Quote:
Originally Posted by Buff
What do you use for softer ground to keep you tent anchored in the wind?
Camping a week ago and it was a perfect calm day with a slight breeze to help keep a person a bit cool in the sun. Suddenly a dust devil came whirling through the camp site and it picked up our sun canopy. My wife's instinct was to grab it so it wouldn't fly away but she was thrown 10 feet with the canopy. She was fine, just had a massive bruise on her arm when she crashed down on a camp cot.
The side of the canopy that lifted was soft and it was easy for the pegs to come out. I'd like to keep that from happening again. I bought the same canopy again so hopefully I can make this one last more than three years and protect it from the wind.
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There's these corkscrew ones you can acquire. IIRC, they often come with canopies or items designed for use on sandy beaches. I think on shelters that you are also supposed to use the cord to also anchor those shelters in multiple areas, so in soft ground you are also supposed to pull the cord to something hard and tie or nail it there as well? (ie: Tree, stump, root etc.) But identifying those scenarios isn't always easy.
https://www.amazon.ca/s?k=corkscrew+...l_3120eqxi0q_e
Weighing it down only goes so far. I watched some random clip of a whole bunch of people using their bodies to weigh down these shelters early in a storm, and a sudden gust of wind lifted what looked like an 8x8 shelter with 4 decent sized guys hanging on it and one dude unfortunately got pulled up 20-30 feet in the air vs his friends who got shaken off almost immediately. Conservatively assuming an average of 150 pounds per guy, the wind still turned the shelter into a kite and picked up 600 pounds of human like it was nothing. If the wind really gets going, using human bodies is completely not recommended. Those things could quickly turn into a not fun DIY parasailing adventure to the ER. Glad to hear your wife is OK. In an act of desperation, maybe tie the canopy to your car tires, but definitely don't rely on human weight. Just let the thing go where the wind blows.