The Camping Forum

[des.allen]

Hi All,
As some of you know we have recently purchased a second hand 2010 Outwell hartford xxl, which got its first trial run with us last weekend.

We are going up to Settle again and the forecast for sat/sun is up to 50 kph gusts changing from nw to sw on saturday.

Having read about another campers miss fortune on monday (jouvelle) good luck with the repairs! I was wondering what would be the best direction to pitch the tent and if I should be brave and erect the extension?

Our old tent (vango colorado 800 dlx) stood up to some pretty decent winds the other week, but I am a bit worried by the sheer size of the outwell! TIA Des

[LittleSkink]

"bum to the wind" is a good place to start

and finding a more sheltered spot helps - walls cause buffetting in strong winds but hedges tend to disperse the wind, you can use your car to create a partial windbreak too. I use our windbreak to channel wind away from the front of our tent but it is a hefty Canvas job with long wooden stakes and guys, a lot are too flimsy to help and best left down

under trees is bad, if a branch breaks off it invariably falls point end first and a big one will go through a tent roof easily

double pegging can be useful but dont strain the tent too much - very tight guys will add to the forces in the fabric so a tiny bit of give is better - really long guys can help there too

adding extra guys can be good to increase stability - so double up on main guys run at different angles, but watch the tension and dont over stress the tent

have plenty of spare pegs, we carry big rock pegs, V pegs and even deltas (good in some conditions)

dont forget to check the tent and guys occasionally, last July (anyone remeber camping last July?) we were in a viscious storm but our Pyramid was more than up to the job - except the rain softened the ground and the pegs were lifting. If I hadnt checked and double pegged we would have been in bother

and nejoy it, all part of the fun

[LittleSkink]

ok, dont I feel a pillock - having re-read the OP question I now suspect you know plenty about pitching in the wind and that a Hartford XXL doesnt have a 'bum'

see thats the thing with these new fangled tents they dont do (or have) what "proper tents" do

[des.allen]

ok, dont I feel a pillock - having re-read the OP question I now suspect you know plenty about pitching in the wind and that a Hartford XXL doesnt have a 'bum'

see thats the thing with these new fangled tents they dont do (or have) what "proper tents" do

Dont worry about it, plenty of really good advice for me and others to follow there , as I said the thing that worries me is the sheer size of the outwell, I think I may exchange my car for a high sided van

[Rob-merlin1973]

I have the XXL and had it in 65+ mpg winds the other year and it shrugged it off .... even with the canopy up


As said above ... if possible put the back door to the wind and get some Delta pegs for the 2 back guy ropes and the guy ropes on the canopy. You will find that in an extreem wind the tent will flex a little but will be fine. If my OH felt safe and comfortable then anyone will as she was born worrying

[Road_Hog]

We are going up to Settle again and the forecast for sat/sun is up to 50 kph gusts changing from nw to sw on saturday.

Never heard wind speed given in kph, not even by the BBC, MPH is always used. About 31MPH in real money, makes it sound a lot better.

[M0KAS]

well those going to shell this weekend may have lots of wind practice, cos its bound to be windy

[rochford6]

All these posts about pitching bum to the wind brings one thing to my mind, Will you get up at 2 in the morning when the wind changes direction and move your tent round to have its bum in the wind.

I didn't think you would, best practise from my point of view is to pitch in the most sheltered area that you can and make sure that your tent is suitably pitched and guyed down.

[Road_Hog]

All these posts about pitching bum to the wind brings one thing to my mind, Will you get up at 2 in the morning when the wind changes direction and move your tent round to have its bum in the wind.

I didn't think you would, best practise from my point of view is to pitch in the most sheltered area that you can and make sure that your tent is suitably pitched and guyed down.

Well, it certainly makes for easier pitching if you pitch bum to the wind, you certainly don't want to do it side on.

[in-a-tent]

I guess bum to the prevailing wind might be a good start, but the what happens if it changes direction is a good point.

We have an interesting issue as we don't have guys. The TT has elastics at the bottom of the canvas and they get pegged down (although usually not all of them as there are a lot). But there are NO guys at all, there are a few eyelets for guys but not many. I guess with several hundred kilos of trailer physically attached to the tent and steel poles it's a relatively strong structure. I am thinking of attaching guys to the eyelets that are there though - just for extra peace of mind.

[des.allen]

We are going up to Settle again and the forecast for sat/sun is up to 50 kph gusts changing from nw to sw on saturday.

Never heard wind speed given in kph, not even by the BBC, MPH is always used. About 31MPH in real money, makes it sound a lot better.

The site I use (weather underground ) uses kph, Thanks for all your suggestions, we are back today after a really good long weekend, weather could have been better but the tent stood up to everything thrown at it.
Another question if I may, why does it rain whilst you are taking the tent down and the moment you get the bag out it stops??!!

[in-a-tent]

That happens to us too, lovely weather for the whole trip then it rains for the 1 hour we need it to be dry when we're packing up. Karma I guess, I must have done something terrible in a previous life. Perhaps I owned a caravan. :-)

[Rob-merlin1973]

The reasons for pitching bum to the wind are

Firstly to aid in pitching.
Secondly to provide some shelter to your front door or canopy.

Yes if the wind changes direction there is nothing you can do but the whole idea is to make life as easy as possible.