ericbphoto
Overlander in development
TRS Event Staff
TRS Forum Moderator
Supporting Member
U.S. Military - Veteran
TRS 20th Anniversary
VAGABOND
TRS Event Participant
GMRS Radio License
- Joined
- Feb 7, 2016
- Messages
- 15,342
- Reaction score
- 16,606
- Points
- 113
- Age
- 59
- Location
- Wellford, SC
- Vehicle Year
- 1993
- Make / Model
- Ford Ranger
- Engine Type
- 3.0 V6
- Engine Size
- 3.0L
- Transmission
- Manual
- 2WD / 4WD
- 4WD
- Total Lift
- 6"
- Tire Size
- 35"
- My credo
- In theory, theory and practice are the same. In practice, they are different.
This past weekend, I did some foul weather camping and I thought I'd pass along a few observations, tips, hints, etc. In case they might help someone in the future. I knew ahead of time that the weather would not be ideal. But carried on anyway, for 2 reasons.
One; I pay attention to the weather forecasts. But I don't trust them 100%. If you always pessimistically believe things will be the worst and cancel any time conditions are forecast to be less than ideal, you will miss out on a lot of great experiences. Don't foolishly take chances with hurricanes, tornados and lightning. But don't cancel due to a little rain, either. It is also common for the weather to change quickly on the coast. It could turn in your favor and give you a great trip.
Two; I needed to find out what I could handle and test my gear. I knew I would be in good company with the group I was traveling with. I wanted to see the area. And I had planned enough vacation time for contingencies.
The trip was supposed to be to the Outer Banks, NC. First night at Cedar Island Ranch. Day two; ferry to Ocracoke Island, NC, play on the beach and camp there. Day three; ferry to Hatteras, visit lighthouses, Wright Brothers Memorial, Kittyhawk and drive half way home. Weather forecast changed several times each day for the full week leading up to the trip. But it always included heavy rain and wind on Saturday. It turns out that the rain started Friday afternoon before I got there. Increased rain and winds through the night into Saturday with gusts reaching 45mph. The ferries were cancelled due to weather. Several in our group had poor tent placements Friday night and were soaked. The organizer called the event and everyone bugged out before lunch on Saturday. Everyone except me.
I was also traveling with a bad head cold. I felt miserable and didn't want to drive 8 hrs home again on Saturday. So I hunkered down and stuck it out another night. There was about a 3 hour reprieve mid day with no rain or wind. I repositioned one loose tent stake and moved the truck to what had been the windward side, hoping to block some of the wind. The rain returned and I took a much welcomed nap through the afternoon. The noise the first night had wakened me at around 3:00am, so I was tired. The rain stopped late in the afternoon. But the wind came back with a vengeance, gusts upward of 50mph or more and it remained that way until after I broke camp and left Sunday morning.
Thoughts;
1. Prepare for it. Proper packing is essential. Make sure you have ways to keep your stuff dry and tied down. Earlier in the week, I had ordered some plastic screw-styled tent stakes that I thought would hold well in the sand at the beach. That turned out to be a very good move.
2. Practice packing your gear and loading the truck. This, I failed at, this time. I changed a few things in my load out and had a lot of wasted nooks and crannies and had to carry more things in the cramped cab of my little Ranger. It worked because I didn't have the dog on this trip. But there was no room for her when I left the house. That needs improvement. Plan your packing containers and their placement so you know where everything g goes and you know it all fits. Then USE YOUR PLAN.
3. Meals; in bad weather, you may not get big windows of opportunity to cook elaborate meals. If you know the weather will be sketchy, plan stove. And plan things that can be cooked several different ways. I planned 2 evening meals. One was chicken kabobs and the other was sausages. Either could be cooked on a campfire, or charcoal grill or in a skillet on a single burner stove. None if that happened. I never even got a chance to boil water for oatmeal and coffee. I had also packed breakfast bars, bananas, cheese and crackers and sausage sticks and pudding cups. These were things I could grab quickly and munch on while hunkered down inside the tent. Always plan alternatives. Trail mix is always a good thing to have along. Saturday morning, several of us actually drove a mile down the road to a little store that had coffee and frozen breakfast foods and a microwave. It was fun mingling with a few if the locals and the store owner.
4. Be ready to change your plans. Accept change as part of the adventure. We were at the mercy of the weather and the ferry schedule. If they had run the afternoon ferry and gotten us to Ocracoke Island, We would have been stuck there until Monday because the winds got worse on Sunday and ferries were cancelled again. Highway 12, which runs up and down the Outer Banks got flooded and closed. Anyone needing to be at work on Monday would not have made it. So make contingency plans for extra vacation time in case something like that happens.
5. Buy good quality gear. This was a case where a RTT would have been nice. It gets you off the ground when things are soggy. I had chosen a good tent placement and I stayed dry. Never pitch your tent in a low spot. Always pick a high spot, hopefully with just a little bit of slope to drain water way from your camp. We had one person pitch their tent in a depression and get soaked. One party pitched their tend on a slight rise, just the size of the tent. They woke up dry. But the water was lapping at the tent on all sides. One guy slept in a covered hammock. He stayed pretty dry. But jumped out into ankle deep rainwater. E-Z-Up style canopies do not handle wind well. Mine was destroyed 2 years ago in high wind. The man with the hammock this weekend had to take the cover off his in the middle if the night. Another party had strung up a tarp attached to their truck and a tree, a pole and just staked down. It did not do well with heavy rain and wind. My Gazelle tent did well. I was impressed. I stayed completely dry and secure. I should have added a one or two extra staked cords off the sides on the windward side. But it held. Video below. The noise was incredible. It woke me up both nights. Do, be prepared to lose sleep even if all your gear works well.
