Tipi tent in wind

[ID_Matt]

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 mountain. Center pole was swaying quite a bit and the sides were whipping. Our pitch wasn't perfect but it wasn't bad either. I am pretty proud the tent held up to it but am wondering if you guys have any other tips to helping it in windy conditions? Also, has anyone had the tent actually come undone in the wind?

 

[Clovis]

Choosing a location out of the main wind, a tight pitch and good stakes help. If it looks bad I also like to tie out to a few natural anchors (trees, rocks, dead man anchors) if possible--give more confidence that if it gets really rough the tipi isn't going to take off.

 

[mikkel318]

I had to stake my 12 man tipi in tundra and we hit a couple days with wind in the 40-50 mph range. I agree it can be a little nerve racking, but having a tight pitch is the biggest factor. In our case, every day or so we would bump the pole up one notch.

 

[Bearhunter]

Staking out my 8man taught and utilizing all the guy out points has proven to hold up in 50mph gusts in the Alaska Backcountry. The only down sized is the stakes they come with are not long enough for the Tundra/marshy ground. We always have to make stakes from limbs once we find out camp location. I had a Hilleberg Kaitum destroyed in 60mph winds in Alaska... I have more faith in my Kifaru tipi then the Hilleberg...

 

[codycleve]

as others have mentioned a tight pitch and good anchors. if it's really windy i like to kick some snow or dirt up over the base of my tent to hold it down so wind cant come up and under my tent and turn it into a sail. One of my first nights in my cimmaron was really really windy and we had a fire going as it was November in Idaho. You could hear the gusts coming up through the timber and then hit us at the ridge line.. It was scary for sure but made me a believer.

 

[ID_Matt]

as others have mentioned a tight pitch and good anchors. if it's really windy i like to kick some snow or dirt up over the base of my tent to hold it down so wind cant come up and under my tent and turn it into a sail. One of my first nights in my cimmaron was really really windy and we had a fire going as it was November in Idaho. You could hear the gusts coming up through the timber and then hit us at the ridge line.. It was scary for sure but made me a believer.

We had a few rocks down to block some wind. The dirt is a good idea too. There was a few times the wind would get under it and it looked like a balloon inflating on the inside.

 

[orionsbrother]

Dead men.

 

[Kevin_t]

Taught pitch fairly tight to the ground, strong staking and a strong pole and a Cimarron should take some pretty serious winds.

 

[swampthing]

My son bought his first tipi this summer and took it on a goat hunt the beginning of september. A snowstorm with high winds blew in the first night. He spent a sleepless night removing snow and piling rocks around the perimeter of the tipi to keep it on the ground. The second night the snow turned to rain, the winds persisted and the roof of the tipi tore apart. He spent 3 more nights on the mountain under a tarp! He got his goat but decided to go back to a regular tent for future hunts!

 

[wyosam]

The actual tipis (as opposed to pyramids like the cimarron, red cliff etc)shed wind quite well. Pitch them tight with good stakes and the are pretty bomber.


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[AK Troutbum]

^^^^ I don't agree with this. Mids shed wind exceptionally well, and although they may not do as well as tipi's, they still do very well. Like what K1United said, as long as your stakes hold (9" Cyclones are the bomb!), and the shelter is tight to the ground, any well constructed Mid is going to do very well under windy conditions.

 

[30338]

After a rough night in a Redcliff above timberline in high winds, I switched to a hilleberg for windy conditions. For me they serve a purpose in low wind areas with the stove being very nice to have. It gets windy, or may be windy, the Hilleberg goes in the pack.

 

[Sawtoothsteve]

Ran a SO 8 man tipi in alaska last fall. Had some 50-60 mph winds and we did fine. A few tundra length stakes, and all guyouts used with a tight to ground pitch.

