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Posted by Bill S on October 10, 2006 at 6:40:13 pm EDT
In reply to Re: hurricanes.................... posted by ministercreek on October 10, 2006 at 2:59:56 pm EDT

mcrk -

It is true that the tents are tested in wind tunnels (by a few of the top companies), and that they are used in places like Antarctica, Denali (where I have sat out storms lasting up to a week), the 8000 meter peaks, etc. But, as others have been pointing out, a hurricane or tornado transports a lot of debris - branches, trees, roofs, sheets of glass ripped out of buildings, sometimes cars, sheds, cattle (good shot of some cows being lofted on one of the Weather Channel programs a few nights ago). Can your VE25 stand up to a tree or large window pane landing on it? Or one of the cows or the pickup that was tumbling in another Weather Channel program?

Oh yes indeed, dealing with a hurricane is orders of magnitude different from the situation in polar regions on on 8000 meter peaks.

One of the things we do in high mountain and polar regions is to construct wind walls. Also, the tents do not stand up indefinitely to the winds. The poles (usually Easton aluminum of fairly large diameter) bend, and will fatigue and break (I have seen this happen). Sometimes, as in 2002 when I was last on Denali, an incorrectly constructed windwall will fall over onto the tent and rip it open (you have to get out every so often to rebuild the walls by cutting new ice blocks and propping them against the walls to replace the fairly rapid erosion by the winds).

As I have mentioned before, the highest wind I have measured during one of the extended storms was in the 50-55 knot range, staying behind the wind wall and holding my Kestrel 4000 up above the wall. The NPS wind meter about 150 meters away was measuring occasional 70-80 knot gusts. In 2002, there were several tents shredded at the 17,000 ft camp in winds measured by the NPS wind meter there in the 75-80 knot range for several hours continuously (the standard wind meters are 6 meters above the ground).

When the winds get above 30 or 40 knots, some of the gusts will actually lift the tent if it is in the open and not sheltered behind wind walls. This is a rather unsettling feeling to have the floor lift underneath you (the wind actually gets in under the tent). Thankfully, I haven't been in the open in the higher winds, but people I know who have said they have been lofted in the tent for several minutes at a time in winds over 50 knots.

Another thing in polar regions and high mountains is that when the winds get really high, many times climbers have prepared snow caves in anticipation (you know winds can get that high, so you prepare beforehand). When the winds do pick up, you head for the bolt hole. Yet another thing is that when the winds are getting that high, you don't just depend on the standard tie-downs for the tent. In addition to using all the tiedown tabs, you often use the climbing rope looped back and forth over the tent, tied to snow anchors, pickets, deadmen, and anything else at hand ,plus the internal guying system. You don't use the tiny wire "stakes" that come with the tent or those plastic things they sell as "stakes" in the stores. The standard accessory cord (2 or 3 millimeter stuff, like parachute cord) is not up to the task. You go for 6 and 7 mil stuff at least.

I suggest you do some hard thinking about this suicidal death wish and find out what mountaineers really use, as well as what really happens in a hurricane. Read again what Ed and alan have said about their real-life experiences in hurricanes. It ain't just the wind when you are up against the full Wrath Of God (and Thor and Vulcan and Poseidon and the whole team together).

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• Re: hurricanes.................... - ministercreek 20:02:13 10/10/2006

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