Tent Camping bad weather

[DanB]

I have been going to EAA for the past 40 years driving back and forth on Fridays and Saturdays. Five years ago I started to camp with tents for the entire week at Camp Scholler I am from Wisconsin and I am very familiar with our good ol Wisconsin weather and the storms that roll through EAA each year, I have used a couple what I thought were good tents to with stand the heavy rain, wind and thunder storms at EAA. Only to get wet or have the tent get blown over with broken tent poles one of them being a Coleman dome tent with screened roof and sides covered by a rain fly which the wind blows the rain up under the rain fly and into the tent, this tent was recommended by a sales guy at dick sporting goods I won't go back there. My next tent which I have been doing hours and hours of research on and I have a couple in mind and still looking but not sure how they will hold up in strong winds and rain one being the Coleman 8 Person Instant Tent, and the other a Browning Big Horn Tent they are both cabin style tents, they say dome tents handle wind better, mine didn't. Any one have good experiences with good tents I am looking for a 6 - 8 person tent preferably cabin style but will consider a GOOD dome tent. My next tent I will purchase directly from the company.

[Mayhemxpc]

I have been going to EAA for the past 40 years driving back and forth on Fridays and Saturdays. Five years ago I started to camp with tents for the entire week at Camp Scholler I am from Wisconsin and I am very familiar with our good ol Wisconsin weather and the storms that roll through EAA each year, I have used a couple what I thought were good tents to with stand the heavy rain, wind and thunder storms at EAA. Only to get wet or have the tent get blown over with broken tent poles one of them being a Coleman dome tent with screened roof and sides covered by a rain fly which the wind blows the rain up under the rain fly and into the tent, this tent was recommended by a sales guy at dick sporting goods I won't go back there. My next tent which I have been doing hours and hours of research on and I have a couple in mind and still looking but not sure how they will hold up in strong winds and rain one being the Coleman 8 Person Instant Tent, and the other a Browning Big Horn Tent they are both cabin style tents, they say dome tents handle wind better, mine didn't. Any one have good experiences with good tents I am looking for a 6 - 8 person tent preferably cabin style but will consider a GOOD dome tent. My next tent I will purchase directly from the company.

We have a Cabela's 10 man ten (10x20' 3 room tent) that has done us good service through the squalls at AirVenture. It even kept us dry during Sloshkosh. It has an excellent tarp/fly that covers the full tent and helps keep the tent down in high winds. The was one year recently, when the line winds pulled up a couple of airplanes and flipped them over, that the wind also picked up the dining fly/screen tent we had out front. Threw it right into the cabala's tent. No damage to the tent nor did it even pull it up. The same cold not be said for the dining fly. We have also found that putting the ground tarp INSIDE the tend rather than beneath the tent 9as recommended by the BSA Field Book) works well.

[Kyle Boatright]

Dome tents are the best shape for strength to weight. Low profile helps a lot in wind. A rainfly that goes all the way to the ground is critical if there is blowing rain.

But the most important thing in the whole equation (IMO) is buying a tent made of quality materials. The first indicator of that is the material used to make the poles. Aluminum poles are far superior to fiberglass poles and are indicative of the quality of the remainder of the tent.

FYI, I was at Sloshkosh and have been to a dozen other Oshkoshes and SnF's where there have been huge thunderstorms. My aluminum poled, low profile dome tents have never collapsed or leaked, unlike those of some of the poor folks I've seen the morning after a storm where they were using their airplane as a drying rack for everything they brought to the show after their tent failed.

I remember one year (2004?) I took my wife and we camped in Homebuilt camping. At about 6:00 that evening, we barely made it back inside the tent as a huge storm rolled in. The heavens opened, winds blew, lightning flashed for hours. We stayed completely dry, but when we got up in the morning it was obvious (unfortunately) that many of the people around us had experienced leaks or tent collapses overnight. No thank you...

[Rod Schneider]

After having some leaking issues and a full blown tent collapse a few years ago I bought an Alaskan Guide dome tent from Cabella's. It was around $450, but in the two years I've had it, it hasn't leaked a drop and has been through a couple of good storms at Oshkosh with zero issues. Best tent I've ever had......

[tmcquinn]

Dome tents are the best shape for strength to weight. Low profile helps a lot in wind. A rainfly that goes all the way to the ground is critical if there is blowing rain.

But the most important thing in the whole equation (IMO) is buying a tent made of quality materials. The first indicator of that is the material used to make the poles. Aluminum poles are far superior to fiberglass poles and are indicative of the quality of the remainder of the tent.

FYI, I was at Sloshkosh and have been to a dozen other Oshkoshes and SnF's where there have been huge thunderstorms. My aluminum poled, low profile dome tents have never collapsed or leaked, unlike those of some of the poor folks I've seen the morning after a storm where they were using their airplane as a drying rack for everything they brought to the show after their tent failed.

I remember one year (2004?) I took my wife and we camped in Homebuilt camping. At about 6:00 that evening, we barely made it back inside the tent as a huge storm rolled in. The heavens opened, winds blew, lightning flashed for hours. We stayed completely dry, but when we got up in the morning it was obvious (unfortunately) that many of the people around us had experienced leaks or tent collapses overnight. No thank you...

All of this. Then throw the stakes that come with the tent away and buy the long ones that really hold it to the ground. Use 2 splayed at different angles through each hold down loop.

This is only anecdotal, but it seems like the smaller REI tent that I've been using would stand up to much more than the larger (very expensive) one I bought when the kids used to come along.

As for the recommendation by the guy in the sporting goods store, somewhere out there you probably know someone who hikes and camps. These guys don't have the option of crashing in the car when the old Coleman get trashed and I've found that they have some really good ideas on what to buy and where. YMMV.

[malexander]

MOTORHOME

[Joda]

We have a Coleman dome-type tent that is HUGE. I forget what model it is, but we've had it for many years and it has held up well, both from the standpoint of wear and tear as well as withstanding several strong storms. It's (I think) an 8 person tent, which means that it's very comfortable for my wife and I. It has fiberglass poles, but the only one that's ever broken was the little one that holds the rain fly out above the door. This thing has withstood winds that basically had it flattened against the ground without pulling up, blowing away, or leaking. It's been a real winner.

Having said all that, I still like the motorhome idea a lot!!

[tmcquinn]

Just for the record, there have been nights I'd kill for a motor home!

[martymayes]

If you put a tent (canopy) over your tent it will never leak because it can't get wet!

[malexander]

Just for the record, there have been nights I'd kill for a motor home!

Ain't tell'in ya where I stay then.