I am looking for a bit of advise.
In May I intend to go camping in the Outer Hebrides. My tent is a Vango Beta 450. Will this tent stand up to any winds I am likely to encounter. To ease any problems I intend pitching in the lee of my car, a Saab 9-5 Estate.
Any comments or recommendations.
Owww one of my fav places on earth - I grew up there
There are some realy good post on here on the subject in particular Lobeydosser's account of his trip last year (or was it 2008?)
Tigermouse or Tiggarsmum (get the two ladies confuddled) has also been and there's a good thread on it somehwere too.
Gerry Hughes is another one to search as he has been as well
I must say that I would REALLY like to camp out there. I've been checking on this site and on Google Earth and Know where I'd like to go......but I fear it may never happen and if it does not for a long, long time.
Oh, I envy you - I've only spent a few days up there, and that was flying in (courtesy of Airmiles!) and doing bed & breakfast, not camping. I've never taken my car and camping gear that far north - only to Skye so far, and I couldn't afford to do that again, the way petrol's gone. Given the weather, Lewsi and Harris are sublime, with some very tasty archaeology to visit! (I've always fancied flying to Barra and landing on the beach, too...)
When camping outside Portree on Skye, I spent some time trying to position the car to give my tent some shelter from the prevailing wind - and to be honest it didn't seem to make much difference! Good luck, anyway.
------------- Always edited for sloppy typing - when I spot it!
The winds can be quite wild, we woke one morning to find we were the only tent (Coleman Sahara) left standing. We use delta anchors and I am sure these helped keep us upright. Using the car as a wind break is a good idea, we had to do this on a couple of occasions (same make and model BTW - lovely driver) as well as weighing down the sod cloth of the tent to stop the rain driving under it.
Being a tunnel you will have a some wind resistance in the tent. Make sure you pack some pole repair kit just in case.
Absolutely stunning locations in the Hebrides, you will love it
abouut 7 years back we did a big tour of the islands starting on barra, if you do go you will be in gods country great walking not much traffic, good fishing, loads of wildlife, we even had a curry but that was on harris,we didnt camp we stayed in hotels but as far as the weather goeas take delta pegs, pole repair kit, its the only place i have seen a static caravan with a brick gable end with a window in it, i kid you not,i would go again tmora it was fantastic, oh and dont forget the beaches white sand for miles.
We were up there last summer and the wind was awful. We have a small camper and a Quechua Base pop-up tent. The pop-up was perfect as everytime a gust of wind hit it, it went a bit flat and popped back up.
Don't think it would have been much fun sleeping in it though, if only because of the noise of the wind battering it!
Several tents on one site we stayed on seemed to suffer in the high winds, and ours got a battering even though we tried to pitch using our camper as shelter (which didn't seem to make a great deal of difference). It didn't get damaged at all though as it just kept popping back up.
We did a mixture of wild camping and staying on sites, as the sites are few and far between. There was nothing better than the wild camp we did on Uist where we were by the beach on a sunday in august with not another soul in sight.
The Outer Hebrides are amazing though, well worth everything the weather tried to throw at us. If you truly want to get away from it and experience real camping then it is perfect. Can't wait to return this summer!
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 Outer Hebrides.
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