How well is a 3 season tent covered in snow going to perform as a shelter? Assuming that I can place the tent and base the night before a major fall of 15+cm and dig it out when planning to use it.
How well is a 3 season tent covered in snow going to perform as a shelter?
you ngmi.
4 season tents are heavy and expensive for a reason { to hold up snow, but they're also more waterproof, vented and durable). lmao.
Fortunately OP will never actually need one.
4-season tents are only needed in arctic expedition tier shit. If you're not planning to spend weeks on your own in Svalbard you're just fine with a good 3-season tent.
true with some tent designs. really comes down to how well it handles snow pack. some 3 season designs like pyramids ain't half bad.
I have a tent with this style of spider joint from mec, I'm pretty sure it will do the job and is comfortingly close to the shape of a quinzhee or igloo roof
Not when you live in Norway.
This, but unironically. I suspect its the same for Finns and Swedes as well
esplain
It all depends on the strength of the poles/mounting clips, if they can hold the weight of that snow. If they can, it becomes a comfy igloo but the walls will sag a lot and you'll have minimal living space. Honestly you're better off waiting for the snow to blow through and then digging an igloo.
Its do-able, you just need to make sure the structure remains intact. Snow will be heavy on the walls so you'll need to make sure the poles can handle it. Having a breathing hole is important.
Why do you need to set it up the night before?
>How well is a 3 season tent covered in snow going to perform as a shelter?
as good as an igloo
Snow is a pretty good insulator funny enough, good luck disassembling your tent though
It shouldn’t be too bad, just chuck the rain fly to the side and all my poles are right there.
Update : I bedded in the tent last night before this storm, picked a nice spot with the easy access to firewood, went back today after the storm, about 2cm on the tent everywhere, looks very cozy I just spent another half hour sectioning wood and building a nice seat for the fire.
I’m planning on setting up a feeder for the local dear as they seem to always be trying to get back to the top of the ridge where the trail is when I’m walking down, saw their site was close so I figure I’ll pay them some rent with a bag of carrots or something.
Coming back to this site around New Years with a lady friend which is why I’m putting the tent up in advance, mostly so I don’t have to pack too much on the day of.
If you tarp ober the outside of the tent and have an air pocket between your tent and that tarp the snow will improve insulation.
It's fine, just put up a tarp over your tent if it snows a lot, or is heavy snow, or ice rain
Seconded
Are pyramids better for snow?
Probably, since they have sharp angles, but if it's not a 2 wall tent it's going to collection a lot of condensation
The big thing about pyramids is that they require a pole
They sell tent poles that are lighter than trekking poles. Every tent has to be propped up with something.
Perhaps he meant that they aren't free standing
It's really dependent on the tent design how well it does. The wider and less steep the sides, the more snow will accumulate and the more weight it will need to be able to handle. All else being equal I would err on the side of pyramids and a-frames to do better as accumulation is more likely to fall off. When I pitch my tarps in snow conditions, I will go with a more narrow pitch and not porch mode the tarp. What you may do if you have the ability to is bring another tarp and hang it at a sharp angle above the tent so that snow its caught there and slides off and away from your tent.
There's also a lot of variability here. 6in of dry powder that gets blown around isn't the same issue as 6in of wet snow that sticks together.