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Weather Warnings : How To Prepare for Wind & Rain Camping
With the weather taking a more autumn turn it is important to stay aware of the dangers of camping in warning-level weather and safe with you and your fellow campers.
Rain, hail, wind and thunder can plague many-a-holiday, and just like you wouldn't jump in the pool of your all-inclusive resort in the Tenerife during a hurricane, there are times where it's better to stay indoors and leave the outside fun for another day.
Stay safe in bad camping weather
Weather warnings can be taken a bit more lightly when staying in a static home, airbnb or hotel, but when you're holidaying in a tent that is much more susceptible to the weather, it's important to check the weather beforehand to ensure it is appropriate for tent camping.
Whilst tents are designed to be sturdy they cannot be compared to the steadyness of a static caravan or a campervan, and caution should be taken when deciding to go on a camping trip during storm warnings.
It's important to prepare the best you can:
- Make sure to bring spare tent and awning parts for bits that could be damaged by weather (airtubes, tent repair kits, pegs, poles)
- Check the weather forecast and re-schedule if necessary
- Put your tent up before going away to ensure everything is in working order
- Check your car before a long travel
- Bring waterproof equipment
- Have a backup plan
Make sure that if you're going away you have a backup plan incase the weather turns wrong, you can make sure that :
- You have holiday insurance to cover any booking requirements
- You have a safespace to go into incase of worse weather
- You can access your car in case of emergency
Get the right gear, check before you go
For certain tent models you're able to purchase additional stormstraps, however most tents (especially Khyam 2024 models) already feature stormstraps that should be properly utilised for the best pitch.
Ensure you have all of your pegs, it may also be advisable to invest in storm pegs that are able to withstand harsher conditions.
Always make sure to do a test pitch of your tent either in a back garden, local park or an indoor hall that allows for full tent pitching. In addition to this WEATHERING YOUR TENT (wetting the tent fabric and seams, then allowing it to dry out in order to make the fabric water-tight) is a very important step to reduce the chance of any rainwater getting inside of your tent.
Remember: A tent is only as good as its pitch
Even the most experienced of campers may get caught out by the new layouts of tents, peg placements and pitching technology. This can result in varying camping quality during your stay and can be the difference between getting water in your tent or not.
Experience with a tent may vary on the quality of the ground you pitch it on, whether or not guy ropes are twisted, the available space and whether all ropes are securely pegged with enough tension.
My Tent is damaged, what now?
If you've been out camping and have had the unfortunate case of your tent/awning deflating, your tent ripping, tubes buckling, poles bending, or water pooling it is very important to ensure you and your party are safe.
In some cases, if you have a tent repair kit or are camping on a site that can provide some it can be possible to temporarily fix the present problem or whip out those replacement parts mentioned in the section above.
The best recommendation would be to pack up shop, get home safely and repair your tent in a dry, spacious environment, ideally consulting/hiring a professional tent repair company to carry out the repair. Unfortunately this is a situation that requires the hard decision to cut a holiday short if the damage sustained prevents you from using your camping equipment in a safe manner.
Ensure that all parts are correctly replaced, patched or fixed and do a shorter term test run (1-2 nights) before engaging in any longer holidays to ensure your tent is safe to use.
Please Note :
Khyams lifetime warranty excludes damage sustained in harsh winds and storms. For full T&Cs read here.
Can I use windbreaks?
A windbreak is not a suitable preventable measure for stormy weather. Whilst you can reduce wind through natural windbreaks like trees or bush lines it's not possible to ensure your tent won't have issues with a standard windbreak as they're designed for a more comfortable time spent outside in fair weather. Alternatively you can also use your car to try and block some wind though depending on the strength of the wind and the size of your car this will have varying results.
