Best Tent for High Winds and Hail

As much as each and every one of us hopes for it, not every camping day is going to be sunny, calm and filled with perfect weather conditions. If you’re camping in the real world, you’re bound to have some off-days on camping trips.

While all companies will proudly proclaim that their tents can withstand two earthquakes and a tornado to beat, we all know that this is simply not true. However, there are definitely some great tents in the market which will do the perfect job of protecting you in case you meet some serious winds on your camping trip.

Those below are our top picks which can help you choose the best tent for high winds!

Our Top Picks

Below you’ll find a list of some of the best tents in the market. Our  review will also include the pros and cons of each tent so your selection process can run as smoothly as possible.

How to Choose the Best High-Wind Tent

Since there are a lot of tents in the market, we know that this process can be pretty tedious, especially if you want something that’s guaranteed to work.

Usage

If you’re a family looking for a huge tent that can hold its own against high wind, then you must look for one that’s spacious enough to accommodate the members of your family. Those tents are usually quite heavy and they’re not made for solo travelers or people who enjoy hiking.

Budget

You also need to ask yourself whether you’re willing to invest a lot of money when buying or not. Some of those tents, especially the ones that offer a lot of features can be pretty pricey.

Therefore, make sure you know your budget and how much exactly you’re willing to spend before liking a certain tent that costs more than you bargained for.

Shape

Like many things, tents also come in multiple shapes. Each one comes with certain pros and cons that you should consider.

The most familiar is the A-frame or ridged tents. If you ask a kid to draw you a tent, this is the shape he’ll most likely go for. These tents aren’t as popular as they were back in the day, for good reason, because these tents aren’t the most durable.

The most popular shapes people go for, are the Dome-styled, and the Tunnel tent. These two come with enough headroom and are pretty stable when met with strong winds.

Portability

A factor that you must consider as well is portability. Some tents are specifically designed for car-camping trips. These tents tend to be on the heavier side and can be particularly hard to carry for an extended period of time.

Bigger tents are generally heavier, while smaller ones tend to be the opposite. It wholly depends however, on the material used. The material plays a huge part in regards to the weight factor.

Besides that, some tents can also be on the heavy side if they come with specific features. You also have to count for the weight of the poles, stakes and anything else that comes with the tent.

How Much Wind can a Tent Withstand?

It really depends, but upon research, it’s safe to say that a season 3 tent can easily withstand up to 35 mph winds. A particularly good high wind tent would be able to hold its own against winds up to 40-45 mph.

There are two other things that also play a role in this, tent positioning and stake positioning.

Tent Positioning

There are many ways to position a tent, but the most scientific method is to position it against the direction of the prevailing wind. This method, however, is quite tedious and it requires data that can take a year or more.

The safest choice for positioning is to the east. Almost all seasoned campers go for this option. This one has a slight advantage to it; you can watch the sunrise nearly every morning!

Positioning the tent to the east makes the sunshine fall directly on your tent. This is one of the best selling points of adjusting your tent to the east.

Stake Positioning

Stake positioning plays a huge role in the tent’s stability and its ability to withstand wind. Plenty of things can be done to ensure that the tent’s stakes are positioned well.

One of these things is to ensure that the guy lines are tied well. Tying these really helps give the tent structure and it also helps in expanding the interior area of the tent.

Another thing to do is to stake the corner guy lines at an angle. If you placed the guy lines at, say, 45**°-**angle from the corner, you will then be able to pull the line taught, thus allowing maximum room capacity in the tent. This also ensures that the tent remains waterproof once the wind picks up.

How Exactly Can a Tent be Strong Against the Wind?

Technically speaking, any good brand of tents will produce ones that can handle winds pretty well. There are however some aspects that you should consider, and that play an active role against high winds.

Durability

You’ll be able to assess how durable your tent is by checking out its price and weight. Durable tents tend to be on the pricey side, and they tend to be a little heavy. The more expensive your tent, the more durable it will be, up to a certain point.

Another point you should keep in mind when assessing durability is the material used. Each material requires specific treatment or care. Polyurethane fabric, or PU coating, for instance, requires you to keep the tent dry and clean when you’re storing it.

Also consider checking out the Denier or (D) which is the unit of measuring the weight and thickness of the threads used in the tent. The higher the Denier unit, the stronger, thicker and heavier the tent will be.

Durability is known to depend on the thickness and powerfulness of the tent’s fabric and threads. So keep that thought in mind when purchasing a tent.

Stability

The stability of your tent depends on its shape, its poles quality and how the guy lines are positioned as well as the quality of the stakes.

Stakes that are a bit longer than average are the ones you should look for. The stakes that usually come with a tent are made from metal alloy. These stakes, while cheap and lightweight, tend to get lost easily or damaged.

The best stakes to use are the steel ones. Go for the galvanized ones; these are quite heavy but they last long and are pretty durable. Stakes are extremely important, as these are what hold the tent to the ground, so ensure that the ones you choose will remain securely in place.

Also, remember this, the more guy lines, the better!

Rainfly, Mesh, and Bathtub Floor

While these can be slightly less important and have less emphasis on the tent, you should still consider them and they still count where it matters.

The rain fly, for instance, has to reach till the ground, if it isn’t, you’re setting yourself up for a long night where the wind will be billowing underneath the rainfly and your tent will end-up being a parachute.

Also, the more mesh, the more drafty your tent will be, especially in windy conditions. While the bathtub floor is always talked about when it comes to waterproofing, it also helps prevent drafts, so it’s a good addition to any tent.

Conclusion

For two-person tents, our personal choice would be the Hilleberg Jannu Tent. It’s small, practical and is a personal favorite to many experienced campers.

Our ideal multi-person tent would be the Kelty Outback tent. This tent is pretty versatile in its sizes, it comes in three different ones. It’s not that pricey, and its larger model will fit your family and might have some free space as well!  It has a solid water-proof system and can be easily set-up because all the rods are color-coded!

Going camping is a fun and enjoyable way to pass the time, it’s also a very good opportunity to bond with your family or spouse, or to generally have a good time and embark on an adventure.

This shouldn’t be ruined by a bad tent that blew apart because of the wind.

Remember, it’s all fun and games until the wind blows the tent over. So have fun, stay safe and choose a good tent!