In the wind do you "Hold 'em OR Fold 'em" ??

[J-Bird]

Hello Folks,  Just wondering in your pup if you encountered any high winds ever and if so to you "Hold 'em"  (meaning stay put, ride it out....)  OR "Fold 'em"....(go home)......I had a new Coleman in 1988 and we were on the "Bluff" on Lake Onterio In NY and the winds were VERY strong.  Poeple told us " why did they put you up here there is no pop ups allowed plus there was a tornado whatch that night.  We "folded" qbout midnight and came home, I WANTED to "Hold 'em" but the wife (at the time) wanted to leave, so we did.  That Coleman though held on though.  Hope my new Jayco does the same.  Seems like my lifter posts on my 2006 Jayco are not attached to the roof to well Looks like just one bolt to the roof ?  Thanks, JBird

[hoppy]

I have been very lucky with my awnings holding up in high winds and rain.

 My  awning set-up is very tough and time consuming to stow away after the initial set-up, so I have learned to secure it well. (Folding tables, coolers, storage bins, fan,

 Knock on wood (hitting the top of my head) all my awnings have held up over the past 15 years.

  I use those heavy picnic tables that are provided with the sight to tie off the awining to, and slope the awning during the rain and turning in for the evening.
  I also drive re-bar into the ground, and slip the vertical poles over them before tying off the awning to the table.

 I have been through some 50 MPH plus winds, and many heavy rains.

 If my system was easily deployed though, I would take it down.

[mike4947]

Well in 30 years, other than the odd awning flying up on the roof, we haven't found a PU that gave up to wind before we did. That includes single bolt, double bolt, and angle plate mountings from arms to roof.

Sure the roof and canvas move around like crazy, but unsafe? Nope.

[zamboni]

One time, with our former Starcraft, we were on the end of a row, right along the delta (San Franciso bay area), and had incredible winds.

Since we had a Carefree of Colorado awning, whose legs mount on the camper, we "dipped" the awning very low, and parked the Explorer in front of it.  This made a very good wind break - what went over the truck, hit the dipped awning, and was diverted up & over the pup.

The bunks still shook, though.  I'd estimate that gusts were easily hitting the 50 mph range (very briefly, but a strong constant level) - which was odd since it was nice and sunny and warm.

[maromeo]

We had winds last weekend of 20-35 mph with gusts to 45 mph. There were only a few of them. The PU swayed but we held out because we knew they would die down around sunset and they did.

When we were in Bahlmorea TX and had gusts over 50 mph. It shook so hard our C channels for the lifters went crashing to the ground. It started around 1:00am and we packed up and left @ 3:00am. One good thing we arrived at our destination early.

Mary Romeo

[b2220128]

I survived through some tough wind at Port Aransas with no damage.  That is except to the guy who helped me take the awning down, but he told me he was to drunk to feel anything.    The rumor mill had the winds near 50 mph on the beach.  The PUP shook a lot an night and cost me some sleep but held up very well.

[4campinfoxes]

We've been through some pretty good storms, fairly high winds.  Generally we have just battened down the hatches & held it out  Once while camping for a week without DH we had some stormy weather for several nights.  Needless to say I didn't get much sleep!  But all was ok, just lowered the awning a bit & rode it out.

One of my favorite things to do is lay in my bed & listen to it rain.  

We do have a weather radio that we pack when we camp.  At least then I know if I need to take cover in the bath house!

Sharon

[tlhdoc]

Your lifter arms are made to move when the roof moves.  My Coleman/Fleetwood lifter arms also move and are not attached tightly to the roof.  As for giving up in the wind, we haven't yet.  We camp at the shore several times a year and have camped in 50 mph winds.  If we have the AAR attached to the awning it makes the awning much more stable.

[wavery]

You got to know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.

You never count your money when you're sittin' at the table.
There'll be time enough for countin' when the dealin's done.

**Here comes the important part**

Now evry gambler knows that the secret to survivin'
Is knowin what to throw away and knowing what to keep.
cause evry hands a winner and evry hands a loser,
And the best that you can hope for is to die in your sleep :eyecrazy: .

OR NOT!!

