Wind - how much is too much?

[Onion]

We're off tomorrow for a couple of nights. We have an 18x24 tarp that goes across our 18x12 tent and allows us some nice room for kitchen, dining, etc, etc. The tent is actually stuffed now so we _have_ to use the tarp. Even more-so if it even looks like rain.
The forecast is 25km/h wind and some showers, but I've never taken notice of how hard it's blown before when we've had the tarp up.
We have had some "interesting" times (re: decent storms) and it's been an effort, but we've refined our setup quite a bit since then and have spreader bars, big sand pegs, plenty of guy ropes, etc, etc. It's a large tarp but we can (now) tie it down quite well.

So if anyone has an idea - how much wind is too much for something like our setup?

[Beachman]

From my experience you can tie down large tarps as well as you can with the use of good sand pegs etc, but when a decent storm is about to hit and the wind gets up it’s not going to break your rope or rip out the long sand pegs but rather bend your poles or rip the tarp.  But I do know the more poles/ropes then the better your chance of no damage.

As for what is the magical number of knots, it’s difficult to answer as depends how open your camp is.

For our group we judge by what we see coming and how fast the pressure drops, then if it looks/feels real bad then it’s the frantic rush to pull it down.

[Onion]

Thanks Beachman. We have improved a bit since then, but a picture of our typical setup is below. We'll be beachside this trip (although in a caravan park), so I expect we'll be exposed a bit...

Our main problem is we can't drop the tarp if it gets bad. The tent doesn't offer _any_ protection against water 

Is it any wonder I want a camper!!!

[gronk]

I thought when I read about wind....and your name was onion....well ??   


If the wind comes up, tie your ropes around the pole as well...google it ....and drop both sides of the tarp as low as it will go ( poles fully retracted ) and use a pole in every eyelet and double up the ropes on every pole ( if you have enough )......and pray !!   

[Rumpig]

Wouldn't think 25kph would be an issue (stick your head out your car window at that speed), 25 knots on the other hand is getting windy though and not the best for camping

[Mallory Black]

If the tarp is strong enough just add more poles and ropes to spread the stress.
Practically every year we've camped at Fraser there's at least one or 2 days with 20 kts from the southeast and it works for us

[Banjo16]

Pretty much as Gronk said,keep the tarp as low to the ground as possible.
A long rope over the top can help in strong winds.
I once used the front wheel of the car on the edge of a tarp to hold it down.

[edz]

We had 40 / 45 + knt winds and torrential rain storms for 5 days solid on Fraser  back in 09, our light weight camper was getting hit by the wind [ yellow arrow ] bed end corner on being fully exposed to the south / south easters straight off the beach ...
We mostly only used  500mm sand pegs on our old camper and did have a couple work out of the soaked sand, but I have to give  credit to the rubber " O " rings we use instead of springs on all our ropes for allowing extra " Give "  when the winds gusted .. Springs would have pulled up solid and that would / could have caused serious damage

[Onion]

So far so good. No wind as such. Of course now I've posted this, it'll come in... Big lightning show last night, but it stayed to our north.

Thanks for the comments and advice. Photo's when we get back 

[Onion]

So it was all good in the end.
Friday night there was a large lightning show to our north, but nothing came our way.
Saturday was hot with no storm clouds or wind.
Sunday morning we were all (6x families = 12 adults and 15 kids) up early as we could hear the thunder. Got packed up, had breakfast and left about 8am. Before we even got to the highway, down came the rain. No idea about wind as I wasn't stopping the car to find out!

Spent Sunday night looking at camper trailers again and giving the puppy dog eye's to the missus - can we buy one, can we, can we!!! 

[Bird]

So it was all good in the end.
Friday night there was a large lightning show to our north, but nothing came our way.
Saturday was hot with no storm clouds or wind.
Sunday morning we were all (6x families = 12 adults and 15 kids) up early as we could hear the thunder. Got packed up, had breakfast and left about 8am. Before we even got to the highway, down came the rain. No idea about wind as I wasn't stopping the car to find out!

Spent Sunday night looking at camper trailers again and giving the puppy dog eye's to the missus - can we buy one, can we, can we!!! 

how many days did it take to setup all those ropes

[Beachman]

Very nice set up and glad you did okay with the weather. While Camper Trailers can make camping in strong wind more comfortable, setting up for strong winds would take just as much time as your current set up.

I remember one year we were beach camping for 10 days and our site was open with uninterrupted water views, but it didn’t offer any protection from the Gail force winds which arrived in the middle of the trip. Every pole and tie down point needed a long rope attached with decent sand pegs and each morning I needed to dig away knee deep sand which had blown against the side of the tent. Also each night the trailer shook that much you would swear we were sleeping on a vibrating bed.

Have to say that wasn’t our most enjoyable trip and once home everything needed to be taken out and cleaned and the sand got into everything.

[Onion]

how many days did it take to setup all those ropes

When we get it done quickly it's about 45mins to an hour to set-up the entire camp - tarp, tent, kitchen, beds, etc, etc. That's on a good day. I think it took closer to two hours this time.

We had 16 poles this time we have another couple of spares. Some ropes are singles, others are doubles. We reuse the sand pegs for two ropes where we can. If it got too silly I was going to throw a couple of ropes across the top and use sand pegs on them as well. Fortunately there was no need.

I forgot to mention this was at Lennox Head. We're off to Bigriggen in a few weeks too (again, just for the weekend).

[edz]

Very nice set up and glad you did okay with the weather. While Camper Trailers can make camping in strong wind more comfortable, setting up for strong winds would take just as much time as your current set up.

I remember one year we were beach camping for 10 days and our site was open with uninterrupted water views, but it didn’t offer any protection from the Gail force winds which arrived in the middle of the trip. Every pole and tie down point needed a long rope attached with decent sand pegs and each morning I needed to dig away knee deep sand which had blown against the side of the tent. Also each night the trailer shook that much you would swear we were sleeping on a vibrating bed.

Have to say that wasn’t our most enjoyable trip and once home everything needed to be taken out and cleaned and the sand got into everything.

Sounds almost exactly  like our 09, 2010 and 2012 trips ...4 to 5 days of wild weather then perfect for the next 5 or 6 ..