 

[drdrop]

I bought a luxe octopeak this past year, and camped above treeline for a backcountry elk hunt. Winds were easily over 50 mph, perhaps quite a bit more. We had covered our stakes with rocks, but stitching on the tipi's snowskirt failed, causing wind to enter and the whole shelter collapsed. The worst part was Luxe wouldn't back their 1 year warranty. I wish I had bought a tipi from a more reputable company. The peace of mind of well-made structure is worth it.

 

[John Havard]

Above treeline with enough wind tipis can definitely fail. The bigger the tipi the larger the sail area which increases the wind load exponentially. All fabrics can and will fail, much like the spinnaker sail on a racing sailboat. After this 2012 experience camping above treeline I have never failed to have a bombproof mountaineering tent pitched beside my tipi to serve as a lifeboat. It is zero fun having to wake up in the middle of the night in hurricane force winds with horizontal freezing rain and have to set up a survival shelter with tarps. Never again.

 

[USMC2602]

Thanks, John Havard. Taking my SO 8 on our drop in moose hunt in September. Your post addressed my only concern, the “what if’s” that could happen. Taking a Hilleberg Nammatj 2 I picked up from another member just as “insurance”.

 

[John Havard]

USMC2602, an 8-man has much less sail area than my 16-man that blew up, so you probably don’t have to worry. But I’m a belt and suspenders guy so a bomb shelter tent pitched alongside your tipi is very good insurance. Have a great hunt this September! We’ll be flying in to our ridge top on the 8th.

 

[AK Troutbum]

Above treeline with enough wind tipis can definitely fail. The bigger the tipi the larger the sail area which increases the wind load exponentially. All fabrics can and will fail, much like the spinnaker sail on a racing sailboat. After this 2012 experience camping above treeline I have never failed to have a bombproof mountaineering tent pitched beside my tipi to serve as a lifeboat. It is zero fun having to wake up in the middle of the night in hurricane force winds with horizontal freezing rain and have to set up a survival shelter with tarps. Never again.

Just curious, if you don’t mind sharing, what make of tipi was this?


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[John Havard]

As far as I know there was only one tipi manufacturer in 2009 when this one was built. The first one I had was built in early 2007. But I honestly do not believe the brand makes a difference. Big tipis (12-16 man) made with the same lightweight fabric as 4-8 man tipis are all more subject to failure under heavy wind loads, no matter who makes them. Big tipis should be made with heavier and stronger fabric than smaller tipis. No one buys a 16-man tipi with the first thought being man-portable lightweight. Who cares if the canopy weighs 15 pounds instead of 9 pounds? If you notice the photos I posted the SST pins are all still firmly nailed into the tundra, and the center pole ( which we carried back about 200’ to lay beside the wrecked tipi) was undamaged. What failed was the fabric.

 

[AK Troutbum]

As far as I know there was only one tipi manufacturer in 2009 when this one was built. The first one I had was built in early 2007. But I honestly do not believe the brand makes a difference. Big tipis (12-16 man) made with the same lightweight fabric as 4-8 man tipis are all more subject to failure under heavy wind loads, no matter who makes them. Big tipis should be made with heavier and stronger fabric than smaller tipis. No one buys a 16-man tipi with the first thought being man-portable lightweight. Who cares if the canopy weighs 15 pounds instead of 9 pounds? If you notice the photos I posted the SST pins are all still firmly nailed into the tundra, and the center pole ( which we carried back about 200’ to lay beside the wrecked tipi) was undamaged. What failed was the fabric.

All the more reason to tell who made the tipi. The stakes held, and the pole didn’t break, so it sounds like it was pitched properly and it was the tipi fabric or seams that failed. I’ve had my 12 person tipi in some pretty nasty weather on Kodiak island multiple times, and it only failed once, when my stakes came loose because the ground was saturated and the winds were relentless. The tipi itself was undamaged. When the tipi itself fails and it’s not because of a poor pitch or other parts of the system failing, than I think that knowing who made the tipi is very relevant, and pertinent to the thread.


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