Recommendations for a wind-worthy tent?

[Walkertg]

Last weekend I was on Dartmoor. My plan was to wildcamp in bivvy and tarp but 90 minutes into 40-50mph winds and driving drizzle I was huddled behind a rock comparing B&Bs on booking.com...

What single person, high wind- and rain-proof tent should I have had with me to make camping in those conditions feasible?

Tents that use one or two hiking poles are fine, but I suppose that given the requirements we’re looking at something with its own pole structure?

I'm relatively inexperienced but usually travel solo so ease of use is key.

Bonus points if it’s possible to get the stove going in a vestibule or something.

Thanks in advance oh oracles of trek-lite.

 

[Taz38]

You'll be looking at a 4 season tent.
Have a look at https://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/ for some inspiration.

I try not to camp in windy conditions but sometimes one has no choice. My trekkertent has done fine sofar but its not been out in very windy conditions.

 

[dovidola]

Luxe Hexpeak V4A - it's served me well in the conditions you describe.
Ticks your boxes at a reasonable weight and price. Huge vestibule and excellent stability (in all directions).
Pitching requires some skill, but as a tarper you'll have no trouble setting it up right.
You can buy the tent here:
https://www.backpackinglight.co.uk/shelters-1/WF137.html
That's for the outer. There are various options (including the manufacturer's own inner) for what you have inside.

If that doesn't appeal or if you'd prefer something freestanding, the Tarptent Scarp 1 is a favourite with some here for foul conditions. More expensive, heavier, and you have to import it from the USA, but it's probably the only tent you'll ever need...

 

[Ally]

I use a terra nova polar lite 2 micro in winter which has stood up to all but the worst conditions Scotland has. 50mph winds and heavy snow.

Its a bit heavy at 2kg but nice and roomy for one and solid quick and easy to pitch. I don't think its made any more but there is a Wild country blizzard 2 which is more or less the same.

If you want bullet proof look at Hilleberg's Akto, Soulo or Unna but not cheep obviously. Also Tarptent Scarp's

Much more experienced people than my self on here but a decent 3 season tent will stand up well if its pitched well and in a decent location with minimal snow fall.

 

[Dave V]

You can't go wrong really with a Luxe Hex Peak V4. Well priced and lighter than some setups. It has plenty of room for you, gear and to cook.

If your used to bivi camping something like a Rab Silwing or Trailstar may be worth looking at, both have variable pitches and use trekking poles.

 

[Franco Darioli]

BTW, a bush is often a much better barrier than a rock. That is because it will filter and reduce the force of the wind whilst a rock can cause the wind to go around it and then slam down on your tent. ( unless the rock is much larger than the shelter)

 

[Jamess]

If you can afford it, buy shewies duomid and an alliexpress inner.

If you decide its not for you, you can easily resell it for what you paid for it.

If I could have only one tent it would probably be a Cuben Duomid. Light, storm worthy, simple, quick to put up. Enough said!

 

[Jon jons]

Will post some pics of my new salewa litetrek ii tomorrow on thread of name of tent, think it's wind worthy. Its tested to 90kph which is force ten. 2.1kg and shy of £190

 

[OneBeardedWalker]

Following @Dave V and @dovidola I'd throw in a third vote for the Hexpeak. I've had it out in gusts of 40/50+ mph no problems at all.

For solo use there is tons of room in the vestibule for cooking, winter kit etc.

However, and I'm sure that you already know this so I do apologise, it's not just about the tent. Little things such as getting up in the night to do a bit of housekeeping, using the shape of the land to provide shelter etc can make a great difference to the performance of any tent in those conditions.

Whatever tent you go for I wish you all the best in your continued camping adventures. Dartmoor is a great place to go, I'm frequently up there so if you fancy seeing a Hexpeak in action, give me a shout.

 

[Dave V]

Following @Dave V and @dovidola I'd throw in a third vote for the Hexpeak. I've had it out in gusts of 40/50+ mph no problems at all.

For solo use there is tons of room in the vestibule for cooking, winter kit etc.

However, and I'm sure that you already know this so I do apologise, it's not just about the tent. Little things such as getting up in the night to do a bit of housekeeping, using the shape of the land to provide shelter etc can make a great difference to the performance of any tent in those conditions.

