Hurricane force winds, perhaps no hammock this month.. What do you say?

[mr tickle]

Well the winds here have been pretty strong to say the least. Our mountain rescue services have already had to rescue a couple of tourists and trees have been getting blown down. The term hurricane force winds is getting lashed about on the forecasts and i think i agree. The warnings for the rough stuff that hit over the past week where for 100 mph winds but it has eased off for the time being.

I am actually seriously considering sleeping in my hammock.. If i don't it will be the first time weather has stopped me using one since i got into hammocks over two years ago. It is either a hammock or buy a tent, i am going regardless.

• I think a tarp should hold up as the bush should break the wind, thoughts?
• I was thinking to look for sturdy trees that have dropped their foliage to hang under [avoid getting crushed], thoughts?
• The trees are mostly birch, oak and hazle in the area [typical british trees] with a small section of fir trees (small ones, not big redwoods). Are any of these more likely to be safe around than the others?
• Am i just being crazy and need to take a tent? Aside from tree fall i see a tent as worse since it will be exposed..

The noise won't bother me, the cold won't bother me, the idea of being crushed though is another thing. I tend to be too optimistic and stubborn on things like this , it makes sense to get another opinion.

[SilvrSurfr]

Well, I'm not sure a tent would be all that great in 100 mph winds. I've been out in 60 mph gusts and there was some severe buffeting of the tarp. In those conditions, I definitely wouldn't bring my good tarp - destroy something cheaper.

[mr tickle]

I think the warnings will have been maximum in the area, as in higher altitude than i will be sleeping. The MET office tend to err on the side of caution here with us having a national park close by and a lot of tourists (or so i am told by a friend that works for the environmental health dept). I would think planning for a worst case of 80mph would be sensible, i guess far less deep in the woods. I will be pitching within an hour of a town, so worst case i can take a shameful crawl to a bus shelter or something if kit fails.

That being said i have just been looking at tents getting attacked by giant fans and they don't seem to hold up as well as i would have thought, probably with them being generally taller than would be wanted for a storm; although they tend to flatten opposed to rip from what i have just seen. Trawling through forums it appears the upper mark for a standard issue dome/pyramid is around 50 mph, with some of the better tents (like expedition tents) reported as tackling 70 mph. Expedition tents are expensive though, too expensive for the little use i would get from one.

I am wandering if a tarp setup in storm mode (near flat style pitch) and a bivvi bag might be a good option if i decide not to hammock camp (before hand or on arrival). It would be easy to add a bivvi to my hammock kit but i have no idea how well a low pitched tarp would stand up. If the tarp fails a bivvi can break the wind although it could be very wet (i am taking synthetics as always though).

Definitely starting to get cold feet now though, 4:19 am and i can't sleep.

[MAD777]

Extreme winds would be the one weather item that would make me stay home. We had read time again, here on the forum, about a camper (or even multiple family members recently) being crushed to death by falling trees & limbs.

Plus, consider whether or not your trip going to be enjoyable in those conditions.

[Osulagh]

I wouldn't head out if there was even a chance of a high storm regardless of setup, let alone know about one hitting.

I'm not going to offer any advice as I do not advise for you to do this. Don't want help someone hurt themselves.

[JoshD]

My most memorable nights out are in high winds. . I once wrapped myself up in the hammock with tarp and carabiners clipped ends together as the wind was so strong , it is kinda scary but great fun , I had a huge tree come down once on a still night . It was like a lightning strike,two huge cracks . I just tell myself "the bush has survived years through these conditions, be happy to experience what others never see"
As for sleeping you do it in snatch's

[DuctTape]

I have hammock camped in some serious storms. One Nor'easter a few years back was most memorable. That said, I do not seek out dangerous storms to go camp in. I also don't run scared when one happens. I am not worried about getting crushed as it is more likely for me to die on the good weather trips, like when driving to the trailhead.

[Mystery Oneal]

I grew up in Louisiana...hurricanes never stopped my fun. I once had nearly 2 feet of water in my house (just 1 inch below the electrical plugs) and I was still sitting in a metal chair playing PS2 till the water went down.

If you set your tarp like > instead of like ^ ... point the ridge into the wind. It can survive the wind a lot better. It also will keep you more dry and warm with sideways rain. I had a cheap blue tarp set up like that to break some gusty 30-50 mph winds for a 9 day festival. The stall holder's marquees were getting twisted and broken, yet my cheapie tarp survived till the end. With a heavy duty tarp and a bit of skill...hurricane is no problem.

As far as safety goes...a tree could kill you in a house just as easily as in a hammock...and a tent is gonna get shredded by winds (no air space underneath to balance pressure/vacuum)

I say forget the storm...it might hit 4 states (edit...countries...I see the UK bit now) over anyway

[bkrgi]

I'd go hahahaha
Hammock is certainly way better than any tent at those wind speeds.
Setting the tarp will be the biggest challenge but i do like the > configuration idea and using a full ridge line or 2 or 3 to hold the tarp steady.
Location location location is everything. Tree selection and maximizing any natural wind break or even using branches logs etc to create a wind break would be well worth the effort....maybe a second tarp set like \ with branches small logs etc to hold it down and steady with the hammock setup just on the back side of it.

So i say go and just be smart about your setup location and enjoy the adventure. Life is without risk.

[mr tickle]

Sorry for the delay, i forgot about this post. I went on the trip .

It did get extremely windy but it did not reach the peaks anticipated. I would have put it between 70-80 mph gusts with a steady 50-60 background wind so we did get the worst before i went.

I must say, it was quite chaotic. The tarp essentially slapped the cr*p out of me trying to get it set up! I ended up with a low pitched a-frame setup, which worked well, although i was prepared to change pitches if needed. The noise was quite something too, not just the movement of the air but also everything in the woods taking a beating, No wildlife to be seen or heard either, which was odd for the location. No falling trees, it seems all the loose trees got ripped up on the days before the trip (for reference they where fir trees that had fallen before arrival). A couple of bottles of wine put me at ease, in fact a bit too at ease (i woke up hanging halfway out of the hammock :P ).

All things given it was a good trip and it was worth the risk so thanks for the encouragement!