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19/6/2018 at 9:17am
Location: Greater London
Outfit: Illusion TC 800XL
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we rode out Storm Hector in the Langdales in our Outwell Nevada M...had wind gusts of over 70mph there too for hours on end...the whole experience was horrendous... lol
the wind was so powerful that it pulled the pins out of our central pole on three occasions overnight, plus it also managed to separate the elasticated front pole sections and cause the entire front of the tent to cave in, albeit only for a few seconds...
overall both we and the tent survived undamaged, whereas many others around us weren't so lucky, but never again...it's definitely time to upgrade our short stay tent to a more stable inflatable as we've already done with our long stay tent...
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"tereba nessa, kemer wyth"
.~*MOONIE*~.
Snowdonia - Peak District - Brecon Beacons - Lake District
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19/6/2018 at 2:39pm
Location: Durham
Outfit: Caravan and tents
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I experienced the worst winds so far this weekend which made it terrible for a pack down - apologies for copying/pasting my post from Facebook -
WOW!!!
Yesterday we had to pack down in gale force winds - and that was NOT something I'd want to do again!
As the wind was so strong I left the tent pegged and guyed whilst dropping it and even when all the beams were deflated the tent was still up and wouldnt drop! If it hadnt been pegged down I'm sure it would have been the largest kite in North Yorkshire!
I battled the front to the ground to minimise air and had to use all my strength to keep it down whilst Becky squished the air across to the side door. Then we unpegged one side, folded the tent once and spent ages getting the air out again and had to keep doing that, unpegging as we went. Didnt get it as neatly rolled as usual but got it back into the bag (just). Took about 40 minutes instead of 10!
I'd had to get up at 2.30am to check on the porch which seemed to be having the most problems and at 6am gave up and started to dismantle that, but it ended up shrink-wrapping itself around me lol. Finally fought it to the ground and got one of the poles out but had to wake Becky to come help as the wind was so strong it just could not be controlled. Stuffed the porch material into the event shelter and weighed it down whilst packing everything else away. The porch seems to be undamaged though so I'm fairly impressed with that!
Now, the Halfords Event Shelter had stood up to the wind really well and was extremely sturdy but once we dropped the tent it was even most exposed and started to try and lift. However, when we tried to remove the canopy the wind whipped it and this completely sheared off the steel poles in several places. Looking at the sharp ends it seems very poor quality steel. We'd only used it once before that so I'm really disappointed and will send Halfords some photos for their comments as it is completely destroyed.
It took almost 5 hours to pack down as the winds were so incredibly strong.
On the plus side - the Sunncamp Invadair 600DLX was pretty awesome in the wind. We'd had no choice but to pitch into the wind direction and with a flat front and canopy were in a pretty bad position but the tent held beautifully for all 3 windy days. Just as we were packing up one of the front canopy beams lifted from its velcro pad (I'd pegged so well nothing was going to shift my pegs lol) and wouldnt go back securely enough in that kind of wind. The storm straps/guys did a fantastic job and the biggest issue was that the wind was mostly slamming directly into the front of the tent, almost ballooning the material. I opened both doors and put the mesh panels in and that allowed the wind to 'break' a bit but of course once it was fully night time it was too cold to leave them open. We couldnt use the car as a windbreak as there was nowhere to put it.
We also discovered that the wind had been strong enough to slap one of our solar strings back against the metalwork of the shelter hard enough to slice it completely in 2 - in 2 different places!! So we now have a non-working solar string in 3 separate sections lol!
The really strange thing is that although it was very windy across the site ours was the only pitch fully exposed (and first time on that pitch too lol!). Walking just 30ft up the site was like entering a calm zone - really shows how much wind can change! the day before, the couple in the next unit 2 pitches up to us were sitting outside with a drink. The chap came down to have a look at our very unusual layout and just couldnt believe the wind!
So - tips for others? Try not to panic and get angry with each other. It really does not help. Leave the tent guyed and pegged when dropping it then unpeg as you go along. Dont forget when the tent is empty it is easier for wind to get underneath it so pack everything up and pile it up ready to go so you can empty it and get the tent down as quickly as possible. Try to stay methodical. And the hardest bit - if it is really windy then the likelihood is that things may well get damaged. Just deal with it, crack on then let the anger/upset come later once you're packed up.
I really hope I dont have to do that again - I really feel for those who had damage in the really bad storms the other week.
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A slightly younger Victor Meldrew
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Topic: A touch of wind!
(broke 3 poles in old tent during storm Katie a few years back when I told the wife it was too windy to go so I'm a bit paranoid).
