An otherwise pleasant camping trip can quickly turn into a nightmare due to the one main culprit – wind. We may love the feeling of wind on our body and our face, but once the high winds start blazing, it’s not pleasant at all. Especially if you didn’t prepare well with your camping gear. Thankfully, there are a lot of camping tents designed to protect you against high wind. In this post, we will detail the absolute best tents for wind that money can buy. Along with that, we will detail some of the most important characteristics to look for in a tent fit for high wind.
Without further ado, let’s learn what tents will make camping in wind more pleasant for you!
1) TETON Sports Mountain Ultra Tent
This 3-season camping tent is certainly one of the best deals that TETON Sports are offering these days. It is ultra-light, weighing only 4,7 lbs (2,13 kg), and very durable when you properly set it up. The Mountain Ultra Tent can withstand winds up to 50 – 60 mph, more than that can result in some unwanted damage.
As this tent is a great choice for campers who need wind and rain protection, let’s talk more about the rainfly. Actually, the tent walls are fully meshed, which is also great for stargazing. Put on the rainfly, and it becomes a durable shelter for nights to come. The rainfly in question features superb water resistance and also provides 360-degree ventilation in a form of toggleable vents. It is made of Oxford fabric which offers superb durability and stability during windy conditions. The dome shape of the tent further contributes to its stability under strong wind.
For further protection against strong winds, the Mountain Ultra Tent features a bathtub floor design, along with a footprint to keep the floor dry during rainy conditions.
When you find yourself in a storm, you may be delighted to know that this tent is very easy to set up. Set up the aluminum poles that are a bit short, but durable enough, and tie the guy lines to make an ultimate tent shelter for windy conditions. Keep in mind that the included stakes are a bit short, and you may need longer ones to keep the tent more stable during windy weather.
TETON Sports offers this amazing tent for windy conditions in 1 – 4 person size variants. When you consider the cost-benefit ratio you may get with this tent, it is certainly a must-buy.
2) Coleman Elite Montana 8-Person Tent
This is a very spacious, 8-person tent that can easily fit three queen air mattresses and is a great tent for windy conditions. Also, it features a very tall ceiling so even taller individuals can stand inside the tent. As the tent is pretty huge, it has a long time to set up, depending on your experience level, of course. On average, it would take at least 30 minutes to set this tent up alone, and 15 – 20 minutes in a pair. When you tie the guy lines and stake the tent, it will be very tight, which makes it ideal for camping in windy conditions.
Montana is a three-season tent and comes with the signature WetherTec system from Coleman. When it works, it is quite wondrous. The floors are welded, and the fabric is made of 75D Polyester which provides awesome water protection. There are also three angled windows on the tent, but even with them included, the ventilation leaves a bit to be desired, especially during the hotter days. But, if you are camping in cold weather, sleeping in the inner tent will keep you extra warm! The fabric will also keep this tent stable even during strong winds, making this one of the ideal tents for windy weather.
One amazing feature that prolongs the durability of the tent is the hinged door. You don’t need to struggle with zippers and risk a broken zipper as this door opens like a regular house door. Inside the tent, you can find deep side pockets to carry your necessities. You can also find some recesses in the fabric for the electric cords. One amazing bonus is the included 100 lumens LED light, that you can hang over the center of the tent.
We would recommend this tent if you are car camping, as this 3-season, dome-shaped tent and all of its accessories are quite heavy, weighing at 27,4 lbs (12,42 kg). Nevertheless, if you are up for a camping experience with your family, you can rest at ease with this tent due to its ample space, and high stability.
3) Coleman Cabin Tent with Instant Setup
Cabin tents are amazing performers in windy conditions and this one from Coleman is no different. It comes with an incredible convenience factor of instant setup, as the tent comes with pre-assembled poles, so you can set it up in just a few minutes! You just unfold it from the bag, extend the contents, and secure the tent in the desired spot, simple as that.
This 3-season tent is definitely not for backpacking, as it is enormous, whether you opt for 4-person, 6-person, or 10-person variants. Make sure to get this tent if you are up for car camping, as it is probably the best one when it comes to the cost-performance ratio. Also, this tent is quite heavy, weighing 24,9 lbs (11,3 kg), so don’t expect to bring it on your backpacking trip!
So, how does the Coleman Cabin tent perform in windy conditions? First, we want to give kudos to Coleman for heavy-duty poles that do an awesome job of keeping the tent stable. The tent features two layers of fabric, which essentially means that the rainfly is built-in in the tent, with no mesh. Two windows replace the mesh, which can impact the ventilation aspect in hotter weather conditions, but no mesh equals more stability during high winds and more water resistance. It’s honestly a good trade-off.
The floors are welded and the seams are inverted for extra water resistance. On the other hand, the tent fabric is made of 150D Polyester, which makes for decent water resistance. Also, one thing that we want to note about this tent that tackles just the aesthetics is the Dark Room Technology. The tent features dark fabric that blocks out at least 90% of the light, which creates a lot of privacy.
So, the Coleman Cabin Tent is our pick for one of the best tents for windy conditions for a few reasons. It offers an amazing cost-benefit ratio, is very easy to set up, and offers quite a lot of space and stability on the camping ground.
4) Kelty Salida Camping and Backpacking Tent, 2 Person
If you are looking for the best budget tent for windy conditions, there is no better contender than this 2-person tent from Kelty Salida. It is also suitable for backpacking, as it is considered as an ultralight tent, due to its weight of 4,57 lbs (2,07 kg).
From the get-go, it is very simple to set up this tent. Its two aluminum poles are easy to assemble thanks to the color-coded parts of the fabric, which indicate where to put the poles. You can set up the tent in a manner of minutes.
