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I've read about adding internal guy lines to the tent set up to make the tent stronger in bad weather. I can't find much information on how to do this. Can anyone help me out with some links to instructions on how to internally guy out a tent? I appreciate the help.

Try Stephon's Warmlite Tent web site.

Structurally, that's a great idea. It would make the tent significantly less comfortable, though, and I'm not sure how I'd do it in most tents I've used, which lack strong interior anchor points.

To visualize how the idea works, start by imagining a cube-shaped tent. Here's a cross section diagram:

Code: Select all

A.....B
.      .
.      .
C.....D


Points C and D are anchored to the ground. To hold the tent up, there are rigid poles from C to A, D to B, and A to B.

Now imagine a strong wind from left to right. What happens is this:

Code: Select all

      A.....B
  .        .
.        .
C.....D


Carry this to an extreme and the tent folds over: the distance from A to D becomes zero, and (here's the key) the distance from C to B gets much longer.

So to prevent this, you can tie a non-stretchy cable from C to B. Note how it cuts right across the middle of your interior space - that's the drawback. Also, you need a strong interior anchor point at C and at B. Not all tents will have those.

No matter the actual shape of the tent, the basic folding-over dynamic is the same. Your interior stay should bisect the angle between the ground and the tent wall.

ExcitableBoy wrote:Try Stephon's Warmlite Tent web site.

Better yet, their Flickr pages:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/warmlite/4370801694

I had a Mountain Hardwear single wall tent, one made briefly before they came out with the EV2 model. We were descending the south side of Mt. Hunter in a mighty storm and were forced to pitch it on an exposed ridge, barely dug in. Most of the velcro tabs that hold the poles in place ripped away in short order, so I used some cord to tie everything back together, using an internal guying type of system that allowed the tent to last out the storm.