Ok - what do you reckon - is this too windy for camping? We are going this weekend, and I just checked the met office for campsite we were thinking about, sunny and dry but winds of 20MPH and gusts over 30MPH on Friday night/Saturday morning. Hmmmm. the site is by a beach as well, would we be mad? Is this too windy for a relatively exposed site? Anyone camped in winds like this before? By the way I've got a Khyam Kansas 8.
------------- Campergirl
Camping Trips 2011:
April - Cobleland, Gartmore 5 nights
April/May - Machrihanish & Carradale Bay, Kintyre 3 nights
nearly everytime we have been camping we seem to have high winds, we make sure we use decent pegs and peg everything down and try and use the car as a windbreak. so far so good not had any casualties yet apart from the gazebo we used for cooking in.
pitch 'bum to the wind' with proper guying and decent pegs and you will be fine. A hedge or similar might shelter you a bit but hardly storm force winds so not much to worry about
We have survived dreadful winds (like July 2010) and its mostly common sense - sleep better in Canvas though as plastic tents get quite noisy
Gazebos are not generally sensible in the wind though, too much to catch the wind and not enough to hold them down
Whether you can use your particular tent in winds of 30 mph only other users or experience will tell. . . . . . .
I do know that I've pitched my tent in winds in excess of 60mph, and it stayed solid and warm and dry despite the fact that the winds were, at times, over 100mph.
20 mph winds are not too bad but gusts of 30 mph would worry me. I am not sure how a weather forecaster can come up with such a difference in wind strengths...'up to' could mean anything from 21 mph to 30 mph. Sounds like an educated guess to me.
I would check nearer the time before worrying too much. 30 mph winds can uproot trees but providing your tent is a decent one and has been pegged and guyed correctly before the wind picks up it should withstand those winds. You wouldn't want too much stronger than that though and erecting a tent in 30 mph winds would be difficult to say the least.
Thanks everyone, good advice there. We are going to keep an eye on the weather forecast and wait until nearer the time - I have a couple more campsites in mind further north and less exposed if we decide Kintyre is going to be too windy.
------------- Campergirl
Camping Trips 2011:
April - Cobleland, Gartmore 5 nights
April/May - Machrihanish & Carradale Bay, Kintyre 3 nights
Also will very much depend on how sheltered (or not) the actual campsite is of course. My house is in a very windy location (really high up & exposed) but some parts of our garden can be almost wind free due to shelter from the high trees, and our neighbours buildings.
20 mph winds are not too bad but gusts of 30 mph would worry me. I am not sure how a weather forecaster can come up with such a difference in wind strengths...'up to' could mean anything from 21 mph to 30 mph. Sounds like an educated guess to me.
I would check nearer the time before worrying too much. 30 mph winds can uproot trees but providing your tent is a decent one and has been pegged and guyed correctly before the wind picks up it should withstand those winds. You wouldn't want too much stronger than that though and erecting a tent in 30 mph winds would be difficult to say the least.
Very common to have forecasts for gusts of 30mph with 20mph winds Bob. Believe it or not very common for that to actually occur too - just not neccessarily when and where they say it will ! Have had forecasts for 15mph wind with gusts of 45mph.
I agree with you about pitching a big tent in winds like this in an exposed situation. It may well be ok once it was up but getting it up safely could be dodgy, sooner not risk it myself.