Secure your guy out lines

[mfllood3800]

So I was up above 10,000' in a decent Utah snow storm last night, hunting elk. Winds were high, but not as bad as I have been in prior. I think the snow was wet as it sounded like rain most of the night. At 4:00am I was woken to a crazy wind shear coming thru where I was camped, then a crack, then wet. The center pole on my Redcliffe broke in half causing the tipi to fall down. I was dazed, instantly wet, then cold and trying to figure out a plan to survive. Trying to get orientated, find stuff and dressed and outside under these circumstances is a chore. When I finally crawled out from under the tipi, I was shocked how much snow was on the ground and how quickly I was froze, especially my hands. Close to 2 feet, more in areas due to drifting.
Next time I will secure all my guy outs, as I didn't do it this time due to it only being 1 night. The tipi did great shedding the snow, even as wet as it was most of the night. I honestly thought it was rain. That wind shear is what initially woke me up, it came in and I could hear it coming and when it hit, wow.

 

[11boo]

I have been thru some epic wind in my seek 8 man tipi. Pretty shocked it stood fast, but I had all guy lines down. Two of the seek tent stakes did snap off, they are not fit for heavy weather.

 

[MJB]

No picture?

 

[mlgc20]

It’s a good reminder. I figure I’ve spent more than a thousand nights in a tent in my life. So, I’ve made every tent setup mistake possible. It is very easy to get to camp tired and decide not to guy everything out. And most of the time it’s no big deal. But, sometimes it can be a huge risk. Way better to take an extra 5 minutes when setting up your tent, than having to deal with issues in the middle of the night, when it’s dark, cold, windy, rainy, etc.

 

[Fatcamp]

I agree. Made sure my wife used the heavy duty stakes to guy out our Kodiak this weekend.

 

[Adventurfreak]

Was it the carbon fiber or aluminum pole?

 

[jhm2023]

I'm always fairly prudent about checking the snow load and if necessary removing snow from the tent a few times through the night during storms. Also pitching the tent as tight as possible with guy lines and rocks on top of stakes if the ground conditions are questionable is a standard practice for me. I've never had an issue and hope to never have one, perhaps I've been lucky. Before my SO cimmaron I had a Tigoat tipi and I feel the tigoat carbon pole was a much more durable design, still no issue with either though.

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[MuleyFever]

I was just out and noticed the Beaver Mountains looked pretty white.

 

[PredatoronthePrairie]

No picture?

Guessing in a wtf situation the last thing on his mind was a dam selfie.

 

[mfllood3800]

Was it the carbon fiber or aluminum pole?

CF. I was able to cut 5" off where it cracked, switch some things around and keep it as a back up. I flipped the alumn bottom sleeve and got 2" back. Though not ideal, it gives me a spare that is about 3" shorter pole. I'll be fine with that in an emergency.

 

[mfllood3800]

I was just out and noticed the Beaver Mountains looked pretty white.

We got a good blanket. Saw wild life every where when the sun came out. It is gorgeous.

 

[mfllood3800]

Guessing in a wtf situation the last thing on his mind was a dam selfie.

LOL Exactly. My first thoughts were get dressed, hike back to vehicle immediately. Sadly, when I got home, I looked at pole and was able to pull the top plastic cap, put it in another section and leave an entire section out, and I had a usable pole, though a foot or more shorter, I could've re set the tent, started a fire and been ok. I was really still dazed and cloudy from just waking up. My mind just went into emergency bug out mode and I was off running, well walking thru the deep snow. lol I am more prepared than before, as a result of this situation. What I would give for hundreds of these experiences without having to go thru them to learn it.

 

[mfllood3800]

One thing I got thinking was the CF pole for the SO bigger tents must be thicker CF. I may order another one and cut it to size, a drill the holes where needed. The weight penalty would be worth it to me. I still have the spec'd one, but a thicker more robust would be a great option. I don't know what that wind gust was, but it was not normal.

 

[mfllood3800]

No picture?

I can get you a picture of the part of the pole that is damaged. lol

 

[mfllood3800]

Here are pics of the broken part after I cut it out. And the tipi with the 3"-4" shorter set up, still almost as tall as my garage ceiling. The MSR stakes were all still in the ground and in good shape.

 

[Scrappy]

Glad everything turned out in the end. Was dreaming one night someone was pushing my head into the ground and it was really really cold. Woke up to my tent collapsed onto my head from heavy wet snow. Definitely not a winter tent.

I've never used a tipi before so forgive my ignorance here if this is a dumb question. Why are you carrying a center pole with you. I would think cutting one from a sturdy limb when you got where you were going would make more since.

 

[mfllood3800]

Glad everything turned out in the end. Was dreaming one night someone was pushing my head into the ground and it was really really cold. Woke up to my tent collapsed onto my head from heavy wet snow. Definitely not a winter tent.

I've never used a tipi before so forgive my ignorance here if this is a dumb question. Why are you carrying a center pole with you. I would think cutting one from a sturdy limb when you got where you were going would make more since.View attachment 334911View attachment 334912

The Cf pole breaks down nicely to fit in pack, I'd light,, and is pretty durable.
Had I secured all my guy outs this may not have happened.
I'd rather carry the pole, than a saw, and find a proper tree to use.
This was all my bad for not doing it the right way. I tied 3 guy outs off a tree facing the wind direction.
But staking them to the ground would've been better and more rigid.

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[mfllood3800]

guy outs some what set up. I left my other stakes at home from a previous outing. I had some cordage in my kill kit so I utilized it to secure 3 of my guy outs. Just not enough.

 

[Kevin Dill]

I was told the CF pole is sturdy but not unbreakable. My Redcliff center pole strikes me as being not particularly stout and always had some flex/bend in it when the tipi shell was tight. An aluminum pole is quite a bit stronger I'm told.

And yes...guy-outs are mandatory to survive big hard winds and wet heavy snow. Just mark them somehow and be SURE you don't trip over them. They will put you on your face with injuries.

 

[Beendare]

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