Practice! Don't be afraid of the weather. Practice and plan for it. Sometimes, it turns bad without you knowing ahead of time.
This video was taken at 3:30am on Saturday. What else do you do when all this noise wakes you up?
These stakes worked well in the sand. I used 8 of these and 4 of the good quality spikes that Gazelle sells. 12 stakes to hold the tent down.
The orange tent is the one that got flooded badly. Probably less than 8inches of elevation difference between my setup and theirs. That made all the difference.
One; I pay attention to the weather forecasts. But I don't trust them 100%. If you always pessimistically believe things will be the worst and cancel any time conditions are forecast to be less than ideal, you will miss out on a lot of great experiences. Don't foolishly take chances with hurricanes, tornados and lightning. But don't cancel due to a little rain, either. It is also common for the weather to change quickly on the coast. It could turn in your favor and give you a great trip.
Two; I needed to find out what I could handle and test my gear. I knew I would be in good company with the group I was traveling with. I wanted to see the area. And I had planned enough vacation time for contingencies.
The trip was supposed to be to the Outer Banks, NC. First night at Cedar Island Ranch. Day two; ferry to Ocracoke Island, NC, play on the beach and camp there. Day three; ferry to Hatteras, visit lighthouses, Wright Brothers Memorial, Kittyhawk and drive half way home. Weather forecast changed several times each day for the full week leading up to the trip. But it always included heavy rain and wind on Saturday. It turns out that the rain started Friday afternoon before I got there. Increased rain and winds through the night into Saturday with gusts reaching 45mph. The ferries were cancelled due to weather. Several in our group had poor tent placements Friday night and were soaked. The organizer called the event and everyone bugged out before lunch on Saturday. Everyone except me.
I was also traveling with a bad head cold. I felt miserable and didn't want to drive 8 hrs home again on Saturday. So I hunkered down and stuck it out another night. There was about a 3 hour reprieve mid day with no rain or wind. I repositioned one loose tent stake and moved the truck to what had been the windward side, hoping to block some of the wind. The rain returned and I took a much welcomed nap through the afternoon. The noise the first night had wakened me at around 3:00am, so I was tired. The rain stopped late in the afternoon. But the wind came back with a vengeance, gusts upward of 50mph or more and it remained that way until after I broke camp and left Sunday morning.
Thoughts;
1. Prepare for it. Proper packing is essential. Make sure you have ways to keep your stuff dry and tied down. Earlier in the week, I had ordered some plastic screw-styled tent stakes that I thought would hold well in the sand at the beach. That turned out to be a very good move.
2. Practice packing your gear and loading the truck. This, I failed at, this time. I changed a few things in my load out and had a lot of wasted nooks and crannies and had to carry more things in the cramped cab of my little Ranger. It worked because I didn't have the dog on this trip. But there was no room for her when I left the house. That needs improvement. Plan your packing containers and their placement so you know where everything g goes and you know it all fits. Then USE YOUR PLAN.
3. Meals; in bad weather, you may not get big windows of opportunity to cook elaborate meals. If you know the weather will be sketchy, plan stove. And plan things that can be cooked several different ways. I planned 2 evening meals. One was chicken kabobs and the other was sausages. Either could be cooked on a campfire, or charcoal grill or in a skillet on a single burner stove. None if that happened. I never even got a chance to boil water for oatmeal and coffee. I had also packed breakfast bars, bananas, cheese and crackers and sausage sticks and pudding cups. These were things I could grab quickly and munch on while hunkered down inside the tent. Always plan alternatives. Trail mix is always a good thing to have along. Saturday morning, several of us actually drove a mile down the road to a little store that had coffee and frozen breakfast foods and a microwave. It was fun mingling with a few if the locals and the store owner.
4. Be ready to change your plans. Accept change as part of the adventure. We were at the mercy of the weather and the ferry schedule. If they had run the afternoon ferry and gotten us to Ocracoke Island, We would have been stuck there until Monday because the winds got worse on Sunday and ferries were cancelled again. Highway 12, which runs up and down the Outer Banks got flooded and closed. Anyone needing to be at work on Monday would not have made it. So make contingency plans for extra vacation time in case something like that happens.
5. Buy good quality gear. This was a case where a RTT would have been nice. It gets you off the ground when things are soggy. I had chosen a good tent placement and I stayed dry. Never pitch your tent in a low spot. Always pick a high spot, hopefully with just a little bit of slope to drain water way from your camp. We had one person pitch their tent in a depression and get soaked. One party pitched their tend on a slight rise, just the size of the tent. They woke up dry. But the water was lapping at the tent on all sides. One guy slept in a covered hammock. He stayed pretty dry. But jumped out into ankle deep rainwater. E-Z-Up style canopies do not handle wind well. Mine was destroyed 2 years ago in high wind. The man with the hammock this weekend had to take the cover off his in the middle if the night. Another party had strung up a tarp attached to their truck and a tree, a pole and just staked down. It did not do well with heavy rain and wind. My Gazelle tent did well. I was impressed. I stayed completely dry and secure. I should have added a one or two extra staked cords off the sides on the windward side. But it held. Video below. The noise was incredible. It woke me up both nights. Do, be prepared to lose sleep even if all your gear works well.
Practice! Don't be afraid of the weather. Practice and plan for it. Sometimes, it turns bad without you knowing ahead of time.
This video was taken at 3:30am on Saturday. What else do you do when all this noise wakes you up?
These stakes worked well in the sand. I used 8 of these and 4 of the good quality spikes that Gazelle sells. 12 stakes to hold the tent down.
The orange tent is the one that got flooded badly. Probably less than 8inches of elevation difference between my setup and theirs. That made all the difference.
Last edited: