Gearblog: Geodesic v Tunnel

If you've always assumed that geodesic tents are tougher than tunnel designs, you might find this interesting.

David Reese was part of Alastair Lee's team filming footage for PSYCHE on Skye earlier this year when a storm hit. The day before, the rest of the team had questioned David's choice of a Lightwave T1 Trek tunnel when everyone else was using geodesics.

Ten hours later though and the Lightwave was the only tent left standing and arguably saved the lives of four people.

David describes the 'insanely strong winds with gusts' as 'resembling waves of a tsunami from hell'. Those gusts destroyed two geodesics while the third had to be supported from the inside after one of the poles snapped and tore a hole in the fly-sheet fabric.

You can get some idea of just how bad things got from this YouTube clip filmed from David's tent. Bear in mind that things later got even worse than this...

To be fair, the tent in the clip was around 12 years old and well-used, so the stitching and fabrics would have been weaker than a brand new tent of the same design.

Okay, so it's hardly a scientific study conducted in controlled conditions, but when was the last time you went camping in a lab? There's a school of thought that says while geodesic structures may be more rigid and inherently stronger, in really savage conditions, the ability of a tunnel tent to deform more easily may actually absorb the force of the wind more effectively while a geodesic may fail catastrophically.

Several years ago I survived a savage storm in the Pyrenees, sheltering inside a humble Ultimate Peapod tunnel tent. Pitched side on to the wind direction, the Peapod distorted to the point where it was half its normal height, yet it never actually failed. Meanwhile the campsite around us was littered with the remains of various supposedly stronger tents. Equally, my long-time favourite Macpac Minaret has performed flawlessly in all conditions.

So what am I saying? Not that tunnels are 'better' than geodesics, but that a well-made tunnel design can be extremely effective and that maybe the likes of Macpac, Lightwave and Hilleberg with their preference for tunnels have a point.