new tents on the other side of the valley literally blow-up! The wind was going in thru the door flap and bursting the tent!

Im a big fan of the old Force Ten cotton ridge tent, my MK3 has taken some pretty serious batterings over the last 15 years and it has never let me down, the bigger ones are IMO less stable and like any tent they need to be pitched properly (not something Scout troops are neccessarily renowned for) but the MK3 has a well deserved reputation for being bombproof. The flysheet on mine is bleached almost white now and it mustve spent 12 months pitched over the years!

Ive been on sites when other tents have been flattened and Ive seen touring caravan's blown over while mine has shrugged it all off.

But..... If you pitch a tent door first into a heavy wind then leave the doors open youre asking for trouble, I build traction kites and a teeny 3m kite in a medium wind will easily lift a 14st man off the ground so just imagine the potential force acting on an open tent facing into the wind.

Ive added a Wild Country Zephyr and a Force Ten Spindrift to my kit more recently but I still have most confidence in the old un!

Jason

 

[alick]

My own tent's a long discontinued variant of the Quasar - a three man mountain dome that's a similar shape to the classic North Face VE-25. I had a few unsettled nights wondering how good it was when it was new but I've also slept in it in winds that have been able to literally squash it flat on my face - after that I trust it in any conditions the UK's capable of throwing at us.

On the other hand, during a group trip to the Pyrenees I resorted to two transit vans for anchors and climbing ropes for guys to try and keep out mess tent on the ground. I still ended up scouring the camp site for billy's in the morning. If in doubt, discretion's definately the wisest course :-D

Cheers

 

[JeremyH]

It sounds scary - however like most other I have a tent story too.
Whilts working near Clemont Ferand, on Raptor Migration two summers ago we were all - three young kids and both of us in the Hilleberg when a summer storm blew in. No Rain to speak of but fantastic electrics and wind gusting F8! The Hilleberg was the only tent left standing! The solid wooded VC where we were based lost it's roof!
Again - check if you have Mountain 4/5 season tents or valley....It does make a difference. Also we have been in terrible rains with no problems. The deep tray like groundsheet is superb too!

As I say to my clients - no such thing as bad weather ...jsut bad clothing ...I guess it goes for kit too!

 

[Roving Rich]

I have had my old dome tent blowing flat, then popping up in high wind.
I just repitched it facing out of the wind to be more aero-dynamic. So the wind wasn't hitting it broadside, but tale end first. Worked for us.
I own an identical monsoon tent and have allways considered it pretty sturdy. :shock:
Cheers
Rich

 

[Kath]

I have had my old dome tent blowing flat, then popping up in high wind.
I just repitched it facing out of the wind to be more aero-dynamic. So the wind wasn't hitting it broadside, but tale end first. Worked for us.
I own an identical monsoon tent and have allways considered it pretty sturdy. :shock:

Yeah it is a good tent and I've never mistrusted it before. Mine was also broadside to the wind. :-( I didn't think about repitching at the time - I guess because the kids were asleep inside! But that's a good idea to remember for future use.

I need to reseal the seams before I can take it out again. It's a big tent though really. I'm thinking about getting something smaller. (I always used to use my Mountain Hardware Thru Hiker 2 man tent when camping on 'proper' sites with the 2 little kids but this year they've grown to the point that it's a bit of a squash! Guess we'll be bivvying for a while...)