high winds

[taliv]

so...

do you carry supplies to repair your shelter? especially those with canvas RTT or pop ups, what is actually in your kit? 100mph tape? needle and thread? super glue?

 

[KonzaLander]

I experienced 50mph wind at Lake Scott in Western Kansas while in my hammock. Even though I had a tarp run to the ground I was still being tossed around like a rag doll due to tree movement. But it wasn't the movement that kept me from a sound sleep, it was the dang tarp noise in the wind. In the RTT we did experience 30mph gusts at Abiquiu Lake in New Mexico. I had added extra tarp ties outs to the rain fly and that really helped the noise.

I see a trend developing here: Pack ear plugs if planning to camp by water!

 

[PapaDave]

I

so...

do you carry supplies to repair your shelter? especially those with canvas RTT or pop ups, what is actually in your kit? 100mph tape? needle and thread? super glue?

I don’t have a repair kit

 

[old_man]

Food for thought...What do we call a day with 60mph winds in Colorado??? Monday. In Wyoming it is 70mph.

 

[Louiston]

Having a Maggiolina Extreme hard shell RTT, I really don't believe you need to carry any repair "kit". These RTT's have been used the world over for the last 5 or 6 decades and proven themselves in the worst conditions on every continent.

I'm not saying the RTT can't fail but, if it does, you probably have larger issues to deal with.

The beauty of the "crank up" Maggiolina is that the tension on the fabric sides can be tensioned with a slight turn of the crank when needed. In my previous post I mentioned the horrendous noise from the wind, it wasn't due to the RTT making noise, it was the noise of the wind hitting the tent. There was NO flapping canvas to deal with, the tent stood solid.

Ground tents and "fold out' style RTT's are the most problematic dealing with high winds, IMHO.

Edit: And yes, the crank up Maggiolina takes about a minute longer to set up versus one with gas shocks.

 

[Roadtoaster]

Wyoming is the windest place I've ever seen. Stopped for gas in Chugwater and the door whipped wide open. The gas girl said, It's only 55mph today, yesterday it was 80mph. Yikes.

I thought Lethbridge, AB was windy.

Wyoming is indeed a windy place! I live near Chugwater on top of the bluff and 80 mph is fairly common. When traveling in Wyoming, believe the high wind warnings and don't drive light, high profile vehicles during high wind events. Instead, seek cover and point your vehicle into the wind to wait it out. I've seen tractor trailer rigs blown over while parked along the highway. One 75 mile trip from Cheyenne to Wheatland, I counted 35 tractor trailers, pickup-fifth wheel and bumper pull trailers on their sides...looked like a war zone! The stories are not myth, straight line winds over 50 mph are common with gusts 70 to 80 are common in some areas. Highest gusts I've seen recorded in Wyoming (near Riverton) were over 120 mph!

 

[velo47]

Wyoming is indeed a windy place! I live near Chugwater on top of the bluff and 80 mph is fairly common. When traveling in Wyoming, believe the high wind warnings and don't drive light, high profile vehicles during high wind events. Instead, seek cover and point your vehicle into the wind to wait it out. I've seen tractor trailer rigs blown over while parked along the highway. One 75 mile trip from Cheyenne to Wheatland, I counted 35 tractor trailers, pickup-fifth wheel and bumper pull trailers on their sides...looked like a war zone! The stories are not myth, straight line winds over 50 mph are common with gusts 70 to 80 are common in some areas. Highest gusts I've seen recorded in Wyoming (near Riverton) were over 120 mph!

When I was bike racing we had a week-long stage race in Casper every year. It was always windy windy windy. The last year I competed there we had a criterium around the shopping mall on the last day. It was so windy that it was impossible to open the doors to the mall on the windward side of the building, because they were held shut by the wind! you had to go in and out on the leeward side. For the locals it seemed like a regular day. After the race ended we were driving home in my SAAB with 6 bikes on the roof and into the wind we could only manage 3rd gear on the interstate. For a while we followed a moto with a one-wheel trailer. I don't know how he didn't crash in the crosswind.

 

[Roadtoaster]

When I was bike racing we had a week-long stage race in Casper every year. It was always windy windy windy. The last year I competed there we had a criterium around the shopping mall on the last day. It was so windy that it was impossible to open the doors to the mall on the windward side of the building, because they were held shut by the wind! you had to go in and out on the leeward side. For the locals it seemed like a regular day. After the race ended we were driving home in my SAAB with 6 bikes on the roof and into the wind we could only manage 3rd gear on the interstate. For a while we followed a moto with a one-wheel trailer. I don't know how he didn't crash in the crosswind.

Pretty normal for this area, folks have to experience it to believe it. Sometimes they don't figure it out until their rig is laying on it's side.