Wind vs. Pop-up...

[Rauch0812]

We really looking forward to our first night out in our new (to us) pop up camper this weekend. The are calling for 20-30 mph winds for about 5 hours tomorrow night, and beautiful weather on Sunday. We can't decide what to do. We REALLY want to go... anybody experience these winds vs. a pop up? I would love to try, but would hate for something to happen to the camper. Any quick thoughts? We're supposed to leave tomorrow!

Thanks!

[mach8274]

You would be surprised at what pups can handle as far as wind goes. We were in the Memphis area a few years ago and a surprise storm came up fast. Very heavy rain, thunder and lightning and recorded wind gusts over 50 mph according to the next day's newspaper. We were in the pup and we thought the roof was going to fly off and the canvas was going to be torn to shreds. The pup took everything mother nature threw at her and then some. Since then, I've never been afraid to go when it's windy.

Good luck and have fun!

Dave

[cjpoppin]

Our first camp out was in high wind and rain and hail and the pup we had then stood up just fine and we had a blast.  The only thing I noticed was when I stood up it was like being on the high seas.......I had to sit down due to feeling sorta sick......This too passed Hahaaaaaaaa
Have a good time and be careful on those windy roads....cw

[bonscott]

I wouldn't worry about just 20-30 mph winds.  I wouldn't even put my awning up for that.  Now guests to 40-50 might be another story (for the awning) but the PUP should be just fine.  The roof might sway a bit but so long as it's a solid PUP you'll be just fine.

[Rauch0812]

I just love this site.  I pouted all evening since we were seriously considering canceling, and got up early this evening crossing my fingers atleast one person would post it would be ok to go.  You ALL made my day!  Thank you.  I'd stay and chat but I have packing to do!  We're off on our 1st pup trip...

Thank you everybody for your superfast posts!

Rauch Family

[PattieAM]

Make the trip.  20-30 mph winds are not that bad.  Do not set up your awning, and you might consider parking your tow vehicle to block winds from your water heater.  You might have some billowing of the canvas, but that will be about it.  Have a wonderful time.

[cjpoppin]

Rauch0812  I hope your first trip turned out great please post and let us know how everything went.  I think it will be fine today( Sat.) is really pretty and NO WIND and we live up here in the desert!  I hope where ever you went the weather was perfect or at least the trip was.........cw

[jstaddwtr]

I echo everyone else... we have been in some really scary winds and our PU handled just fine.  What you describe should be managable.   Just be mindful of things that could be flying around outside like awnings.....stuff left on tables, etc.  You will be suprised at how well these guys are built.

[sacrawf]

I echo everyone else... we have been in some really scary winds and our PU handled just fine.  What you describe should be managable.   Just be mindful of things that could be flying around outside like awnings.....stuff left on tables, etc.  You will be suprised at how well these guys are built.

Falling dead limbs and trees caused by high wind are probably a greater hazard for personal injury or damage to the camper than direct wind damage.  I always scout the campsite for potential falling tree hazards.

http://www.news-gazette.com/news/local/2009/02/05/former_paxton_man_dies_after_tree_falls_on_camper

[waygard33]

2 weeks ago I was at the coast and it rained HARD and the wind blew HARD all night. The sides of the pup billowed and I slept like a baby...

I was pretty glad I didn't have my awning out. The hard siders were scrambling during the night to get their awnings stowed.

Wayne in Oregon

[Dray]

My advice.  Bring duct tape, and be careful.  If it's supposed to be windy for only 5 hours during the night, and you trust that report you may be okay.

This is my experience with the wind.  The news reports often will report sustained winds.  Try and find out about wind gusts.  I went on a trip a couple weeks ago where the wind (sustained) was supposed to be less than 20 mph.  When I got there it was 25 sustained with 45 mph gusts.  I had to jump out of bed several times to secure my screen door with duct tape.  The next day the wind was still strong and I had to use the duct tape again to secure the awning.  The awning (which wasn't out but stowed in its bag) was being blown up and down and slamming against the roof of the PU.

Overall I agree with the group.  Popups can survive the wind and you'll survive too.  But you may not have a good time.  I will try not to go out in winds more than 15 mph sustained.

[MotherNature]

From experience:  everyone is right about not putting up the awning in potential wind situations (I have an extensive, expensive awning repair problem due to my being stubborn about that).  As far as the camper:  we were out in (literally)  gale-force winds for over 24 sustained hours.  The camper itself did not suffer any damage even though the supports and canvas banged around like all get-out; the door is still square and straight even though it literally slammed against its frame from Friday night till Saturday night.  Our children (11 & 13, who claim to know and understand everything) we scared senseless; we left the campground and discovered that winds reached 70+mph that Saturday night.  I don't know if the camper would have withstood this; I personally think it would have, but the distress experienced by the younger campers would not have been worth it!  In conclusion, I think that even while your camper may be ok, it is not worth risking having your younger campers being scared to death every time there is a big storm or wind.

[Gracy]

Regular tents alone can do pretty good in winds.... PUT's stand pretty good!  We've been in some high winds with blowing durt and PUT did just fine.

[Rauch0812]

Someone asked how the trip went... I never posted because I didn't want to be a downer, but here it is.  Our very 1st pop up trip... We drove there, everybody excited, little nervous about the wind, but ya'll made me feel like it would be fine.  We back in the camper (ha, ha - this takes practice), get it secured, unhook the truck and start leveling.  Everything is going great, wind is behaving, just a slight breeze, and *bam*!  Tounge jack slips down (bolt was bit stripped).  Get this back up, go back to leveling.  Get her all perfect, start cranking up the top, almost there... *wham*, handle spins out of control and top slams down.  Turns out the winch broke.  Now - we must have set  this camper up 10 times in the yard and sat it in just for fun - no problems!  Doesn't it figure?  So, my poor DH herded his pouting family (me included) back into the car, closed up the camper, and home we went.  So disappointing!  But I'm happy to say, with a new winch installed and the tounge jack fixed, we leave in about 6 hours to try this again!  Only this time it's supposed to be 85 deg. YEAH!  I'm going to get this down, I promise!  Again, thank you to everyone who takes the time to respond.  This site and been invaluable to new pup owners like us!  Happy camping!
Rauch Family

[cjpoppin]

Oh no this sounds like the trip from *%@* wouldn't ya know it would be the first trip out and after all the time making sure things would go right to!  At least the WIND wasn't a problem......Hahaaaa
Please let us know how this second trip goes I really hope you and the family have a great time.  Hope the weather gods are good to you......cw