In what sort of MPH winds have any of you gone out and hung in deliberately? On the other hand what MPH winds have you been caught in, unexpectedly?
Last night/this morning here in SW VA we're experiencing 20 MPH and I'm awfully glad I decided not to hang as there's a lot of older trees in the area. Am not looking to deliberately become a potential 'widow maker' victim.
About 18months ago I hung in 25mph winds with 40mph gusts. It had been worse than that for a few days prior which is why we decided it was OK to go as we surmised anything that was going to come down had already done so.
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Halloween weekend up in Door County WI the winds were 25 mph with gusts up to 40. I went deeper into the woods away from the lake, and the wind was fairly well blocked. Lots of creaking trees, though. I spent extra, extra time looking for bigger dead branches and trees--which camping in fall makes a bit tougher. I ended up wrapping one end around an already fallen tree that was almost parallel to the ground and was perfect, and the other to a tree at least 2 feet in diameter. Pretty sure those weren't going anywhere, but I was still a bit nervous about widow-makers. There was a much better hang site nearer my fire circle, but there were too many standing, deadish looking trees nearby to let me sleep well.
I guess my thinking was look out for the obvious problems, and as for the hidden ones, well, hard to do much about those other than stay home. I did feel better that I was further back from the lakeshore.
I've been out in a few storms that had 30+ mph sustained winds. That was at the house in the open next to some fields and not in the back country where I would of been partiality sheltered by trees. That's Kansas for you tho, most days its 10 to 20 mph anyways
I was in the middle of a dense forest and still had gusts of probably 25 mph. In the middle of the night I heard this loud pop like a gunshot and the side of my tarp blocking the wind slammed into the side of the hammock. I thought a tree had fallen on me but the line locs just failed. Thankfully it was only a rain storm so I didn't get wet.
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We hiked up the Beech Creek trail in the Southern Nantahala Wilderness last June and stayed in Case Knife Gap. My wife slept under our tarp, but I forgot to bring the spreader bar so we could hang double, so I went tarpless. Luckily the forecast was for dry weather.
The wind really picked up that night, and especially in the tree tops. I spent some time lying awake and watching the trees and branches swaying back and forth and hoping that none of them fell on me. I don't know how fast the wind was blowing but there were some pretty stiff gusts.
We all lived. I haven't ever forgotten the spreader bar again either! =)
Here's the first of a two-part trip video if you're interested... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHwu8rzX9Jc
I've been on extended trips where I had to deal with big wind storms. Last summer I was on a solo trip in Algonuin park in Ontario. I was on my favorite site on big trout, that is usually sheltered, but this time wind was coming in at just the right angle.
Wind was reasonably gentle when I got in, and I set up my tarp in porch mode. A few hours later some sort of supercell came in across the lake. I watched it change from mildish conditions to 2' whitecaps in 30 seconds. I'm guessing 30-40mph sustained winds.
The cell whipped into my camp, and caught my tarp in porch mode. Fortunately the stakes failed and pulled. None of them went through my tarp. After running around and picking up my lunch and a few scattered items I wrestled the tarp into submission. Since canoe tripping I was less worried about weight, so I had extra stakes. I double staked the worst points.
A bunch of branches came down on the island. I had carefully checked overhead for dead fall fall potential, but you still never know. I was lucky in this case.
I live by the Atlantic Ocean, so 20 mph winds don't even register for me. I've hung in weather with up to 40 mph gusts frequently.
"A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Ralph Waldo Emerson
Blowing 40-45 as i type this
Wind chills down to lower signal digits tonight
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Lol 20 is the norm here. Though at dark it is usually more calm.
In the shadows
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