Might be best to fold 'em




Kenny Rogers

[AustinBoston]

Might be best to fold 'em

I have to agree.  I've had friends report pop-ups rolling in 35 MPH winds.  Larger units might not roll at that speed, but there is no way anything but the largest pop-up is going to stay put (never mind escape damage) in 50 MPH winds.  There is a world of difference between what the weather service might report in an open field (i.e. airport, where they take their readings) and a campground with trees, other units, and a building or two.

We have withstood significant winds in our 3300 lb pop-up.  The worst was at Farewell Bend SP in Oregon.  Farewell Bend is famous for winds.  DD had decided to stay in a tent, but gave up because it would nto stay staked down.  PJay kept asking me if the bunk supports could come unhitched.  Our bunk end, which faced the wind, was definitely lifting with us on it.  One of our solar bunk end covers was destroyed.  I would never want to camp in that kind of wind again.  According to the NWS, the maximum gust that night was 35 MPH.

Don't believe the reports of 50 MPH winds.  Your pop-up won't take it standing still.

Austin

[SpeakEasy]

Our worst wind scenario was near Gillette, WY. We were in a small campground for a single overnight on our way home from Yellowstone. I don't know what the strength of the wind was, but it was more than I was comfortable with. When it was starting to rise I decided that the awning had to be stowed. I moved the picnic table over next to the camper so I'd have something to stand on while I rolled up the awning. It was a challenge, and thankfully, a neighboring camper saw my trouble and came over to help out. Before the storm arrived the wind was very dry, and it brought a lot of grainy dust with it. Everything inside the popup got coated with this dust, and it stayed with us for a long time. During the night the winds brought strong thunderstorms. The next day we headed east. When we got into western South Dakota we saw a lot of damage to signs and to roofs from the storms in the night. Evidently the storms were a lot stronger in that area than they were where we spent the night.

As a sailor I am well-acquainted with wind. I think I'd be comfortable in my popup with winds up to about 35 MPH. Beyond that I'd "fold 'em," in spite of reports that someone's rig has withstood 50 MPH winds. (After all, in those cases who was out there measuring the wind to tell you that it was 50 MPH?) Take a look at the "land observation" column in this chart and tell me that a popup can withstand 50 MPH winds:

http://www.torresen.com/weather/weather/beaufort_wind_scale/?keyword=sailboat

-Speak

[Revelations]

Gotta agree with Austin

I've got a friend who was camping out one weekend when a storm hit..

The wind actually picked his unit up and one end and rolled it..

It was just him and his son in camper for that night, and luckly neither were injured.

I also have a co-worker who was camping last year in a Travel Trailer, approx weight of 4000lbs and high winds blew the unit over on its side one night. They were concerned because of the high winds and had left the trailer to seek shelter in the Campgrounds Shower Rooms.. When the storm passed, they walked back to their unit to see it laying on its side along with other damged RV's in the park.

I would suggest that you seek shelterif you have kind of RV that weighs less than 5000 lbs.

[zamboni]

It also helps to park your TV as close to the camper as possible, broadside, blocking the wind.  With an SUV, it will stop a lot of the wind from directly hitting your camper... (that is what we did with our PUP).

[GrizzlyTaco]

J-Bird, on our maiden voyage to the mojave Narrows over Presidents Day Weekend the winds were 45 - 50 miles an hour when we got there. It also rained and snowed later in the day along with the wind. Trying to get the one bunk end set-up was a real pain in the :swear: . The Viking was in the spot next to us and i'm pretty sure he stayed inside having a beer getting a good laugh at us, I'm sure it was  :J . This isn't what i hoped for on our maiden voyage, but we found out our new Jayco could handle anything. The tent just fluttered a bit but we had no problems. The heater worked great, the water heater quit on us because the wind blew the pilot light out, i have since buit a shield so that wont happen again. All in all we had a great time with all the SSCampers that were their.
Jayco takes a licken and keeps on ticken.......... :!  :sombraro:

[J-Bird]

Thanks to everyone who replyed to my Hold 'em or fold 'em message.  Thanks for taking the time to reply.  I read them all thanks for all your advise. J-Bird