Re: [Paddlewise] Hit by a Waterspout in the Everglades!!! - Tent test

From: sc <sc_at_gci.net>
Date: Thu, 7 Mar 2002 09:40:52 -0900
> Al -- This sounds like a great "tent test".  Which models of Walrus and
> Northface were able to survive...

C'mon guys...think a little here.  ANY tent is going to be thrashed by wind
if it is not properly staked out.  You can have the most expensive,
bombproof tent made for Everest, and if you don't know how to stake it out
properly, it will flail in the wind with any other cheaply made tent.
Albeit it will most likely not have as much damage in the seams, pole loops,
etc..
I cannot leave out the point of quality here either. "You always get what
you pay for".  Let's face it, the only thing protecting you from the
environment, when out adventuring, is your tent (at least where I live, 99%
of the time a car is not handy to go sleep the storm off in).  That being
said, the better quality, storm/wind tested tents are spendy, so most opt
for the coleman/sears '4-room with a kitchen and living room' tent, and then
want to see it survive the elements.  Sorta like taking a knife to a gun
fight.  The better quality tents are tested both in a lab setting and
real-world setting.  Sierra Designs, for instance, tests their tents up on
top of Mt. Washington, with highest recorded wind speed on earth of 231 MPH.
Most of these tents also have internal guy points, for extra support.  The
list goes on and on.
My point in all this is simple; doesn't surprise me at all to see what the
water spout did to these tents...don't look to a specific model of tent that
survived.  It may have survived simply because its' owner knew how to
properly stake out a tent.  Any of the higher quality tents (Sierra Designs,
TNF, Mtn Hrdwr, Bibler, etc.) will all have like-quality design.
I apologize in advance if I sound like I am stepping on any toes, as that is
not my intention.
Great pic's, BTW!

Scott Simpson
Anchorage Alaska

"There is always one more thing you can do to influence any situation"
Lt. Gen Harold Moore, USA (Ret)
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Received on Thu Mar 07 2002 - 11:27:23 PST

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