Second Val's comment, I had a 3 man tunnel tent throughout all my DofE and advex training/competitions with the Sea Cadets (it was a christmas present when I was about 16 if I remember rightly!) and later as an adult leader until I purchased a smaller 2 man jobby. The old tunnel is now being used by cadets (some 10 years later).
The ONLY way it survived is by pitching it correctly, with the back end into the wind and making absolutely sure your guy ropes are pegged out at the correct angle, well grounded, and tight.
There were several times when my tent was standing and we had a good night sleep while others were up all night holding on for dear life - I can only remember of one instance when I had that with my tent but it was bucketing down horizontal rain and blowing a hooley with the winds swirling around a valley, so there wasn't much that could be done!
Taking time to plan and prepare most definitely makes for a much happier camper (and tent!)
Another tunnel fan here, first ever night in our Vango tunnel we were caught up in a severe storm up in norfolk. Got up the next morning to find awnings in tress and a caravan with a small tree sticking out of it, Our tent was fine!
ages ago,when i was looking for tent info,i wanted to know the same thing - are tunnel tents good in wind?From all the forums and sites i visited,they said they were good,but dome tents can withstand winds and rains better,due to their shape.
------------- Boris Karloff: '' now will you give me my chalk!? ''
My Tents:
Eureka K2 XT
Terra Nova Solar 2
Outwell Jersey S Pop Up Tent
Hennessy Hammock Explorer Deluxe.
Well thanks Guys, all your advice is extremely helpful, esp. the correct alignment and using the guys properly. I think the delta pegs are a must as well. So I will now confidently go and get my Icarus next weekend (Yippee!! I am so excited!!) and order the pegs.
Quote: Originally posted by blacklagoon on 20/4/2009
ages ago,when i was looking for tent info,i wanted to know the same thing - are tunnel tents good in wind?From all the forums and sites i visited,they said they were good,but dome tents can withstand winds and rains better,due to their shape.
Geodesic or semi-geodesic dome tents will outperform anything, has to be said. But very, very few of the current big family leisure tents on the market are geodesic or semi-geodesic domes. The standard central dome construction of two or three crossing arches isn't any more stable than a tunnel tent, as long as both are erected as well as possible.
Quote:
The ONLY way it survived is by pitching it correctly, with the back end into the wind and making absolutely sure your guy ropes are pegged out at the correct angle, well grounded, and tight.
fancy sharing what "correct angle" for guy ropes is?
Our Monty 6 stood up to some very strong winds, especially in Perranporth 2 summers ago. We had a really windy night on night and I remember getting up in the morning with only our and one other tent still standing out of the whole campsite! Thanks to good pitching and DELTAS!!
Our SunValley 6 got absolutely battered by the wind last year at the top of Scotland - but it coped brilliantly A couple of split pole sections (hmmm... still need to replace those for this year) BUT no damage to really worry about.
I think that horizontal storm poles (well, that's what I call them) really help by distributing the load accross the whole tent structure.
It's nowhere near as ridgid as my small mountain tent, for two main reasons 1. pole structure and 2. the small tent is maybe 3' 6" at the highest point... I love that tent!
ive never had problems whilst it is up buit had problems putting it up in the wind bent a few bars as it was half way up and had a huge gust that took it down struggling to get replacement poles
If you aren't sure what angles your guy lines should be pegged at, it's a good idea to pitch the tent and look at the way the tags where the guy lines are connected are lying - this usually gives a fairly good indication of which direction the "pull" is expected from.
Imagine if the wind was battering that side of the tent, what angle would give the strongest pull against it? Usually this is 90 degrees to the tent on the sides, and as you get to the front/back you start to go off at angles. Most of the time you'll follow the line of a seam, tent pole or some such.
Never don't bother with a guy line, use your common sense and if it looks wrong, it most likely is wrong. Don't be afraid of fiddling and tweaking, it's much easier to do when you're setting up than in the middle of the night when the wind is up!
Without seeing the tent meself it's a bit difficult to say what angle the guys should be but if you're not sure you could always ask someone - campsite managers are usually pretty proficient in putting tents up :)
Sorry that's not a hugely informative post .. rather late and the eyes are a bit sleepy, to say nothing of the brain!
Would back up what many others are saying - our Vermont is very stable but we did invest in delta pegs before setting off and they make a huge difference!
------------- David
'Better to be ill spoken of by one before all than by all before one'
We were away on the East Coast last week in our Sun Valley and the wind did get up to about 25mph or around that.
we did sort of worry about the tent but then sense took over and we were perfectly fine. We had delta'd down all the guys so were confident in that - they didn't move a mm. I agree with the other poster who said about the horizontal 'storm poles' in the Sun Valley tent - they seem to help a lot.
I also echo Vals 'bum to the wind' advice.
Last week there was only horrid heavy mist when we pitched up - not a breath of wind. I looked to see which way the trees were growing (bending) and we pitched accordingly - guess what?? as the wind got up it was blowing more from the side so we went off and got a windbreak (which we left on site as we had no room to bring it home) and positioned the car to give a little shelter. All was fine.
Quote: Originally posted by Sarah+Simon on 20/4/2009
Quote:
The ONLY way it survived is by pitching it correctly, with the back end into the wind and making absolutely sure your guy ropes are pegged out at the correct angle, well grounded, and tight.
fancy sharing what "correct angle" for guy ropes is?
newbie needing help :D
Rule of thumb? Guylines should be pulled out from the tent in line with the seam or pole from which they come, and hit the ground at an angle of 45` approx. Tent pegs should be hammered into the ground at an angle of 45` with the points going towards the tent, so that the guylines and pegs form a 90`. Approximately!
Of course there are exceptions, and if for instance you're putting on extra guylines in windy weather you should be looking at how the tent is being pushed and how to best support the vunerable pole. And some guylines are attached at two points and pegged in the middle...here I would use the upper portion to form the 45`.
And please, please, PLEASE...one peg to each guying point. I don't care if it looks overfussy and untidy to have five or six pegs in the angle of a dome tent, for example, but putting several guylines on one peg just compromises the stabiluty of your tent in high weather. And of course, peg everything.
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Topic: are tunnel tents good in the wind?
