To peg & rope or not??

[McReidy]

I recently bought my CT off a mate who said in the 5 years he has had it and been out, he has never once used ropes to tie down the tent, and rarely even feels the need to peg it down. He claims the structure is rigid enough to stand up to a decent wind but has never really tested it with the elements.

What is the consensus here, as I will be taking the Beast for its first outing in a few weeks and curiosity is getting the better of me as to whether he is right or not. Do you peg & rope, just peg, or wing it & see??

[Jason B]

I would peg and rope it personally. Only to the dregee where you feel it is structurally sound.

I have taken plenty of short cuts and eventually it will bite you on the arse. I remember a storm at Crescent head that had me hammering pegs and ropes in at 2am because I couldn't have been bothered and generally there was no issue.

You just want to make sure you don't take short cuts that may cause damage. Wind can do a fair bit do damage in a short space of time if the conditions become bad.

Jas

[Kit_e_kat9]

We always use pegs and ropes.  If it's gonna blow nothing will stop it.  I'd rather it blow strong and well and my canvas stays all neat and tidy and nothing gets broken, busted or ripped.

Kit_e

[crykies]

Yep ropes for sure nothing like in the middle of the night scooting around trying to hold it down. We have been there and learnt our lesson.  Lol ot was not FUN !!!

[chisel]

I peg it out on the 4 corners - mainly to keep it square.  Not sure I've ever bothered with ropes on the tent part - ours seems solid to me and the guy at Lifestyle who sold it said it only needed extra ropes "in a cyclone" or something along those lines.
The annex gets ropes - although with all the spreaders in there, and the walls on, it is pretty solid as well.

[geopaj]

I peg it out on the 4 corners - mainly to keep it square.  Not sure I've ever bothered with ropes on the tent part - ours seems solid to me and the guy at Lifestyle who sold it said it only needed extra ropes "in a cyclone" or something along those lines.
The annex gets ropes - although with all the spreaders in there, and the walls on, it is pretty solid as well.

Yep, 1 peg in each corner is all I bother using (unless, obviously, we set the anex up. In which case, we still don't bother with spreader poles). I guess if there was a major storm coming, I would use all the pegs/ropes to "spread the load")

[Trex_s4m1]

4 pegs in the corners myself. went through a few solid heavy storms, gusty winds and heavy rains. held up well.
i may try rope it one day just for the hell of it.

[jag001]

We get plenty of wind here in Tassie, but all we ever do is 4 pegs on main tent then ropes for annex, and a few pegs if we bother with annex walls

[Mace]

More information needed.

With our 15ft tent, I peg ends and centre of tent.  Then two end ropes are required to hold up the third independant hoop.

With a smaller 9 or 12 ft tent, which may not require as much stability, perhaps just base pegs may be the go.

But, if you ever camp at Rawnsley Park in the Flinders Ranges, put every thing in, and more!

 

[carinya]

Normally only a rope on the corners.  This weekend at the sunshine coast I will be using a few more I think.

[KingBilly]

With our 12' tent, the last cross bar is braced back to the third bow with internal spreader poles.  It is supposedly self supporting but we always put two ropes on the corners of the tent to make sure.  Until the hols earlier this month that was all we did for the main tent.  One night we got a huge blow and the bottom of the tent starting moving around so I was up at 3am hammering in pegs to keep it square.  A few caravan annexes came down and a few gazebos were blown over.  No damage for us.  From now on I'll put a peg in each corner of the tent when I set up.  Beats getting drowned at 3am 

KB

[JCAT]

Quick set ups - 1 peg on each corner and one below the door zip.

Longer stays - I put one more peg in each side, about 8 in total.

