Just as an update, I still can't get hold of Terra Nova. I've rung several times and got an answer phone, e-mailed the address they give out and had them bounced and finally left a message on the answerphone, we'll see if they reply.
I had three Terra Novas, still have 2 (combination of brand loyalty, extreme stupidity and some nice bonuses). I'm really not expecting much - conditions were awful, I made an error in judgement not taking the thing down, Mea Culpa. I wouldn't be offended if they say 'tough, buy a new one' A reply would be nice.
Rab on the other hand are replacing my sleeping bag stuff sack free and replyed with details of the repair service for the barbed wire rip in my Latok within an hour of my enquiry.
I can reply to your last post at least. I didn't camp at Buttermere, I was in the bunkhouse, BUT I was camping up Snowdon in 80mph winds on New Year's Eve.
I have a Vaude Taurus tent. Marketed as 3+ season. Pitched end on to the wind, it stood up perfectly. When the wind changed to side-on, the 80mph gust snapped the front elastic bungee that pulls the porch out. No poles bent, no fabric tore, and ground was rock hard so no pegs out.
How will I act in future? Well I've replaced the relatively weak elastic bungee with climbing tape. I won't buy a new tent / more expensive tent for now, I will just only consider camping if forecast wind speeds below about 65mph, and not go / use bunkhouses otherwise.
Ironically, this would have meant I WOULD have camped at Buttermere had I not already booked into the bunkhouse LOL!!
I've Just got the VauDe Hogan Mark I (2 man version of mark II i beleive) and So far i'm very impressed with the quality, I cant really say how good it will be in high winds yet as i havnt had it long enough to test it in those conditions but the quality of it, ease to pitch and strike, the pack size and weight, and the room it gives impressed me so far, not disapointed at all. In the cadets, the wing has 1 or 2 of the Mark II's and also one of the other staff members from my squadron has one and it gets good ratings from them all. TheOutdoorShop had some very good offers on the VauDe's at the moment as well.
why don't you book a wind tunnel and stick all the tents you want to test in there stuck down with contact adhesive and crank up the wind tunnel and put a stop watch on each tent ;¬)
mainly because i don't have a wind tunnel, nor do i own twenty odd assorted tents. the wind tunnel won't mimmic the swirling and direction-changing effect of real wind and the effects of heavy rain and wet ground won't be shown either.
Wind tunels tests have been done but they're not always a true indication. Take Stealth Nutter's (wth?) tent for example. It coped fine with head on wind but suffered in a side wind. Likewise, the best performing tent in a wind tunnel test may fair poorly in winds that change direction.
They'd need to do multiple tests in a wind tunel with the tents facing different directons. I'd pay good money to see a full on test of the main 4 season tents.