Whatever tent you go for I wish you all the best in your continued camping adventures. Dartmoor is a great place to go, I'm frequently up there so if you fancy seeing a Hexpeak in action, give me a shout.

There are a number of forum members local to Dartmoor with various shelter setups. I am sure many of them would be happy to extend the offer of looking before you decide what's right for you.

 

[Walkertg]

Thanks all for your very useful input and extremely kind offers! Sorry I'm not super responsive to posts. Will research and consider... Cheers!

 

[JimH]

Another shout for the Trailstar, I've not had mine out in any ridiculous gales, but it's been rock solid in some Pyrenean thunderstorms

 

[liamarchie]

any sort of Pyramid style or tipi style tent will be best for weight savings:
Duomid, trailstar, Khufu, ultamid, hex peak, silvertip

or if you can accept more weight, dome tents that use multiple crossing support poles are wind worthy, so anything by Hilleberg or along those lines.
dome tents tend to be more expensive though.

A dome tents design is to be strong enough to withstand the wind, rather than to divert the wind like on mid style shelter

 

[Guinevere]

It's by no means UL. But for serious wind I'd still want my North Face Mountain 24 with me:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/dA8Yn8zPj7xvT56aA

Four pole geodesic, 6 guying points, rock solid. And best of all? Not only will it survive any wind you care to throw at it (with stable pegs), but it will do so while remaining quiet!

It's fine going UL when you can, but as you've found out - when the weather gets a bit extreme you'll regret not having a proper 4 season tent with you.

 

[Charles42]

I'll raise the flag for the Scarp 1 . It can take some serious weather in it's stride . Two
vestibules ,roomy and you can widen the floor across the middle to 52" for a spacious
interior .

 

[Franco Darioli]

North Face Mountain 24
It has been discontinued but for solo travel I would think a 3.7 kg tent could be a bit too much.

 

[lentenrose]

i was surprised to find that the heavier poles in my keron 2 were the same length as my atko---------so winter set up for atko ---heavier pole--- extra guyline on sides to give a V instead of a straight pull----use any spare pegs to double peg any vunerable points------i have been in 50 mph winds and felt solid and secure----i no doubt it would survive stronger winds but i have no intention of entering my precious tent into a tent willy waving in the wind competition

 

[gixer]

Been through this thought process myself on this

If the wind is strong enough no tent is going to survive, i don't care on it's design or weight.
Even if the wind is slightly less, a pulled peg or a tieout slipping and ANY tent is liable to fail
Zippers, poles, tieouts, pegs, all points of failure

So there is no tent you can buy that will be guaranteed not to fail in any conditions
If the wind is bad enough it uproots trees and rips the roofs off houses, no piece of supported fabric is going to survive that for long
In conditions like that even putting a tent up is risky and difficult, every hour it's up the risk of damage increases

I'm not talking about a being at a show with a fan blowing, i'm talking about spending a day on the hills wet, cold and miffed off THEN trying to put up your tent with gusts of wind appearing from nowhere strong enough to dump you on your arse


Don't want to harp on, but i think it's important to know the limits of tents and have an idea when to just bail and get out of dodge.
Even if the tent survives the night, it's hardly going to be an enjoyable night, which surely is why we camp?

There are exceptions like longer hikes, injury etc
In the UK though there aren't many places where you can't drop down to a escape route within a few hours walking
In severe wind, who'd want to be up on the tops anyway's


For me i now have an idea of the conditions i need to bail
With this in mind, a Scarp1 or a mid from the various companies (Locus Gear, MLD, HMG) or a Trailstar is enough
If it got the point where i felt i needed a 3kg+ tent i'd just stay at home, no way i'm lugging that lump around

Even then, you find reports and videos of these supposedly "bomber" tents failing, pegs pulled, zippers tearing, poles snapping
There is no guarantee

 

[Michael_x]

Forgive the newbie question but can anyone put some numbers on this.

What sort of windspeeds would one expect a four season tent competently pitched to comfortably withstand and what speeds might SHTF (shelter hardware total failure) be probable?

