A Learning experience WIND

**OldNWay** · 01-21-2013, 19:43

As a newbie it was a learning experience yesterday. The wind was gusting about 25mph with temps around 25 and I thought it was a chance to practice setting my Tarp up in a strong wind. First mistake was testing out my newly made UCRs. After 30 min and still didn't have the tarp hung I gave up on the UCRs and went back to the prussics and figure 9s. It still took another 30 min before I had the tarp hung. As I admired my accomplishment a gust of wind ripped the stakes out of the ground flapping the tarp uncontrollable. At that point I was cold and felt defeated. So before my tarp became shredded I grabbed my gear went into the house. I waited for the wind to subside some and tried again this time with a better result. Lesson learned as stated often on HF to practice in the yard, and get it right before taking to the trail. I wouldn't want to deal with those high winds on the trail without the practice and experience in the back yard. A NEWBIEs LEARNING EXPERIENCE

**sodakgrrl** · 01-21-2013, 20:30

You've already figured out that the best way to learn is to get out there and do it!

**breyman** · 01-21-2013, 20:42

Nice! Having to bail is the best teacher. The backyard is one of the best learning grounds. Having a close, safe locations is very important.

**swankfly** · 01-21-2013, 20:52

YUUUP! That's a lot of wind, while you will experience it on the trail, it likely won't be common and when you do it will be the leading edge of a storm that will pass. In the field, you will likely try to utilize some of natures goodness to keep your tarp in place, like large rocks or tree trunks, even logs as anchor points. Wind is one of our biggest enemies. While you had the advantage of packing up from your back yard, on the trail you will also try to utilize leeward sides of hills, slopes, valleys and ravines to escape from the weather. You will get it figured out in time!

swank

**MAD777** · 01-21-2013, 21:58

You were smart to test new equipment in the backyard.
One of my favorite pieces of gear is my snakeskins for the tarp. It really pays off in the wind!

**OldNWay** · 01-22-2013, 07:11

Originally Posted by MAD777

You were smart to test new equipment in the backyard.
One of my favorite pieces of gear is my snakeskins for the tarp. It really pays off in the wind!

One of my DYI projects will be Snakeskins. Until then I had the tarp wrapped with ponytail bands. Once the tarp was unwrapped the wind became a problem. So I unwrapped half the tarp and staked out the corners. As mention I think adding large dead fall on top of the stakes might have helped. But with that wind I'm afraid the tarp might have failed. Again the back yard is where I want to find the weak links

**Brute1100** · 01-22-2013, 07:31

What tarp was it... I know a buddy of mine set up his superfly the first day he got it in sustained 40mph winds and gusts recorded up to 70mph... Yeah he had really large logs laying on the lines... And everything held... I wouldn't have been concerned about the tarp, but he had those little line locks with that dyneema that looks like oversized dental floss... That would have been my concern... That didn't even fail... The only thing that happened was his 1mm zingit cut the line lock like a hot knife through butter after a while...

**nothermark** · 01-22-2013, 08:10

Sounds like you are figuring it out. As folks pointed out, the best place to test is at home!

**riderforlife13** · 01-22-2013, 10:02

1st time I used my superfly on a hanging trip we had 40 to 50 mph gusts. My tarp held great. It required a lot of failure on my part to figure it out, ended up putting my stakes in at angles and setting big rocks and logs on them to hold, all at about 2am in the morning since that's when the wind hit. A lot of trial and error but ended up with a pretty good idea of what needed to be done.

After that night I swear by my superfly.