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

> Last week (first time in a modern tent)I angled the stakes away
> from the tent ("top" pointing away from the tent, "pointy end" in
> closer towards the tent) to provide resistance if wind hitting
> the tent was pulling on the stake, I did not anticipate winds
> high enough to require guy ropes so opted not to use them, and my
> peg loops are not adjustable so I just pegged it through the loop
> "as is".  I nestled the tent up against some underbrush to act as
> a wind block - just in case.  I made sure everything was taut.
>
> Is all that proper or improper, and what else do I and people
> with my lack of tenting expierence need to know?

Sounds like you did fairly well.  I use guy ropes when I am in stormy areas.
In areas where it is difficult to drive in a stake I put heavy rocks inside
the 4 or 5 corners of my tent, sometimes more depending on the conditions.
I have done that for many years on river trips.  I use deadman when I set up
tarps in sand. I also have a set of narrow aluminum stakes and a set of SMC
snow stakes.  The SMC stakes work well in sand in moderate conditions, in
extreme conditions I would use a deadman. Pitching a tent with a good wind
resistant angle is a good idea.  I have a TNF Canyonlands tent that stood up
well to the winds of Baja, but I always pitched the narrow face to the north
wind.  I use my big Moss tent for long raft trips and I will add guy ropes
on it but only in extreme conditions. We had 40 mph winds in thunderstorms
on the Grand Canyon and I never lost my tent and had no guy ropes on it but
I did have a few heavy rocks in my tent.  In Alaska on the Tatshenshini I
will use both guy ropes and rocks. I would be more careful about guy ropes
or use more rocks if I am gone from camp for a long period of time. -- MZ
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