Tent Failure Tales

[AKDoc]

On the flip side...a tent success story, and...

On a September moose hunt in western Alaska one year we had to hunker-down for a three-day residual typhoon with winds recorded +80mph. In over thirty-years living in Alaska, it was the most intense wind/rain I'd ever experienced in a tent!

We had gotten an advanced alert/warning and moved our tents to a nearby slightly recessed willow thicket/moose bedding area for some cover. Our Hilleberg Staika's were the MVP's of that hunt, as always...and they held up just fine. We always use cyclone tent stakes on the tundra...and they worked great. We preventatively dropped the center-pole of the tipi (our day shelter) and anchored it down before the storm hit...and it stayed put.

The day after...

...and on that same day after the storm, we took a nice 64" bull, who had also been hunkered-down for a few days and needed to move.

 

[longrangelead]

A buddy went to take a dump and came back to his Cimarron in a flaming pile with all his gear inside. lost everything!
was set up on an old road bed in timber, no wind.
he suspects the carbon center pole got to hot being to close to the stove and either collapsed or caught fire and spread.

 

[tttoadman]

I had a copper spur 2P go down with about 3” of wet snow. It was the only tent I had. These are too flat on top to take any reasonable snow.

We broke the small MSR aluminum pole with a cimarron. We believe the wind in this canyon was gusting up to 80 or more. It was pretty spooky. We got the large diameter MSR pole. Never had issues after that. I have the same large diameter 3 pc pole for my Silvertip. I have had this setup in pretty heavy snow with no issues.

 

[mrbillbrown]

Not a failure with my Tut tipi but….. a small pin hole (from my poor seam sealing skills) allowed a drip on me one trip. Having no tube of seam sealer with me I had to string my Sheep Tarp up as a liner to stay dry. Otherwise that floorless shelter has been perfect for all my needs.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Beendare]

If 40+ mph winds are in the forecast I don’t plan on sleeping in a tipi .....

I would disagree with that comment.

I've had my tipi in some crazy windy weather, multiple times in Alaska and that is one of the best designs for bucking the wind as long as you keep it tensioned.

 

[Dos Perros]

December deer hunting in Kansas had a windy night in one of the old JimmyTarps. The wind had the stove pipe riding up and down and it sawed through the stove jack. Also the zipper on that tent failed. Now I wrap stove pipes in welders felt at the stove jack.

My buddy had another silpoly tarp come apart in Montana on a September elk hunt, just very windy. My silnylon Seek Outside survived. I won't own a silpoly tent I need to keep me alive ever again.

 

[Skerhunter]

I would disagree with that comment.

I've had my tipi in some crazy windy weather, multiple times in Alaska and that is one of the best designs for bucking the wind as long as you keep it tensioned.
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You disagree with the comment - I don’t plan on sleeping in a tipi with high winds .

I didn’t say they are guaranteed to fail or anything!

 

[thegrouse]

I had a North Face Wagon 6 in Moab one Spring, I had every guy out point staked out. Nasty thunderstorms pulled a stake or two while I was out and snapped a pole. I did a field repair and finished the trip.

Big Bend Texas one March I had my REI Base Camp 6 out. Every guy out point staked in the ground. Nasty wind over 70mph. This wind toppled an RV and ripped canvas off a popup down the road. My tent didn't flatten, but it bent a pole I bent it in the field for another night and replaced when I got home

Northern AZ monsoon season went out with just a tarp. The wind and heavy rain was too much for the 9x10 tarp. There was no pitch that would keep me dry. Managed to make it through the night and almost never use a tarp now unless I am in the desert during the dry months.