tarp tent stratospire in wind

[Suz]

Hey guys,

So I'm camping in Norway at the mo and the wind is pretty bad. Currently around 40km per hour, I'm guessing that's the heavy gusting speed. My tent (a tarptent stratospire 1) is in an exposed position - there isn't much choice. One of the struts is facing the wind (the weather was fine when I set up, I wasn't expecting this change!) The strut doesn't like the wind. The pegs haven't come out the ground, it's nice turf. But the tent is flapping about (inner and fly). I slept super bad. I'm also worried about it breaking. I have tried to get the fly as low as possible to the ground so that wind doesn't get under it, buts there's still a few inches of air gap.

How much wind should I expect this tent to take?
What way should the tent face the wind?
Should I take it down and pay for more pricey accom?
What else can I do on the spot to minimise the flapping or damage to the tent? (Without going shopping cos I'm in a remote-ish area).

[Gusto]

You can reduce some of the stress caused by wind gusts by attaching elastic shock cord to the guy lines. Have

As for you other questions. They are too complex to answer. Even if I could answer it by saying that you should take the tent down in winds above __kmph then it still wouldn't help. Because you can't accurately predict the peak wind gust over night. You also are unlikely to be able to accurately measure the wind speed around you. And finally, unless you have an alternative shelter to use, it doesn't matter anyway.

At the end of the day, you have purchase a tent that has straight poles that aren't designed to flex. The whole shape of the tent isn't ideal for wind gusts either. The tent has many positives to. You just need to take the good with the bad.

[Chezza]

Can you post a picture of your setup?

It's strongest with the ridgeline along the wind direction.

Are you using hiking poles for the tent poles?

Attaching a picture of my SS2 pitched with every bit of flap removed. The pitchlock corners are cranked down hard after it rained overnight. After you pitch it, extend the hiking poles as far as you can, but put rocks on the pegs first. Then crank down the ridge guys and get the pitchlock corners taut.

The lifter guys help get rid of flap too. Maybe pitching these to the ground (considering you're alone) might help too.

[Avatar]

Last year I had a similar experience, it was a steady 80kmh through a nearby saddle. I was camped behind some rocks so the windspeed was a bit lower, 40-50kmh, but I copped big gusts all night.
I used feet to support panels and hands on the poles for periods all night long.
I had 3 pegs come out and almost lost it. It survived undamaged, so I am of the view these are well made tents and can cop a fair whacking.
I think the tent is strongest with the wind running in the line defined by the poles and pole guys i.e. crossways , but you may not be in a position now to safely rotate it and the wind can change anyway.
Keep all guy lines tight as they will probably be slipping. I tied extra knots to do this - not easy when the lines are under terrific tension- which meant they were no longer adjustable.
If you have a few metres of cord and some spare poles or sticks then deploy the panel lifters to support them. You'll need at least 2m of cord for each panel lifter. At least do the side the wind is coming from even if you have no spare pole. I used shock cord loops on these to attenuate sudden gusts.
Keep maintaining the guy line tension and checking your pegs are really secure. Just losing one -they might fly out if caught by the wind and get lost- will put the tent at risk.
If you can safely relocate closer to a nearby sheltering wall/bank/rocks etc. then you should consider that.
Finally you could consider taking the tent down and securing it from flapping as best you can and using it as a bivvy bag. Wind speeds should be lower close to the ground.

[Suz]

Ok thanks everyone. So I do not have any extra rope or pegs to use the lifter panels - although I can see how effective that might be! I attached a video here...this is the weather without the really strong gusts. The pitch loc corner you can see is taking the brunt. The internet tells me it's 40-50km per hour for at least the next 24 hours. You guys are right in that I don't think I can effectively rotate the tent now. Yes I'm using hiking poles as tent poles and seem okay, they shifted just a little in the night. The pegs have been solid so far, it's just the crazy flapping...I woke up and both the vestibule doors had unzipped and were flapping wide open and the pitch loc corner keeps loosening, I have now staked it out as far as possible to counter that, not perfect but a little better. I have reset the guy lines this morning too, yep they had loosened overnight. I actually reduced the height of the hiking poles a little this morning so that I could get the tent edge right down to the ground I prevent wind gusting in under the tent. Is that the wrong move then?