How does Kelty Salida perform in high winds and heavy rain? We must say, surprisingly well. When you consider this budget range, it will be better than most others in the same range when it comes to protection from rain and high winds. The rainfly is made of 68D Polyester that covers the mesh walls. On the other hand, the floor provides 1,800mm of water protection. Also, when you tie the guy lines and stake out the tent, the rainfly will be a few centimeters away from the tent’s walls, to prevent leakages.
When it comes to protection against strong winds, the Kelty Salida can easily resist 30+ mph winds without the fear of the tent falling apart. As a 3-season tent, it can provide you with enough ventilation just by its mesh walls alone, but when it is colder, the rainfly will block out most of the airflow, which can sometimes be a problem.
Nevertheless, this extremely affordable backpacking tent is a go-to for fellow backpackers who need a camping tent that will withstand extreme conditions, including wind and rain.
5) The North Face Stormbreak 2
Looking for an affordable camping tent with a vestibule design that will stay stable during the most extreme weather conditions? Well, the Stormbreak 2 is a close contender for keeping true for all the tags mentioned above. Also, if you are a taller individual, you will love the center height of this tent, and the two doors that make getting in and out of this tent a cakewalk. Along with the two doors, there are two vestibules included for more storage space. Even though it is quite a cheap tent, it comes feature-packed to put shame on more expensive tents.
Weighing only 5 lbs (2,27 kg), it is an ideal fit for backpackers and bikepackers alike. When it comes to the setup of this 2-person tent, the tent comes with four sturdy poles, two full-length poles to make the tent freestanding, and two shorter horizontal poles to optimize the ceiling for wind protection. The inclusion of horizontal poles is an awesome addition to increasing the wind resistance of the tent.
For such a low price, we are really surprised how this tent is structured against high winds and rainy weather. First of all, this is a double-walled tent (75D Polyester) that comes with a 75D Polyester rainfly and a bathtub-style floor that prevents water leakages. Also, the storm flap included in the rainfly will help with maintaining stability during high winds.
When the high winds come, you can rest assured that this tent will endure 30+ mph winds. The mentioned vestibules are great if the rainfall occurs, as the rain will fall sideways from the tent.
Now, for the extras. The Stormbreak 2 features four large interior storage pockets, and a loop on the ceiling of the tent to put your light up. This is certainly one of the best tents for camping in wind, due to its extra-low price, and an extra high amount of useful features specialized for camping in windy conditions.
Buyer’s Guide – Things to Consider Before Getting the Best Tent for Wind
When it comes to tents with wind resistance, there is a huge selection of tents to go through. Selecting a suitable tent for certain conditions is a hard job in itself. To ease up the buying process for you, we have compiled all the essential features of a great tent for windy conditions in the sections below!
Type of Poles
The number of poles and the way they intersect will determine the stability of the tent. Well, the rule of the thumb is: the more times poles intersect, the more stability they will produce. That also means the more poles you have, the more stable the tent will be.
With that in mind, there are two common pole construction designs. Either two poles cross once in the tent’s center, or four poles intersect seven times. These two-pole construction designs feature numerous variations though.
Other than that, it’s very important to know the material of tent poles. Most are made of aluminum and fiberglass, with aluminum being the more preferable due to its weight-durability ratio. Aluminum poles will keep your tent stable during high winds, while fiberglass poles could break apart.
Single or Double Walls
You will find most tents on the market with single or double walls. Does that even matter? Well, it does when it comes to wind resistance.
Single wall tents are lightweight and are quite easy to set up. They are compact enough to be valued by backpackers, but it might be a bit tougher to find a stable single-wall tent when it comes to enduring high winds.
On the other hand, double-wall tents are more stable, durable, provide extra warmth, but are also much heavier. They may not be so ideal for backpacking due to their weight, but the stability they offer when camping in high winds is unprecedented.
So, before you decide if you want a single or double-wall tent, consider your maximum weight capacity.
Tent Shape
When looking at tent shapes, we can classify tents as cabin-style and dome-style tents. Both offer their advantages and disadvantages, but which tent shape is a better fit for windy weather?
Cabin-style tents have almost vertical walls, which results in more space to stand in. They offer that type of comfort but will falter during high winds if you don’t set it up well, due to the shape of the tent not providing any shield from the wind.
Dome-style tents slope down on the sides but are shorter in the center, providing less standing space. Nevertheless, the sloped shape will form necessary protection against the wind.
To sum it up, when it comes to the tent shape and the correlation with high winds, it is best to have a tent that is closer to ground level, as it will provide the best protection against wind. That’s why dome-style tents are preferable in this case.
Vestibules
Look for tents that come with vestibules if you want an additional layer of protection against wind and rain. Also, they prove to be awesome in providing more space for your gear, saving up sleeping space inside the tent itself.
Some vestibules feature flaps that can help out more in providing the necessary wind protection. We recommend that you stake the vestibules as you would the rest of your tent for optimal wind protection. If you don’t do that, the wind could shake your tent considerably, which isn’t comfortable by any means.
Ventilation
When camping out in high winds, the ambiance will be much colder, and you will need additional ventilation to prevent the air inside the tent from condensing. You see, during cold weather, we breathe warm air, which in turn can condense in a tent with no airflow, which results in a wet and moisty tent. Also, if camping in sub-0 temperatures, you can risk getting this condensed air freezing up, and we don’t want that.
So, it is immensely important to get a tent that features some vents on its walls or fabric. They reduce condensation more than breathable fabrics. If camping out in cold weather, a tent with lots of vents is your best choice. Also, look for tents that have mesh panels, as they will also provide additional, useful airflow.
Conclusion
Now that you know all about the best tents for wind conditions, we wish you much luck on your next camping adventure! Make sure that you know all about the main features of a wind-friendly tent, and you’ll be good to go!
