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bjy10

Australia Regional Director
Member

Member III

2,486
Collingwood Park, Queensland, Australia
First Name
Blake
Last Name
Young
Member #

2397

Months of planning. Me, the wife, our son, my dad and his fiancé, her son and wife, her daughter and husband and their 4 kids. Camping over a 4 day period at Moogerah Dam, QLD, Australia.

My wife had managed to book a 4 day weekend from work. Dad and his fiancé were approved for the Friday off from work and the Saturday, Sunday and Monday fell on days off on our roster (I have the same work roster as dad). I however had to "call in sick" on the Friday.

I had packed all the gear the week leading up. Friday morning came and just some last minute shopping for meat from our favourite butcher.

Alas we headed off on the hour long drive and made it to the destination with no issues. We set up our NEW tent (used twice purchased from an uncle). Our roof tarp and kitchen items all sorted. And we assisted dad with his caravan. It was only the 5 of us for the Friday night.

About 4pm the wind started. Not bad at first. But later into the night it began to really howl through. We decided it was bed time around 830pm. For the next 2 hours the wind became ferocious. Myself and dad battled the conditions attempting to save our gear.

At 1025pm a gust came through that tore the base of our tent. 1030pm another gust that knocked our storage cupboards full of food over. It was at that stage my wife and I made the decision to retreat. 1035pm we made the hours drive back home wondering what destruction we would return to in the morning.

We returned on the Saturday to discover no further damage to our gear. However dad said he was outside at around 1230am and the wind had folded our tent over.

Upon further conversation with the management group at the park we were told that they had had roughly 110km/h wind gusts that night. Trees had lost branches and fallen onto the toilet blocks. One of the permanent cabins had its roof torn off which then ended up placing itself inside the cabin next to it.

We made the decision to pack up and come home. Fail. Our 4 day trip lasted roughly 10 hours. However we arent deterred and will be back better than ever... as soon as we get our tent repaired...

Here is the only picture I managed to take. Its my Pajero infront of dads Prado waiting to enter the park
 

Winterpeg

CDN Prairie Ambassador
Staff member
Launch Member

Influencer II

3,278
Winnipeg, MB
Member #

2861

Sorry to hear about your tent casualty.

There aren't many tents that can hold up to that kind of wind but I believe mine has. It's the Cabela's XWT (Extreme Weather Tent).
http://www.cabelas.ca/product/27469/cabelas-outfitter-series-xwt-xtreme-weather-tents

It's pretty heavy... weighing in close to 90 lbs... but the structure is very stout. When the wind is too unbearable to sit in our screen tent and/or even talk to each other we have retreated into the XWT and played a game with the kids and went to bed early.

***Here is my little write-up when I first bought it in 2012.......
***************************************
I bought and ultimately returned 3 tents this year due to quality issues.
One of which was the Coleman 10-man instant tent. I wasn't impressed with the no fly business and it also leaked in 4 different places. I'm sure if I treated the seams it would have held up better but that still doesn't fix the no fly / no awning issue.

I've recently purchased a Cabelas Outfitter Series XWT - extreme weather tent. The build quality on this thing is awesome! (and you may have figured out that I'm kinda picky
)

This is the 8 person 12x12 version... I figure if it's raining like heck and we're stuck in the tent then we at least have some space.

The fly creates a vestibule in the front and I'm sure it will survive some pretty extreme winds considering they tested it behind a jet engine (80 mph wind / 128 kmh wind).
The bathtub floor goes up over 12".
The zippers are all high quality.
There are plenty of vents that zipper up fully in case of blowing sand, snow, etc.
Even with the vents all open the fly "covers" them... there is a large space between the tent itself and the fly.
*****************************************

Since then I have camped on the beach at our favourite spot and been treated to some incredible winds coming in off the lake. The winds last year destroyed our little privacy tent but the XWT didn't even blink an eye.

P7250057.JPG P8230122.JPG

 

Lifestyle Overland

Rank VI
Founder 500
Member

Pathfinder II

4,387
United States
First Name
Kevin
Last Name
McCuiston
Member #

0102

We had a crazy night in Death Valley with a nasty wind storm that sent us scampering into the vehicles for cover. Honestly thought it was going to blow the rig over at one point! Glad you all came out safe. Those kinds of trips really stink, but in the end, it's the one's you'll always tell stories about.
 
E

expeditionnorth

Guest
is one you can tell your grandkids about , thankfully no one was injured thats the most important part of it all
 
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Vyscera

Rank V
Launch Member

Advocate III

1,836
Palm Bay, FL, USA
Member #

2901

Yeah, things don't always go as you hoped. First time I took my wife out camping the "scattered showers" turned into torrential downpour and the spot my wife wanted turned into a creek. Live and learn.
 

vegasjeepguy

Rank V
Launch Member

Advocate II

2,566
Gravette, AR, USA
Member #

1130

That's not "failed". What you had was a great experience and multiple lessons learned. You were wise enough to retreat so you can "fight" again another day. Take stock of those lessons, adapt your gear and strategy and you'll be that much better prepared for whatever comes your way next time.