[Avatar]

No, it's not necessarily the wrong move. You should be able to get the fly close to the ground depending on how flat and level your site is.
If your site has a lot of wind close to the ground like a sloping site as shown in the seaside cliff photo (i.e at < 10cm elevation) you might try blocking it with turf or rocks.
You will find that you can't lower the tent much as this creates loose panels that will flap more. Maybe just lower the windward side only.
I found that I wanted to increase the pole height as these kept compressing under the wind pressure.
And this is hard with a high wind pushing it all down!
I found that about 122cm -125cm height is needed on the poles.
Set them at the height where any higher starts to lift the edges of the fly too far off the ground i.e. there is a minimum gap of a few cm needed for a proper tight pitch.
If you find the panels curve inwards and you can't get a tight pitch, this is a sign you need to increase the height of the poles a few cm
(resetting peg placements in the process to give the fly room to move upwards)

[DanShell]

Suz, Chezza's photo shows exactly how to pitch it for high winds. Using the extra supports on the side and using nice long guys with everything pulled tight will stop it flapping.

Lowering your poles is ok as long as you are still able to pull it all nice and tight. Are you able to put something in front of the area thats getting wind under the outer?? Otherwise as you have found out, the inner will flap around as there is no way of holding it tight.
If your pegs haven't pulled out, it sounds as though you will be ok if you can pull it all nice and tight.

Its probably too late now but 3mm line for the guys stops them slipping and as a rule the guy lines that come with the tent are not long enough IMHO. Also shock cord takes up some of the stress in the same way you would use a spring on your guy lines on perhaps a large marquee.

I hope it stays up for you

[Avatar]

Its probably too late now but 3mm line for the guys stops them slipping and as a rule the guy lines that come with the tent are not long enough IMHO.
Also shock cord takes up some of the stress in the same way you would use a spring on your guy lines on perhaps a large marquee.

I agree with all 3 points.
3mm line will help, but a toggle on the end can also give extra tension and keep the loose end parallel to the guy.

Always worth taking spare cord (8m at least).
With the Stratospire I take a 48" 9mm carbon fibre and an alloy pole for the panel lifters or to hold up the tent if I want to use my trekking poles.
Plus cord and pegs for these.

[Suz]

Hey, thanks. I will try to do the best I can in the current conditions and then buy extra cord and pegs etc when I next have the opportunity. I have one extra pole that comes with the tent to help with the panel lifters...or should invest in a different one? I will try the rocks on windward side and see if that helps, thanks good idea! Next time I will try and anticipate the wind direction and set the tent accordingly...so the guy lines and poles get the wi d head on, and not the pitch loc corner.

Hopefully by the time I'm on the aawt I'll have my set up plummy. In Norway I might spend some time hostelling.

[Chezza]

The geometry of the tent with those elastic loops on the corners means you'll never get it pitched right to the ground (unless your pegs are below ground or the grass is tall) and get it taut. The inner will flap around but that's just annoying and not something to worry about.

You can just barely see the pink and white 3mm utility cord running through the six line locs. This is a must do mod. Also look out for the simple overhand knots making the elastic loops slipping over time in the wet.

Your video didn't come through in your post?

Good luck! If it gets really hairy drop the hiking poles and hold on the tent

[Suz]

Yup I will do that 3mm line. Have come back from a half day out now and tent still standing, yay. Not too worried about the inner flapping although it obviously makes sleeping difficult. Don't understand what you mean about elastic loops but in time I'm sure I will. Thanks for help!

[neilmny]

................ I attached a video here...

Should there be a link somewhere Suz I don't see a video......or is it a prob my end?????

[aloftas]

Suz, first rule is Dont panic.
The idea behind the elasticized guys is to allow flex and expansion with the gusts and then the tent will revert to its original pitching status as the gusts ease. As someone else has said to pitch with the ridgeline in line with the prevailing wind, with the entrance to the leeward side. The leeward side is the side NOT exposed to the wind.

You could try and make a wind break out of brush if there is anything around.

Put heavy objects in the corners of your tent, so that if there is a catastrophic failure it should remain largely intact.

You can put two tent pegs behind one if that is necessary, to make it stronger.

No twine?


Improvise?

Is there anything you can unstitch, undo? For example the cinch cord in the sleeping bag, or around the bottom of a jacket for example.


Use it as an opportunity to feel alive!

Stay safe

There are many wise heads here....

Us e the forum to enable your safety and comfort
"God speed!"

[aloftas]

The other thing, which occurred to me from the sanctuary of my bath, was that a weighted stone may act in the same shock absorbing manner as elasticized cord would. As the stress is increased by the wind gust, the strain would be eased by the rock (or cantilevered stick/pole) lifting, as a see saw does.

Be prepared to think laterally, and break it down into steps of logic.

The other thing which occurred to me was that if you make a wind break, the idea is to make it permeable, so the wind velocity is decreased. If you make an impermeable barrier the wind will simply dump out on the other side with no great impact. You are looking to create a zone of disturbed air, as opposed to a jetstream of air.

