Tunnel tents in winter?

[hikingfish]

Hi all!
Has anyone had any experience with the MSR Wind 2? From the specs, it looks rather impressive...

Cheers!

Fish

 

[Mongoose]

I don't have the MSR tent but I do have a Hilleberg Akto which is a tunnel tent. It's bombproof as long as you have good anchors for the guy lines. When I was researching new tents, I saw people using the Akto in the arctic in heavy windstorms. They mentioned how you shouldn't use ski poles to hold out the guy lines because the wind will snap the poles! That's my two cents...

 

[blacklab2020]

If its anything like the hillberg tunnel tents, I have heard impressive things about their ability to withstand wind... however, I really wonder how much of this is directional... and with how quickly the weather changes in the whites, I have heard of entire snowbanks dissappearing in a few hours due to wind shifts.

Good luck

 

[Jay H]

Pitching a tunnel tent in the wind is pretty important, I've had my Shires Cloudburst tarptent in some pretty high winds , it held up but I think pulled some of the stitching out of the guyline anchors.. However, if not properly guyed down and tight, a crosswind on a long tunnel tent like the Cloudburst turns the thing into a huge sail and can flatten it enough to be scary... Camped at 6000' in Wrangell St Elias with the tarptent, with huge winds and my friend and I decided to repitch the tent for fear of breaking a pole. Of course the Shires isn't a 4-season tent (nor were we really in winter, just high up (relatively) and exposed to winds rolling down the glacial morraine.

Jay

 

[Rick]

I call them Hoop tents. I used to have a Kelty Windfoil 2 and then sold it to buy a Windfoil 3. I had the WF2 for about 5 years and used it in the winter for about 15 trips. I have only used the WF3 on 4 occasions. I really like these tents. Pitched correctly they are bombproof and spacious. The Kelty Windfoil (not to be confused with the 3 season Kelty Windfoil UL.) is a well-designed 4 season heavy duty tent that retailed at $525 and $575 respectively. I picked them up via pro-deals and in hindsight, I wish I woulda kept the WF2 as they are no longer available as of around 2002. They are a bit heavy when compared to other tents, but the design really stops heavy flapping that is common in high winds (as long as it is pitched correctly, as previously commented).

If you google Kelty Windfoil 2 or 3, you will find a bunch of reviews on this style of tent. I noticed the MSR has a ridgepole which looks like it can be freestanding, if you took it out in mild weather - Looks like a nice feature, but it adds weight.

Here are some links to give you an idea of what the Kelty's were. BTW, did I mention....the space is phenomenal in a hoop tent.
Windfoil 2
Windfoil 3

 

[Rick]

It looks like these folks might have some WF3 in stock
http://www.mtgears.com/kewi33ma4see.html

 

[forestgnome]

Can these tents be covered with snow to create insulation? Is this a common practice or a no-no?

 

[hikingfish]

Can these tents be covered with snow to create insulation? Is this a common practice or a no-no?

As with any tent, I wouldn't do that. I'd be afraid of suffocating or CO2 poisoning. If you want to use snow as insulation, build a snow cave or igloo.

Fish