Putting up a windbreak!?!?

[themanwhocantbemoved]

So, am a reasonably seasoned camper, but in May took with us for the first time a windbreak(er?). Five poles. Me and DH didnt have the foggiest about how it went up! Do you just do the guys out from different sides? Should you bang it into the ground? Am I totally stupid??? can anyone help?!

I am watcing with interest - we always had them ones with long wodeon stakes you wack in but our new one has metal poles - tiny spike on each end and guys - im clueless!

We took a similar one camping last summer and gave up trying to erect it !! was just too flimsy and over-engineered. We've since been given one of the traditional wooden staked ones and it is much better ! Came back from camping and took the swish one back....

oh come on experts!!!!

yes you poke the little pins into the ground and then put guys out to either side

have to admit, we gave up with ours when it got blown over in a gale, and the guys just gave the children too much to trip over!

will def get one of the old fashioned types if we do it again

Sorry folks, in the same boat here.

We've always had the stripy bang-the-wooden-pole-in type but last year we replaced them with the modern type. Our roof bars that we normally tied them to had broken and we'd got a trailer so thought the new type would be easier to pack.

We took ages trying to figure it out and got it to stand up after a fashion but it wasn't really very good at all. Plus I kept tripping over the guy ropes! A big waste of time and money as far as I'm concerned.

Oh there is such a gap in the market for a decent windbreak .
Couldn't we have something light and strong ,maybe tensioned like a roller blind IYSWIM ?

We brought a posh Outwell one a couple of years,ago it was totally crap and a complete waste of money, we took it back and got our money back.

Went back to using a cheap stripey beach one that actually does the job it is meant to do ie actually block the wind, not just be blown over by it.

Those plastic matching windbreaks always look like a pile o shite and with the merest guff of wind seem to fall over. Even on calm days they look flimsy and precarious.

We have a blue diamond wooden stakes jobber that is reassuringly robust. We've only taken it out of the bag once mind and that was for the beach but it stood up all by itself (using the Forge Steel to send it home).

Our friends we camp with always wind break and they guy to the windward side with deltas.

Oh well at least its not just me. Though have to say we had the littel pins at the top, and were hooking the guys round them and couldnt figure out why it wouldnt sort of 'balance' on the earth but seems even if we had them the right way round wouldnt have made much difference!

How irritiating we didnt just buy a nice old fashioned stripey job.

oh im pissed off now as i was chuffed with its small packaging - soe knowoe have success with them? - guys on the inside of it kind of takes away space doesnt it?

I heart my outwell windbreak (sans bunting). As slubber, we guy to the windward side but with the pegs. We set up an outdoor kitchen inside the curve and it is v pleasant.

i am going to set mine up in the garden this afternoon then (when i shake of my hang over) and decided if its a keeper.

Don't forget that it all looks well and good when it is windless or lightly breezy.

The problems start when it is blowing a gale and it knocks your stove over disconecting your gas in the process

Right ours has 4 poles and comes with 6 guys - it took some doing alone but i did it - i attached all guys to the rings the spikes go though at the top and 2 on the end ones and made sdure the bottom spikes also went through the plaggy ring things after threading all through the sleeves (top and bottom) - i then had a pint of water (had to much lager last night!). I got one end and attached 2 guys to that one and pegged inward and outward then walked alon theposition i wanted tuthers with a little bend and where the end one was going did the same with 2 guys and they stayed up then i had one guy eah left on the two middle poles and guyed them as tight as poss also on the outer side of itso in theory it sdhould not blow the stove over inwards. It is v breezy today and its holding up so far so will leave it up now to see if it stays up. Off course at first i tried to do them one at a time and it kept falling over so i swore alot, drank alot of water and threw it then debated putting it back in the bag and racing back to go outdoors and ramming it up the store managers arse but i did not i persisted and so far i am winning .