what should you do differently if the weather report is predicting 20mph and a temp below freezing? Any "be prepared" ideas to make the night more safe and warm?
cooldays
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what should you do differently if the weather report is predicting 20mph and a temp below freezing? Any "be prepared" ideas to make the night more safe and warm?
cooldays
- Pick the most sheltered spot possible, with a wind break. (Large rocks, on the leeward side of a hill, etc).
- Set your tarp up low, and perpendicular to the wind.
- Dress warmly, including a hat.
Enjoy the superiority of a hammock over a collapsing tent in some rippin' winds.
Thanks,
any suggestions on keeping the tarp safe?
Stake it out tautly, and set the stakes well so they don't work loose. Perhaps place rocks on top of them.Quote:
Originally Posted by cooldays
You'll do fine. Well made silnylon tarps are durable in the wind.
what tarp do you have? With a JRB 11'x10' (equivalently Speer Winter Tarp) you might consider closing off one end with clips (I use Grip Clips but you can get tarp clips at Big Box places, they are just heavier) and point the closed off end INTO the wind. That way the tarp wall isn't trying to stop the wind, (and get pushed into you inside), instead it cuts around the tarp.
Lemme see now, ah here it is
http://www.hammockforums.net/gallery...hh-2_thumb.jpg
Where you're going this weekend, you'll be in a wooded area (mostly deciduous though) w/ a clearing in the middle.
I'm thinking it can still get pretty gusty in there, but not as bad as if you were in a more exposed site.
Instead of stakes I like to use trees (even small trees), limbs, roots, rocks, etc, to tie off the tarp guy lines.
And like Angrysparrow said, if the wind is strong, lay heavy objects like dead wood, etc, across the guy lines after they are tied off. They act as a very effective shock absorber.
Yeah, I think most of the wind will be Thursday, so we'll miss most of it.
To re-reiterate the point: I usually try to tie-out to trees or bushes or stumps or logs or rocks if I know it's going to get windy. Or like AS said, at least put something heavy on your stakes to keep them in place. (rocks, whatever).
Also the perfect time to have a hammock sock to keep in your warmth.
I trick I learned camping at Cape Hatteras is to put rubber bands on the guy ropes. A tight tarp will shed the wind. A loose one will catch the wind and pull looser as well as flap and make too much noise. Rubber bands will store the wind energy during a gust and release it after the gust. I’ve used cut up inner tube for years. My beach setup uses 1.5 to 2 inch wide loops on 10x12ft blue plastic tarp. In the woods I’m using .5 inch wide loops on my sylnylon tarp because I don’t want to put too much stress. Doubling parallel makes stiffer, doubling serial makes stretcher. Bungee cords just don’t work the same. I haven’t found any car/truck inner tubes for years so have been playing with bicycle inner tubes, they are thinner so I’ve cut then .75 in but since the loop is so long the stretch much more. Every camping trip is an experiment with new setup for me.