I have only used ropes on the tent once. That was at Halligan Bay when I thought we had missed a cyclone announcement.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Toy pradopetty]

I know this is over a year old but thought I would add my 2 cents. Our GIC 12 ft tent is now sporting 3 long spreader bars between all the hoops and 2 small spreaders holding up the first hoop. This stops all collapse problems. To solve the floor lifting in the corner of the 4th hoop I've got 1 pole either side with a c clip at 1 end that clips into the hoop and the other end has a blank cap that sits in the corner of the canvas /poly floor. So it ain't gonna lift there only place I don't have a holding point is the door entry. Trying to streamline for our trip thought 4 states


Cheers
Frank

[Bird]

I recently bought my CT off a mate who said in the 5 years he has had it and been out, he has never once used ropes to tie down the tent, and rarely even feels the need to peg it down. He claims the structure is rigid enough to stand up to a decent wind but has never really tested it with the elements.

What is the consensus here, as I will be taking the Beast for its first outing in a few weeks and curiosity is getting the better of me as to whether he is right or not. Do you peg & rope, just peg, or wing it & see??

Go and camp at Beachport, see if you think you don't need to peg it down...

[#jonesy]

Never used any ropes for a while, just corner pegs.  That included the annex as it holds nicely with the spreaders. 
Last trip the annex (minus walls) caught a slight breeze and up and over.  Bent one pole and the tops of the uprights.
Will now use ropes on the annex. Tent will stay as is with just pegs.

[Toy pradopetty]

My only concern will be the hard ground of the Northern Territory when we do overnight stops. Will pegs even penetrate the ground in the overnight free camps?


Cheers
Frank

[Bird]

My only concern will be the hard ground of the Northern Territory when we do overnight stops. Will pegs even penetrate the ground in the overnight free camps?

I went through 15 pegs in the Flinders, Maree was by far the worst Shithole of a caravan park on the face of the earth...

BrettB is making some awesome pegs at the moment, he demo'ed them at Swannies weekend.. PM him.. Hes makin me 15 of them ... no chance of bending these babies!

[noel_w]

BrettB is making some awesome pegs at the moment, he demo'ed them at Swannies weekend.. PM him.. Hes makin me 15 of them ... no chance of bending these babies!

 

[muzza01]

If you ever camp along the east coast of Cape York you will need extra ropes and pegs. Very very windy for 300 days per year.

[Toy pradopetty]

Yeah that was never going to be questioned Muzza. Was gonna peg and rope that area for sure. Too many stories of huge winds.


Cheers
Frank

[sablesoft]

My only concern will be the hard ground of the Northern Territory when we do overnight stops. Will pegs even penetrate the ground in the overnight free camps?
Cheers
Frank

I carry 3 different sizes of peggs, Short ones for hard ground, longer pegs for soft ground, Sand pegs for sand.

[Dingo0163]

Am I the only one that uses 150-200 mm coach bolts for hard ground? Just wind them in with a cordless drill or a speed brace. Simples. 

[Bird]

Am I the only one that uses 150-200 mm coach bolts for hard ground? Just wind them in with a cordless drill or a speed brace. Simples. 

nope, numerous people do it.


I don't know why you wouldn't peg your gear down.. it isn't that much hassle in daylight.. but takes it in the blurter at 3am in a mega rain/hail/wind storm...

[BillC]

I usually carry a long 6mm masonry bit for the cordless for when we hit really hard ground. I always use at least four pegs as a minimum depending on location and weather.

I tens to use a lot less not that the kids are bigger. Send them to bed early if it starts to get windy!

Bill

[Rumpig]

for overnight stops the only ropes i use are the 2 that hold the awning over the front box giving some rain protection to the front window, they get strung around the drawbar so no pegs needed, i could get away without even doing that but for few minutes work it's no effort at all. if staying a few days i'll use ropes on the side awning when i put it up, but the camper itself doesn't need any. the one and only time i've properly roped the camper down to the ground (no awning erected but all 4 corners roped down and even roped in the centre of the camper aswell) , was when we were at Devils Marbles and a big electrical storm came through at the start of the build up into the wet season.