Blown away !!!!

[Lisa110]

Well, we were not expecting to be here tonight but hey ho, the fun of camping.:rolleyes:

We went to Bala lake last night and it was a beautiful evening, not a breath of wind or a sign of rain. As a test run we decided not to take our big tent (as it is getting old now and needs replacing) so we took 2 small tents and a Gazebo (now bear in mind we have only just got this gazebo and spent £150 on an all singing :nellie: all dancing pop up version with sides)

The set up was ace:) , we placed the doorways of the tents under the gazebo, wind break on another side with cooker and table all set up, fantastic, all I want now is some camo:camo: nets and we are sorted... as I thought.

Ok, so typical camping, had a few drinks :guiness: and settled down to a good night sleep snuggled in my sleeping bag:sleep2: , little did I know what was instore.....

Around 6am I woke and could hear the wind and rain lashing outside, I quickly did a mental check that everything should be ok, but I nudged Pete awake anyway to check that he had secured everything (just in case) he said he had but would check, we opened the tent...... and......

It was gone !!!! the gazebo had blown away, pegs, poles, canopy, guy ropes the lot, we couldnt believe it !!!!

We :chase: found it, working its way upstream into Bala lake and just managed to salvage it (without any damage I believe) but we got very wet and very cold in the process...:confused:

So here we are, back a day early with plans for straps for the damn thing, non the worse for our experience but certainly a little wiser... so I thought I would ask, has anyone one else got a camping horror story to share. :blush:

[icedmunkie]

nto as bad as yours, but london to brighton last year, camping in just a two man bivy on a kinda slope with only two pegs holding down the tent, bloody cold night, go to bed early but wake up outside the tent with it half collaped on me, munkie wet tent soaked, munkie cold and munkie no change of clothes...

not as bad or as funny as ours bu hey its something for you to laugh at...
:D

[tommy]

when as was camping at the lro show the cheap tent i was in had a problem the side of the tent were my feet were keeped blowing into my face but this is not nearly as funny as yours

[Michelle]

well you s houldnae fed pete eggs before bedtime

[HCR]

Not a camping story, but a gazebo story nonetheless. I was involved in a publicity day at a nature reserve in Leeds about 8 years ago - TV and papers were in attendance. Someone had set up a gazebo (one of the cheapo things from B&Q or similar) for a bit of shelter. It wasn't raining and I don't remember it even being windy but I remember suddenly noticing that the gazebo wasn't there any more. Luckily it hadn't gone far. It had been put up right next to the boundary fence, the other side of which was a railway track. The damn thing was now sitting bold as brass upside down across the tracks! It was a very busy line but a couple of brave (idiotic) souls retrieved it.

Not sure if the paprazzi saw it or not......

H

[paul (panda)]

hmmm we have a cheap gazebo we put up in front of the tent to cook in thats got removable sides etc , the legs can be pegged down and the guide ropes too but i dont think it would stay put in the wind , probably an idea to collapse it over night if you get worried about it , ours only cost 20 quid so if it blows away its no big loss..


not a dramatic story
when i was younger my mate and i decided to go night fishing , so off we went fishing rods tent packet of fags hed nicked off his mum lol, all was fine til the morning woke up unzipped the tent to see agreat big hairy face looking at me , yes surrounded by cows :D :D
lucky really could have been trampled :rolleyes:

[Saratoga]

Many moons ago I went camping in the Wilds of Wales, well, up near Nantymoch Dam. Getting a bit breezy so I had this ace idea. The Landie wasn't going anywhere. It was locked, in gear, handbrake on and the wheels chocked (just in case). So, I tied some of the guy ropes of the tent to the rear tow hitch.

Next morning found most of the tend pegs had come out of the ground and the only thing holding it to the ground was the landie :)

Some friends I was meeting up with was moaning their tend had blown away... Hmm.

Perhaps the idea would be good to use some large grounding stakes to hold the lot down :)

[manthing]

we use the large dog spikes that look like a corkscrew to hold ours down
ala kazam (http://www.outdoorgear.co.uk/eshop.asp?wce=51402501&wci=product)

[Mikey 110]

1969 ! Put up tent passed down to me by my Dad in a field in Cornwall. Half way through the night it ripped due to the storm force winds. got soaked retrieving our stuff, and piling into the car (1960 Frog Eye Sprite). Drove to nearest village and kipped in the car in the car park. woke up to find we'd left the ten poles behind. Drove back and searched the field to find them, then sowed the tent back together using an old pair of jeans as a repair patch.

those were the days..........

[Pete H]

we use the large dog spikes that look like a corkscrew to hold ours down
ala kazam (http://www.outdoorgear.co.uk/eshop.asp?wce=51402501&wci=product)


They look just the job Manthing......


Take 2 is this weekend :eek: :eek: