Storm-Damaged Office Tent

I’m in Tolga now. I set up my tent a few days ago; it’s been very windy. I had visited some lovely friends, and when I returned, I was horrified to see the tent broken. The fly had ripped to pieces, and the tent had collapsed. Luckily, it hadn’t rained, so I hopped out of the Troopy to assess the damage.

The external poles supporting the tent are hinged, and the hinges have gone backwards, causing the tent to collapse. I knew the fly was weakened; it’d been almost a year in the sun while I lived in Canberra. It had ripped in a couple of non-structural places on the veranda. I knew I had to get a new tent at some stage, but I thought it would be okay for a while; it felt okay when I put it up a few days ago.

It was still very windy and just spitting with rain, so I removed the fly, had great fun in the rain, and pushed the external poles out. Getting them all out and staying up together was surprisingly hard, but I managed. I love this tent. It is an excellent tent that suits me perfectly, but the fly is integral to the tent. It gives it more strength and rigidity and stops rain from getting in. The whole top roof is mosquito netting, so the rain comes straight in without the fly.

I got it all reasonably straightened out; it kept collapsing, but finally, I got it up and ready. It now seems structurally sound, but the joints have weakened somehow, so they tend to pop in again. The fly is integral to the tent’s strength, holding everything down so the joints don’t collapse.

Anyway, I had a big Hexa Tarp from Drifta. I’d previously bought the medium Hexa Tarp, but it wasn’t big enough to cover the tent, and I wanted the Hexa Tarp to cover the whole of the tent to a) give me more shade and b) stop the UV degradation of the fly. Drifta says the tarp’s UV degradation is sound; I’ll see if it lasts after a year.

It was pretty windy, but there were still really annoying gusty winds. It took me about half to three-quarters of an hour to put the tarp up by myself, and it’s a six-meter-long sort of V-shaped tarp. It is designed to be put up by yourself, and I’ve previously tried to put up handmade tarp flies with a big tarp and four poles holding them up, but that’s impossible in any wind by yourself and hard with someone else helping.

I got really annoyed with the wind and the tarp flapping. I managed to put it up in the strong wind gusting to 25 kilometres an hour, so that’s a testament to one of the design features of the Hexa Tarp. I was very impressed but incredibly stressed and annoyed. It’s now working. While I was away, the winds peaked at nearly 40 kilometres an hour, so that’s relatively strong winds. I’m convinced that if the fly was stronger and not weakened by ultraviolet rays, it would have been okay, but I don’t know.

The fly is integral to the tent, keeping it warm in cold weather and cool in hot weather. Despite the warmth in Tolga overnight, it was noticeably cooler in the tent. Wind comes through the upper opening and swirls down, making you cold. It allows rain in when it comes sideways, under the Hexa Tarp, and sprays lightly on me in the tent.

It’s light. This is my office tent, so it’s easier to see screens when slightly darker. Without the fly, it’s pretty light. It’s still workable but much more comfortable when it’s somewhat darker, and the heat difference is impressive.

The joys of travelling: my office is back up, slightly damaged, but working.