we had a tent killed in high winds up at clachtoll a few years ago, its not only the problem of the tent being killed but how far you are from home,we were 600 mile or so,be warned its a nightmare.
lol yeah i'm going away too this weekend, iv'e booked blair attholl in the scottish islands, Ive got a montana 6 tent i't suppose to with stand the wind, i guess i will see.
As for wind if its like it has been today I wouldnt go. We had high winds last summer in our Montana and whilst it stood up a pole from a windbreak went through the tent. nice rip to show for it.
I was at a festival in the middle of Uttoxeter racecourse this weekend, on Sunday we had enormous gusts of wind (up to 80 mph I was told by a steward) that took out the big top, many marquees, many of the higher tents, I walked around and observed that most of the damage was done to poorly pegged smaller tents, (using the crappy pegs supplied by manufacturers) we were lucky and sheltered to a certain extent by a large dome, we packed up and left as the forecast for today was worse... if you can find a sheltered spot away from the prevailing winds then go for it!
Trouble is this is one of those things which is impossible to answer.
The manufacturer of one of my tents note that the tent was used safely in winds in excess of 140mph (yes, you did read that right!). Personally, I've put it up in winds of 50+ (that was fun!) and it has withstood gusts in excess of 90.............
So, so much depends on tent style, manufacture,pegging, ground, etc.etc.
Yes, I know I can pitch in winds where, sometimes, standing is problematical but that's me. .. . .. .
. .. . at the end of the day you pitch and camp in the conditions in which YOU feel comfortable; rule of thumb should be --- got doubts? - get out!
I got in touch with Vango regarding our Icarus 600 and the wind.
They responded very promptly.
See below.
Hi,
Thanks for your mail.
Depending on the strength of the wind, and the size of the tent there is a possibility that any tent can collapse in the wind, as the bigger the tent the larger the target area for the wind to attack.
All our tents under go the same wind tunnel test up to 75 MPH in order to establish the wind speed that they can with stand.
Taking in to account the size ( Length width and height ) of the Icarus 600 tent these tents have a 2 season rating meaning suitable for use from Late spring to early Autumn.
The Icarus will cope well with wind up to force 4 ( 13- 18 mph) , force 5 ( 19 - 24 mph) with supervision and re-pegging of the tent and guylines, force 6 ( 25 - 31 mph ) would be the very upper limits of the Icarus and anything above this the tents will not cope well with the wind.
Hope this is of use.
Regards
Andrew Mooney
Customer Service
AMG Group
Kelburn Business Park
Port Glasgow
PA14 6TD
Its not just damage to your tent. Camping in very windy weather isnt much fun. We were away a couple of weeks ago and quickly gave up on the idea of sitting outside - it was so windy with very heavy rain showers. Cooking outside or having a bbq would have been impossible. We were all woken up during the night several times by gusts of wind rattling the tent. Then there is the worry that the wind is going to get even worse and you are going to have to try and get the tent down.
We had gusts of 30mph but were in a sheltered spot so the tent was fine. If I am honest I would rather it had poured down all weekend rather than being windy though!
We were on a cheap spur of the moment weekend away so it was OK but if it had been my main holiday I would have been fed up. We are away next weekend so I am hoping it dies down by then!
Good to see people still reply to my old posts. After the summer we had that year in the tent, we bought a caravan for a seasonal pitch and last night we were called to the site for the 2nd time this year to make sure the awning was ok. Luckily we were all ok but did put another storm strap on, others on the site weren't so lucky though and at least 3 awnings were wrecked.
I've still got the Eagle 6 as I really love it but I am considering selling if I could get the right price as it was £335 new.
Good luck & happy camping to anyone away this weekend.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: camping in the wind
