Storm camping

[Metavo]

Ok guys, this is my first post out of DIY section.
In place where I live, strong winds aren't usual. This weekend I camped for two days with wind speeds up to 20 m/s (44.8 mph; 72 km/h) and with temperatures 2 Celsius (35.6 Fahrenheit).
After fully tensioning my tarp it looked like this:




On both days I used UQ with waterproof cape pulled to the hammock from the wind side. Slept cosy but on second night the winds were that powerful I slept under 45 degree angle I think. So Used my underpad to cover the wind. Probably it would have been more comfortable to sleep chained to working tractor on a field but, got my sleep.
Tents in the camping site weren't in that good shape that my tarp was
Some wind got through from underneath the tarp.
I'm thinking about mounting torm flaps to tarp or making a longer tarp that You can use with more pegs to shade the winds. Also, is there any good and lightweight solution for UQ extreme wind protection?

Oh, and happy hanging holidays

[craige]

You can pitch your tarp lower to the ground, put a peg straight through the d ring/grosgrain to cut almost all wind and an under quilt the protector would help cut out wind that does make it through.

Adding some pull outs to the side wall of your tarp would definitely help with the tarp blowing in on you, you could sew them on yourself or dutch sells clip on ones.

We have had pretty bad winds the past few days too. Gusts up to 90mph. Glad I wasn't camping in it, although I do work outside :s

[psyculman]

Wow, you are fortunate the wind did not damage your equipment! It is pretty well made to stand up to that. Not much you can do in those conditions, except maybe set up in a more sheltered place. But that is not always an option is it?

[Demeter]

+1 on the side pull outs and staking at a lower pitch. I had a night with 30mph sustained winds and gusts up to 60mph and it was a looong night. learned my lesson the hard way on that one.

[Metavo]

OK.
Now I'm feeling I have a mission to make stormproof hammock gear.
Having some thoughts about strengthening the structure, using stronger fabrics and making it bigger to get better cover.
Why not to add some sort of stronger ridgeline to provide some failsafe in case of falling trees. Side pullouts and storm flaps will be in the list.

The main thought is how to make the entrance windproof. Zipper would be awkward, velcro isn't strong enough and collects all sorts of stuff... Overlap is probably only viable option.

This is tarp i'd like to use as a tent for tundra hiking also, where trekking poles should support the structure. Winds up there should be pretty bad and no trees makes it hard to use hammock all the time. If lucky enough some climbing gear should help finding anchors for hammock.

[CeeVee]

Good grief!

[SnrMoment]

Pitching your tarp with the nose or tail into the wind instead of broad side to it will help a lot. Not always possible, but even an oblique angle will help take the tension off the sides.
I added shock cord ties to the flaps on a tarp I used to own. It helped a bit. May be adding some snaps to help seal the one I just made.

[OutandBack]

OK.
Now I'm feeling I have a mission to make stormproof hammock gear.
Having some thoughts about strengthening the structure, using stronger fabrics and making it bigger to get better cover.
Why not to add some sort of stronger ridgeline to provide some failsafe in case of falling trees. Side pullouts and storm flaps will be in the list.

The main thought is how to make the entrance windproof. Zipper would be awkward, velcro isn't strong enough and collects all sorts of stuff... Overlap is probably only viable option.

This is tarp i'd like to use as a tent for tundra hiking also, where trekking poles should support the structure. Winds up there should be pretty bad and no trees makes it hard to use hammock all the time. If lucky enough some climbing gear should help finding anchors for hammock.

Why not take it a step further and build an amsteel wireframe to lay the tarp over? Like this.





In high winds bigger is not always better do the sail effect.

All my tarps have 1 set of doors or a GrizzBeak and I try to pitch the tarp door into the wind not the side of the tarp.

hth

[Metavo]

wireframe sounds excellent!

Calculations show that ridgeline, strong enough to support falling tree is a big weightbudget killer. Anchoring trees to another trees is probably better idea.

[OutandBack]

For my winter tarps I use 1/8" AmSteel-Blue Dyneema Single Braid, 2500lb on the RL and Lash-it for the wireframe.
6 each metal figure9's for leverage to tighten everything up.
No wimpy tarp stakes. I DIY'd some 18"ers based on the Kifaru snow and sand stake.

http://store.kifaru.net/snow-sand--t...-pins-p96.aspx