Anyway...take some pics, make plenty of cuppas and enjoy!

[Franco]

Lots of good comments above, I will add mine.
At above 40 kmph or so (measured NOT perceived...) most tents will flap about particularly the non geodesic types.*

The Pitch Lock corner (raised two strut ends) is indeed a good corner to put against the wind provided of course that it is set correctly.
It should look like this :
<a href="http://s43.photobucket.com/user/Francophoto/media/Scarp%201/Scarp-strong-corner.jpg.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i43.photobucket.com/albums/e389/Francophoto/Scarp%201/Scarp-strong-corner.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo Scarp-strong-corner.jpg"/></a>
It takes a lot of wind to put the same pressure on those struts as my 72kg weight does.

It is very important to have the two apex guylines taut just as the two corner struts should be.
Good photo above on that set up.
Those 4 points will help keeping all the panels taut but again at some point all non supported fabric panels will flap and or cave in.
(Google "tent in wind" "wind damaged tent" note the many different designs also caving/wobbling)

*take a look at this DAC/Sierra Designs wind tunnel test.
Look at how the tent wobbles at 30 mph (48kmph)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MQMG83I2c0
The fact that they posted that video shows that according to them it is a good performance for that design.
Note that the tent is nailed down as they usually are on wind tests so never blame the tent if pegs pop out.

[legend]

I have attached loops halfway on each of the vestibule door openings. This keeps the vestibules tighter and also keeps them closer to the ground.

[aloftas]

yeh, I hope op is ok...

i have been wondering.

[Suz]

Hey guys!

okay thanks for all the help. I just got back from Europe last night and have been a bit busy to visit here. Anyhow, the tent survived the experience but not without some small damages which I will need to fix (and will have to ask advice for in time).

I realise now that I did something dumb in that not only did I put rocks on the tent peg corners but I also put them on the lower edge of the material along the windy side of the tent itself, trying to stop the wind from lifting the tent. That caused a tear in the tent along one of the seams - i.e. the stitching came undone (5cm or so length). So advice to any other gumbies who read this forum: DO NOT lay rocks on the material of your tent in wind!

Also one of the pitch lock corners busted a bit - the material that keeps the rod inside unglued/unstitched and now I have a strut that I will have to fix. Weirdly it was the corner that was facing away from the wind…I don't even understand how that was the one that busted.

There is also one other minor tear in the tent that I'll have to fix that I think I must have caused myself, near the fly zipper - from trying to set up the tent perhaps too tautly.

Anyhow, in short, the winds were 40-50kms per hour, with heavy gusting for about 2.5 days non-stop. The winds were verified by the weather service (which I was able to google at the time). So this is a legit and not perceived figure. The tent was in an exposed position for the whole period, the wind did shift a little over time, and the wind was slightly less severely felt on the last day. It was set up with the strut taking the brunt of the wind (wind came up o/n unexpectedly so I wasn't prepared). I did not have extra guy lines set up to help bear the wind. The ground was very good for tenting with with slightly damp, heavy soil and my pegs only loosened a little (I just re-pushed them in about once a day) and no pegs ever fully came out. As explained, the tent suffered 3 small injuries. All in all I'm pretty happy my tent survived the experience and I will repair and also modify it to cope better in future.

(Franco, I couldn't look at the photo of the pitch lock corner in wind - the link didn't work).

[Strider]

Also one of the pitch lock corners busted a bit - the material that keeps the rod inside unglued/unstitched and now I have a strut that I will have to fix. Weirdly it was the corner that was facing away from the wind…I don't even understand how that was the one that busted.

The rods are not permanently contained within their sleeve. There is an opening at the end of each that allows the rod to be removed. Perhaps you just haven't noticed this previously?

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

[Suz]

oh. I'll look closer!

[aloftas]

Phew.

I thought you had been taken by Vikings.

[Franco]

Suz,
this was the photo :

I used the wrong link (for this forum) in the previous post.
(don't try this at home, I don't want anyone impaling themselves but there is no trick used there)
BTW, as much as I have recommended using rocks on top of the corner tie-outs to help the pegs there, it is important that either those rocks are very smooth or that the cordage is protected (using stuff sacks/lots of grass/socks/folded plastic bags...) from abrasion.

[Suz]

Phew.

I thought you had been taken by Vikings.

haha, cute.

[Suz]

BTW, as much as I have recommended using rocks on top of the corner tie-outs to help the pegs there, it is important that either those rocks are very smooth or that the cordage is protected (using stuff sacks/lots of grass/socks/folded plastic bags...) from abrasion.

Okay, noted. Thanks

[aloftas]

Glad you are home safe and sound.