 

[dovidola]

Ah yes, 'bomber' tents have been known to fail. Just as well, then, that HMG, with their new Dirigio or whatsitsname, have come up with the 'badass' tent, which will be utterly impervious to whatever the weather throws at it.

I'm with @gixer on this one. If a decently made and correctly pitched tent in the category he describes can't cope, then I'd be asking myself what I was doing up there, and why I hadn't done my weather forecasting properly. Of course the weather can be fickle and things often don't go to plan, but that's why you should leave a fairly generous margin for error when deciding on an outing. The tent you carry should be able to deal with with the expected conditions, plus extra. Take the forecasted wind speed, then double it, then allow a bit more for rogue gusts.

 

[gixer]

Forgive the newbie question but can anyone put some numbers on this.

What sort of windspeeds would one expect a four season tent competently pitched to comfortably withstand and what speeds might SHTF (shelter hardware total failure) be probable?

I think that's a great question
Unfortunately i don't think there is a numerical value to it though

There is just so many variables that to me you just can't quantify it

In Greece, i've never been in conditions where i've not been able to find a sheltered spot
Even in the higher mountains the wind is pretty predictable, in that it tends to blow from the same direction

Only real exception to that i've found so far, is the lake district
I've had my head pinned down by the tent fabric, like pregnant water buffalo sat on my head, then 10 seconds later my feet were pinned down, complete 180 degree change in wind direction.

So the ability to find a sheltered spot makes a MASSIVE difference

Then there is old lady luck
If your 26 season, bomb shelter, tent pulls a peg and you're too dry, cold, tired, miserable to get out to fix it, or fast asleep with earplugs in the failure rate dramatically increases

Or a worn, knackered zipper, damaged tent pole, slipping trekking pole, frayed tieout, or a tieout rubbing against a piece of rock sticking out the ground
Each case might not be obvious, when pitching or on previous camping trips, but once the wind starts really blowing it'll find any weakness or failure point


In my case, we set out for a trek-lite meet last year, our group of 3 was determined not let anyone down by not showing up, but the weather was terrible, constant heavy rain and strong winds
We got about 3/4 of the way there and bailed

Our thinking was, even if we went, we'd all be stuck in our tents bunkered down out of the weather, so we wouldn't really meet anyone.
Being stuck in the tent for 12 to 16 hours in those conditions you've got to think, where is the enjoyment in that?

So that's how i quantify it, will it be enjoyable

 

[dovidola]

Forgive the newbie question but can anyone put some numbers on this.

What sort of windspeeds would one expect a four season tent competently pitched to comfortably withstand and what speeds might SHTF (shelter hardware total failure) be probable?

Regrettably, that's where things start to fall apart, because there are too many variables, including:
- what do we mean by 'four season tent'?
- how exposed is the selected site?
- what pegs/guys have been deployed?
- is the wind from one direction, or is it shifting?
- is the windspeed constant, or buffeting?
- how are the ground conditions?
- what additional 'reinforcement' has been deployed?

@gixer contrasts real mountain conditions with "being at a show with a fan blowing", which says it all really. Temperature ratings on sleeping bags are similarly inadequate. But if you insist on trying to quantify it, I'd say that Force 7 on the Beaufort Scale is about the most you should be contemplating.

 

[gixer]

Just thought of another thing to add

Bail out plan
If my car is 30mins walk away i'd be more inclined to "push it" than if i was 4 hours from the nearest shelter (car, hotel etc)


Pays to be really well organised in case you need to bail as well
Anything not being used packs away in the rucksack, then pack kit away like sleeping bag, mat etc as you start to break camp

I've crammed my tent loose in a external pocket of my rucksack before now just cause i didn't want to open my rucksack in the wind/rain.
Once i found shelter i repacked

One of my arms is knackered though, so stuffing stuff sacks takes me a while

 

[WilliamC]

Just to add, the right pegs for the terrain can be as important as which tent you're using.

 

[Michael_x]

A quick Google, then wikipaedia to convert force 7 into mph, since that's what weather forecasts mostly seem to provide, gives a speed of 32 - 38 mph. Somehow I'd been expecting a higher figure though what I don't know (that's why I asked). Thank you.