Boy do I have a lot to learn about winter camping!

[OutandBack]

I like DemostiX idea of no tarp, if it's just wind.
This also might be the perfect situation for a hammock sock vs tarp.

Nothing keeps me awake more than a popping tarp.

Even though it was hectic, sounds like you had a great learning experience.

[Alamosa]

When I have set up in the wind, I try to let it work for me. Pull out enough to tie to one end of the ridgeline and let the wind blow it all to one side while hooking up the other end. Then it is just a matter of tieing it down one side at a time.

It blows like a windsock for a few minutes, but at least it is out of my way.

[Cannibal]

Winter hanging is a learning process, to be sure!
Wind can certainly be a PITA at times, but as heyyou pointed out, often times a more sheltered spot is just around the corner.

Backyards are where winter hanging should be worked-out and setting up the tarp in a strong breeze/wind only gets better by practicing. When you see the tree-tops outside blowing around, grab your tarp and go meet the storm head-on. You'll figure out some helpful little tricks in the process, but mostly you'll learn what not to do in the wind.

Site selection will always be King. Good luck and welcome to the cold weather nut-jobs.

[BillyBob58]

Shug:

I had snakeskins on the tarp, but frankly, couldn't figure out how to use them to ease my pain. I couldn't really get to the guylines without fully retracting the snakeskins. ... I would rather encounter this crap in the back yard than be in the wilderness feeling inadequate and overwhelmed.

Big +1 on the back yard practice for safety. Plus, as there is zero shelter in my back yard, the difficulty is nearly always less in the wild. Using skins, I have often partially undone the skins on one end, just enough until I can find something to be pulled out. Then maybe I can get one guy line out, hopefully tied to a tree. Then uncover a bit more, finally the other end, one step at a time. Does not always work perfect but is usually better than just trying to pull out the whole enchilada from a stuff sack.

I wish I had the option in my back yard to angle my tarp in the direction I wanted, but no. And there is no way I'm filming video of me getting pistol whipped by a tarp in 40 mph winds. I have rope burns on my face from the ordeal. I think I'll call my tarp The Pit Bull - it is prone to unprovoked attacks on its owner.

I'm kind of nervous about having to hang a tarp in high wind. First of all there's the question of making sure the openings are not facing into the wind, which means being able to find the right trees...then, the whole process of getting it up in the wind seems nightmarish. In the Negev, I set up a tarp as a windblock on the ground most nights (since strong winds blow all night long there, in March at any rate) and that was hard enough...

It was definitely nightmarish. Though I don't have the trees in my backyard to make sure the openings are not facing the wind, it doesn't really matter where I live because the winds don't come from one direction. My house is between a river on one side and the ocean on the other, and the winds come from all directions. One minute it's gusting from the north, and the next from the east. I think this is just the nature of coastal high winds.

In my back yard with zero wind breaks, and a few times in the wild, I have set my tarp up with the ends to the wind. Some of those times were when the wind has shifted and started coming in the ends. With my JRB tarps, usually I can close the windward end, and if so that works fine. With my HH diamond tarp, there is not much wind blockage going on any way, plus my SS provides great wind blockage regardless. I have slept some toasty nights in the HHSS with the winds howling in the foot end of that little tarp. The curse was the noise coming from that flapping tarp. Good grief what a racket! But the wind caused me no cold at all, thanks to the Sil-nylon undercover. Once I fell asleep despite the infernal noise, I knew nothing untill well after sunrise.

Your back yard is such a rotten campsite that I'm not ever going to camp there.

On a more serious note: In a wilderness, I would not hang where the wind is that bad. There would likely be a better place within a half an hour's walk in either direction.

Winter hanging is a learning process, to be sure!
Wind can certainly be a PITA at times, but as heyyou pointed out, often times a more sheltered spot is just around the corner.

Backyards are where winter hanging should be worked-out and setting up the tarp in a strong breeze/wind only gets better by practicing. When you see the tree-tops outside blowing around, grab your tarp and go meet the storm head-on. You'll figure out some helpful little tricks in the process, but mostly you'll learn what not to do in the wind.

Site selection will always be King. Good luck and welcome to the cold weather nut-jobs.

Yep, site selection is top priority. There is no selection to be made in my backyard. No sheltered spot available for my back yard testing. I am fully dependent on tarp coverage and or the undercover to keep me unfrozen. If enough wind is hitting you, it can make your zero UQ a +50 UQ!

[Deadphans]

Just wanted to say hello from Howell/Belmar area! Finally getting cold...now for some snow to put my snowshoes to good use. Keep at it you will find your sweet spot...

[kayak karl]

silver streak! use apple pie mt. to block the wind.

i hang very low all the time. about 6 in. below quilt to ground. at linville gorge i didn't even loose a stake.

[DemostiX]

I like DemostiX idea of no tarp, if it's just wind.
This also might be the perfect situation for a hammock sock vs tarp.

Nothing keeps me awake more than a popping tarp.

Even though it was hectic, sounds like you had a great learning experience.

I will search archives for a thread on true "air-bivies." I mean, why freeze your axx off due to wind and cold outside the envelope when the best thing you might do is to wrap the shebang in your tarp for sleeping purposes?

Add to that the tarp flapping or popping tarp reminding you of lousy conditions and skills insufficient to match them and, and just what is the principle being upheld?

