Tenting in the wind

[Back on the trail]

So the wind is blowing 10 - 15 mph and guesting to 20+. I look around and find a spot that has no apparent widow makers and go to set up my tent. ? Does it really make a difference which way I set my Fly Creek UL2 up? back end to the wind / side ways. There's a slit all the way around the bottom were the rain fly doesn't hit the ground and a big net above my head that air passes right thru.
So what your opinion? :-?

[LittleRock]

I have the Fly Creek UL2 as well - I love it, but it can be a pain to set up in the wind since it is so light it's almost like a parachute. If possible, I recommend setting it up so that it is pointed where your feet will be facing the wind. The tent is shaped so it is most aerodynamic in that direction. Another thing that can help is to stake down the end where your feet will go before setting up the tent.

[Venchka]

Unsubstantiated Personal Opinion.
If it's warm and you need ventilation, big end upwind.
It it's cold and/or wet, little end upwind.
If the ground is wet and stakes don't hold well and the wind exceeds your base case above, use rocks, dead wood, stuff sacks full of dirt/rocks, full water bottles, anything to add weight to the stakes as deadmen (https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=dead%20man%20tent%20anchor) or piled on top of the stakes.
You can also use living vegetation - tree trunks, bushes, etc. - to tie off to.
Improvise. Be creative.

Wayne

[Tipi Walter]

Send my backpacking buddy PatmanTN a message as he's an expert with this tent in tough conditions---

http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/member.php/43818-PatmanTN

See his review here---

http://www.trailspace.com/gear/big-agnes/fly-creek-ul2/#review24531

Here's some pics of his tent in action---

https://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2012/Tipi-Walter-in-Solitude/i-L59zL8w/0/M/TRIP%20130%20168-M.jpg
This is on Fodderstack Ridge in the Citico wilderness preparing for a 10F night.

https://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2012/Tipi-Walter-in-Solitude/i-95x82Mt/0/M/TRIP%20130%20270-M.jpg
Eating early oatmeal in a cold wind on a 5,300 North Carolina mountaintop.


https://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2011/Tipi-Walter-Warriors-Passage/i-jz3FCM9/0/M/TRIP%20128%20051-M.jpg
Dealing with cold temps atop Bob Mountain in NC.

[Traveler]

Widow makers are the first concern, so thats always the first thing to look for. For what you describe, I would put the back end (foot) into the wind due to the relatively small amount of fabric it presents to the wind and the taper that would shed wind gusts well. Its not a bad idea to look for some kind of wind break or protection from the wind obviously. Even a shallow depression like a swale in the ground or a large rock of a foot or two height to set the tent up just downwind of to prevent the wind from getting under the edges (bottom) of the tent can be effective. Putting the entry toward the wind will allow the tent to fill with wind and billow with a good chance it will tear away if you aren't in it. Even a bug net can act like a sail when the wind is blowing.

[Tipi Walter]

So the wind is blowing 10 - 15 mph and guesting to 20+. I look around and find a spot that has no apparent widow makers and go to set up my tent. ? Does it really make a difference which way I set my Fly Creek UL2 up? back end to the wind / side ways. There's a slit all the way around the bottom were the rain fly doesn't hit the ground and a big net above my head that air passes right thru.
So what your opinion? :-?

This is a 3 season tent which means it's made of lighter materials and has unsealable mesh which is a step down from a 4 season but heavier tent. Mesh means more tent compromise in a windstorm, esp a windstorm at 10F.

Patman and I went thru a terrible open bald windstorm in December 2012 and we lived to tell the tale. I was in a 14 pegged Hilleberg which got walloped and he was in his Big Agnes. He somehow got thru the cold hell winds and horizontal rains but survived by holding his tent together from the inside. He wanted to bail in a big way and did so by first light as I catch him in a pic saying goodbye and leaving the mountain---

https://tipiwalter.smugmug.com/Backpacking2012/15-Day-December-Decompression/i-Q4wVGhc/0/M/TRIP%20140%20247-M.jpg

[Venchka]

PICTURE #1 ABOVE: Look at the snow plastered on the trees. PatmanTN's tent is broadside to the wind. It must have worked. PatmanTN and the tent are still there. It also appears that the tent fly and possibly the base of the pole at the vestibule are tied off to the small tree in front of the tent. A good example of using available natural anchors. PatmaTN knows what he is doing.
Thanks for the photos.

Wayne

[MuddyWaters]

On most of the AT, if you are camping exposed, its either intentional or you really plan poorly. Tree snapping on you should be bigger threat than wind.

[Just Bill]

Kinda a no brainer to me-
Look at the last pic in post 4.

Put one good stake in the ground at the center rear point- clip the body to that.
Put that point into the wind- (in general work with the wind and let it spread the tent and fly for you)
An MSR groundhog like Patman is using or even tying off to the small tree in the snowy picture would be best.
Generally speaking- your upwind stake should be the strongest.

If you plan to use three stakes at the rear might as well start that way.

Other than that- this is a front entry tent- hence the no brainer part.
Primary vestibule/door should open down wind.
So no blowing snow or rain in your door, sheltered area to cook, place to sit.

The only other issue with this tent is the "stickman" pole design, it's decently strong slightly broadside to the wind actually- but with the foot end in a heavy wind it is prone to flattening.

In several of the pics the tent was pitched near enough to a small tree that this problem is not too bad to solve.
If pitched foot end to the tree, you can take the side pull anchors and run another line upwind and too the tree- or skip tying them to the ground and anchor that way. It would help prevent the foot end from deflecting (as would a decent 8-12" tree provide more of a wind break in that regard than you might think).

If the wind is forcing up under the fly and chilling your feet- your pack or a pile of snow kicked up outside solves that issue.

When it's really cold- shock cord doesn't do that well- and plastic gets brittle. Take your time and assemble the poles by hand and go gently on the clips.

[cmoulder]

If you have adequate snow available, you can block the perimeter to keep wind drafts out of most tents as long as the wind and snow load (from falling snow) don't collapse them.

My friend's CS1 on top of Slide Mtn, Catskills, were it was fairly breezy. And my Duomid in the Daks, also using snow on the perimeter. Temp around 0°F in both instances.

[Rex Clifton]

I have a Fly Creek UL2 and set it up facing into the wind. I do this because you have the additional guy points there as well as the fact that I can snug down the front pretty close to the ground. I'm amazed at how well such a lightweight tent handles the wind.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

[juma]

real wind, stake it into wind and do not use poles to raise. just use as a biv. Why fight the thing all nite?