Soft sides in windy conditions

[bahndo]

I am looking for input from those that have camped in their pop ups in windy conditions (like 25+ mph sustained wind). I am torn right now between a soft sided build and a hard sided build. I live in the the Columbia River Gorge where it is windy. Wind is great for recreation so avoidance is not an option. My question is how do the soft sided campers do in sustained wind, honestly? The other option I am considering is a hard sided pop up like Sonke's bad *** LC.

 

[brianjwilson]

Stay away from palomino and similar. The soft sides are junk and poorly velcroed on. I've stood in a brand new one with a 10-15 knot breeze and it was breezy inside, and noisy as the sides were flapping around. After 10-15 minutes of messing with the sides to see if it could be quiet I left the dealership.

Four wheel campers seem to be much tighter and better sealed when I've looked at them. Phoenix campers also seem to be pretty well built.

I can't comment on other brands which I haven't seen in person, but definitely avoid palomino.

 

[1stDeuce]

My haulmark does pretty well too. It's certainly not breezy, or noisy, but the wind will rock the whole unit if it's hitting the camper on the side. I just make sure to park with the back of the camper to the wind, so the sleeping area is in the lee, and the sides aren't taking the wind directly. Minimal rocking that way. Would probably work just as well with the nose of the truck facing into the wind.

You definitely want a camper where the soft sides are pretty tight when up. As Brianjwillson said, some of the cheaper brands have fairly loose sides, which will flap and make noise in the wind. The tension on the soft wall is part of what keeps the top from moving around much in the wind, in addition to preventing the sides from flapping.
Chris

 

[JHa6av8r]

If you go to the Saline Valley, you'll see FWC campers become shelters for everyone else as the wind howls and the tents get flattened.

 

[Regcabguy]

I've had our Northstar in 30 mph winds and aside from rocking the unit,zero flap factor. The fabric is very tight. I would think a hardsided would be rocking too without the jacks extended.

 

[Buckstopper]

Hallmark Ute ok in the wind

We camped near Maryhill just up stream from you in February and it was cold and really windy. Our Hallmark Ute did just fine in the wind. The whole rig was rocked by big gusts but no noise from the soft side.

The nice part about having the soft side is that we didn't have the big hard side camper to push through wind on the road!

 

[Redline]

My part of the west (Nevada) is also often very windy. With personal experience with both a Kimberley Kamper and Eezi-Awn RTT I'm impressed with the taut sides of my FWC.

The flapping from either of the tents (I still have/like the Eezi-Awn) in anything above a gentle breeze can make it noisy and sometimes difficult to sleep. The flip-up end panel deign of the FWC seems to keep the sides tight, with good tension.

 

[rotti]

Have used my FWC Hawk and previous Grandby in high sustained winds with no problems or "flapping". Although you probably shouldn't, I have driven with mine up to dry it off after washing. That will make you appreciate the aerodynamic advantage of a pop up camper....you can feel the extra drag.

 

[kerry]

I've had my Texson/Northstar T1000 up in approximately 60-70mph winds on the rim of the Purgatoire Canyon. Had me worried. No damage occurred though. I would have preferred to drop the top in those conditions but I thought if I started to drop it in those winds, the loosened fabric getting pushed inwards would make it worse. My thought was that if the upwind fabric failed, the wind coming in that side would blow the top off. I couldn't sleep in those conditions. The upside is that now I can sleep like a baby in 40mph winds cause they seem like nothing by comparison.

 

[ExpoMike]

Back when we had our Kamparoo trailer, being a full soft side tent setup, anything at 10mph or above caused a flapping noise that made it hard to sleep. We then moved to our FWC Granby and it is SO quiet. We have been in 30mph sustained winds with 50mph gusts. Outside of the rocking of the vehicle, we sleep very well. Even our dog doesn't get bothered by any wind.

 

[bahndo]

Thanks for all the input, it seems like the key is making the tent part fit as tight as possible. I was pretty dead set on building a camper for my Dodge that was a scaled up version of Sonke's hardsided pop up. I starting thinking about how nice it would be to have a cab over section and that what got me to this point. I am definitely leaning more towards a soft sided popup now.
Thanks,
Ryan

 

[DanoT]

My Phoenix from Coyote RV is safe to drive at 60mph with the top up. I have camped in very high winds at Mt. Bachelor a few winters ago with no problems other than rocking with each very strong gust.

 

[craig333]

The only thing about wind is it can make lowering the top an interesting proposition. Oh, and close the windows in dusty areas when you leave for the day. Don't ask me how I learned that

 

[ETAV8R]

If you go to the Saline Valley, you'll see FWC campers become shelters for everyone else as the wind howls and the tents get flattened.

Good thread and great reply. It can howl there! And it is my primary destination usually. I've seen a few FWC's there and am always jealous. Do you drop it and explore or take it with you?
Dreaming of being a FWC owner.

 

[MacHof]

The only thing about wind is it can make lowering the top an interesting proposition.

We have an Outfitter Apex 8 and spent a few months in Patagonia. Trust me, it can get quite windy. While raising or lowering the top can lead a fair amount of flapping, once the top is up, we had no issues with the canvas whatsoever - it is quite taute and makes little noise. We did have to lower the legs a few times though to control the rocking of the camper. For us, nose into the wind is the most comfortable position to be in.

We did have an issue with one of our "Fantastic Fans" which despite being tightened down hard, would sometimes vibrate open when driving in high wind conditions, on washboarded roads, and meeting large semis on narrow roads.

Cheers, Henrik