I'm not saying that to criticise: Your experience has me wondering why I last week stayed awake with a fly I couldn't stop flapping in the Catskills. (The wind did arrive here last night, so I didn't hang a fly. With temps 25F below the TQ and 10F below the UQ, I should have tried the air-bivy approach 2 paragraphs up myself.

Something I've been using lately to block out noise, mostly from trucks around dawn: Foam ear-plugs. Work a treat, and no post-drug side effects!!

[SilvrSurfr]

I will search archives for a thread on true "air-bivies." I mean, why freeze your axx off due to wind and cold outside the envelope when the best thing you might do is to wrap the shebang in your tarp for sleeping purposes?

Add to that the tarp flapping or popping tarp reminding you of lousy conditions and skills insufficient to match them and, and just what is the principle being upheld?

I'm not saying that to criticise: Your experience has me wondering why I last week stayed awake with a fly I couldn't stop flapping in the Catskills. (The wind did arrive here last night, so I didn't hang a fly. With temps 25F below the TQ and 10F below the UQ, I should have tried the air-bivy approach 2 paragraphs up myself.

Something I've been using lately to block out noise, mostly from trucks around dawn: Foam ear-plugs. Work a treat, and no post-drug side effects!!

Repetitive noises like tarp snapping or rain falling really put me to sleep quickly. I also tend to fall asleep when my wife talks to me 'cause it's always so repetitive.

I usually don't deploy a tarp if the weather is good and it's only in the 30's. However, below freezing I prefer the tarp 'cause it keeps some wind out.

What is this air bivy you reference? Is it like a hammock with a weather system sans tarp?

[pwr2al4]

It was definitely nightmarish. Though I don't have the trees in my backyard to make sure the openings are not facing the wind, it doesn't really matter where I live because the winds don't come from one direction. My house is between a river on one side and the ocean on the other, and the winds come from all directions. One minute it's gusting from the north, and the next from the east. I think this is just the nature of coastal high winds.

I also was lucky enough to have the exact same terrifying experience during that big windstorm we had early last week.

Talk about a nightmare.. It was much worse that I expected.. I clearly need to learn a ton more about how to properly plan your setup when dealing with a steady wind. I was also very close to home just testing things out and didn't hae the luxury of picking my heading of where I set

First of all it really was much more violent that I was expecting, I never thought it would ever be possble for me to even begin to worry about possibly destroying a tarp due to weather. I now know that it is not only possible, but it seemed like I was getting very very close to tha tpoint and it was a hell of a lot easier than I was thinking.

The Superfly is a very very largee tarp, anotherr word for tarp is sail and that's exactly how it reacted (in retrospect of course how did I not expect that.)

My first major problem was trying to stall the tarp to keep it from shredding while also trying to make my way to the ridgelines and drop them asap before I would of lost the tarp for a tear at the ends from that.

I thought I understood the desire for all different types of RL locks and biners and whatever when I have been setting up in the pitch black and freezing cold, and wouldnt want ot dare try to set all my lines using knots in bare skin and with freezing line, but I really came to understand the importance of how great it is to just be able to yank on that Tarp Fly a couple times and drop the whole side of the tarp in about half a second.


I realize now that my first 'upgrade' to my setup is going to be an a short expermiental section of breakaway line that will probably be dummy cord looped twice or so on one half of my RL. That way if something does have to fail, let it be that and the tarp will then hopefull be relatively free enough to swing into the wint to an extent.


My second really serious and very dangerous problem is the one that everyone is aware of but the setup is to good to not use it. and tha tof course is anchoring your 4 corners of guylines that includes a small section of shock cord in order to help maintain tension as the tarp sags throughout the night.

The obvious very dangerous problem with this concept is of course F=k(Di-Df) or in non geek talk. the massive amount of energy that becomes stored in these sections of shock cord. energey that in this case will soon become kinetic in the form of massXacceleration, or again in english, was very very quickly about to become a very pointy large aluminum projectile that was moments away from being launched directly into my face. Not a fun 20 or so seconds, I quickly ran around poping cordage off the GSR hogs to free the tension, bu tit was nerveracking. Again I am thinking of adding very mini clip or biner at the edges of the tarp to help facilitate removing tension if things suddently get out of hand.


Most importantly though I realized that I really need to read up on and then get some much needed expereience about how I should go about properly scouting out the correct location to hang and make sure that I can keep the wind off of the face of the tarp.

I feel like there should be soem magic tarp shape or secret fold hat you make in order to allow the wind to pass through and not destroy the tarp. But so far from what I gather you need to make sure you pick a set of trees that are parallel or close to the wind direction. Andthen Im also assuming tha tyou wanna hang your tarp super low to try to keep everything from slamming right though by going under the tarp/

[TinaLouise]

massive amount of energy that becomes stored in these sections of shock cord. energey that in this case will soon become kinetic in the form of massXacceleration, or again in english, was very very quickly about to become a very pointy large aluminum projectile that was moments away from being launched directly into my face.
/

had that happen last year!! Only it was from the hammock next to me!! Her "very pointy large aluminum projectile" went over her tarp and over my tarp!!! We looked for it right after it happened, in the dark but couldn't find it. Found it the next morning when we went to pack up camp!!! Who would have thought a stake would fly that far.

Wind and more importantly, high wind, is dangerous. And not to be taken lightly.