Floorless + 60-70 mph winds?

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

I see guys talk about their shaped tarps holding up to 30-40 mph on occasion, but who has experience with floorless shelters in 60-70mph winds? I have a hunt in mind, and was considering a Silex or the new SO Guardian. But I know from firsthand experience the winter comes early, and a 30mph wind day is normal, with much higher winds probable at least one or two nights.

I currently have a Kifaru super tarp, and I suspect it would do okay with the right pitch, but I want something with more headroom cause I'm a big guy, and this is a late hunt. Hot tent is a must, I think.

 

[HunterEldridge]

Ill be interested to see the responses to this thread. I have wondered the same thing.

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

I can't prove the winds were that high, but they were the worst I have ever experienced in 2020. My SO 12 man held up, just had every single loop cinched down and every single guy line anchored with a stake and weight.

 

[jhm2023]

For floorless shelter I've used a Tigoat vertex 6.5 w/ carbon pole in the past for several years and I currently use a SO Cimmaron w/ carbon pole for lightweight base camp and a Kuiu Summit Refuge 3P with Black Diamond trekking poles as a spike camp shelter. I use 9" carbon stakes from Ruta Locura for all of them. I've experienced some pretty substantial storms and high winds in all of them with the only real issue being the fabric throwing condensation on me on occasion as it moves with the wind. Structural they've held up great. The summit refuge is my spike camp tent for sheep hunting and I've had it in some very strong winds up high on the mountain. Obviously proper pitch is key trying to orient into the wind the correct way the best you can and also making sure the stakes are planted solidly with heavy rocks on top of them to ensure they don't pull. Properly placed guy lines are a must as well.

I've looked at the guardian and all though there isn't a lot of info out there yet, what I did see looked to be some fairly large flat walls that I don't think I would want exposed to direct high winds. Interested to see when the product is actually released and see more info on it though.

 

[John Havard]

Tipi tent in wind

Have had a cimarron for a few years but had never had it in ultra windy conditions until this weekend. Thinking we had gusts around 40-50 mph. The tent held up and I had rocks stacked on all the stakes but there definitely was a few times I thought it was going to pick up and fly off the...

www.rokslide.com

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

I’ve had a redcliff in 50-60mph winds. I had every stake and guy out tight and weighted down, logs/rocks/gear around the edges, it wasn’t the most restful nights sleep but it held.

 

[Wrench]

If it's blowing 70, I'm digging a hole or finding a cave. Trees around here come down at 40-50.

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

If it's blowing 70, I'm digging a hole or finding a cave. Trees around here come down at 40-50.

This is more like a tundra situation.

 

[kjw]

I Had my seek LBO pitched at 13,000’ scouting for sheep last year in Colorado. I had a night of legit 40-50 mph winds for 6 hrs. Every stake was covered with a rock. It was loud as hell but the shelter stood strong. Also had it on an Alaskan caribou hunt with 30-40 mph winds and heavy driving rain. Performed like a champ

 

[Kevin Dill]

This thread brings back some wild memories.

The only 2 things that must not fail are stakes and center pole. If I knew I would experience a TRUE 70 mph wind gust I would not want to be in a tipi by preference. I have personally been there and done that back in 2015. Was basically trapped by a multi-day Alaska weather system which had hurricane-force winds. I was camped solo on a high pass with no trees or cover. I endured seemingly endless nights and days of ferocious winds and rain. My handheld Kestrel unit gave me wind readings from 50 to 70 mph several times with gusts exceeding 70 mph. I was in a Sawtooth and honestly reached a point of believing I would lose the Sawtooth (destroyed) to the weather. I had every stake weighted with heavy granite rocks and my center pole splinted with arrows. The shelter survived and I learned one of those 'anything can and will eventually happen' lessons.

Incidentally, and my opinion only: When the wind is screaming outside, the last thing I want to deal with is a wood stove. Gusts can make for sudden downdrafts, and high winds make a stove harder to control. If the stove is going and a gust brings down the tent you're staring at disaster or worse.

 

[BluMtn]

I can tell you this last thanksgiving week I was hunting in central MT. Had our 10x14 floored wall tent setup and the wind blew hard a couple nights. Had my pickup blocking the wind. The last night we were there the wind blew so hard that it was coming in under the pickup and I was sleeping on a mat on the floor and the wind was coming in under the tent and lifting me up off the ground and when it would subside settle me back down, did that most of the night.

 

[Kevin Dill]

In high wind situations any tent's performance and survival is dependent on keeping it tight to the ground....in other words, securely staked. If wind can get under the floor (if floored) or inside a floorless tent, you've got the beginnings of a sail or balloon. That's one reason I now require a sod flap on my floorless shelters. I can pile rocks, moss, sod, dirt etc on it and basically seal things off from wind intrusion.

 

[Mykolaivka887]

Back a couple decades ago, a hunting client and I practically crawled back to camp in true hurricane force winds. It was a spring coastal brown bear hunt and the wind that day became so ferocious that we couldn't hardly stand up when fighting our way back to camp and more often than not, we found ourselves crawling along the ground.

This was pre-Kestrel days and I have no idea just how strong the wind was blowing, but it was easily in the 90 mph range. When we arrived back at camp, which was setup in a deep ditch behind an abrupt ridgeline, we found that both tents had been uprooted and blown 30-50 yards down into the alders, further down the gully.

Miraculously, there was only "minor" (lol) rips and tears in the fabric. Of course, rain was blowing sideways and it looked like we were in for some sodden camping -- read that, "survival" -- days ahead.

Regardless, we setup again and "rocked" everything down with alder branches and rocks, and tied taught line criss-cross over the top of each tent. Plus, we even placed large rocks inside each tent, to help holding them down.

We survived the next several days and tried to make the most of it. Wasn't "fun", but it's Alaska and things happen. Not my first rodeo with Alaskan winds, by any means. But I'll tell you what, would've been an entirely different story had we setup on an exposure, instead of being in a deep draw. Camp location is everything.

 

[sneaky]

This is more like a tundra situation.

Well, we've got 60-70mph gusts here in central Idaho through tomorrow evening. 100mph predicted for parts of Wyoming. It can happen anywhere.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

Well, we've got 60-70mph gusts here in central Idaho through tomorrow evening. 100mph predicted for parts of Wyoming. It can happen anywhere.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Yep! I just meant the hunt in mind is treeless tundra area.

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

Wasn't "fun", but it's Alaska and things happen.

Boy, isn't that the truth!!! I've only spent a summer up there, but it seems like Alaska magnifies murphies law