Advice for Newbies about the Weather.

[adventurepdx]

I tried two different small crank Midland jobs, and one solar-powered Midland radio...they were all junk, very poorly made, and of course, none of them are as small as a cell phone, so now you're dealing with bulk and weight.

Well, sounds like Midland is a company to avoid!

I've used the offerings from Eton before, and they are pretty decent. My current radio is a C. Crane Skywave. It's not crank or solar, just simply powered by 2 AA batteries. It comes in at eight ounces and is pretty compact, but not cellphone compact. (I doubt you'll get great reception out of a radio the size of a phone.) The weather band is handy, and it's fun pulling in shortwave broadcasts from the other side of the world while at camp at night.

[froze]

Eaton is junk too, I had those years ago, and one recently for home use, a crank job, they were all trashy crap.  I don't why all these weather radios have to built so crappy, it's supposed to be used for emergency use which means it should be durable and last a very long time, that's so far from the truth it's insane.

The other thing that pisses me off is that in the last 15 years or so battery companies have decided to make batteries that leak, so you have batteries stored in an emergency radio, and the crap leaks after about 2 years in storage.  I've had batteries leak just setting in storage, not in any electronic components, and the crap leaks at room temperature and some of these batteries were designed to last 10 years?  LOL!!!  Almost all alkaline batteries are now made in China which explains why they all leak now.  This leaking issue is why I now have gotten away from alkaline and have gone with rechargeables, so far those haven't leaked, but I make sure those are made in Japan.  I've even had those smoke alarms with the 10-year permanent battery LEAK!  great smoke alarm protection if the freaking batteries leak after 4 years making the alarm fail which also means the alarm won't sound a weak battery alert because the inside of the alarm is corroded, so you have no clue the alarm failed, the only way I found out was I test mine every year and it failed one of my tests.  I own rental property, I have those 10-year smoke alarms in my units, I tell the tenants to make sure they test the alarm every year, which I can only assume most if any are actually testing them.  So the only time they're probably getting tested is when a tenant moves out and I test them.  I replace those 10-year jobs in my apartments every time a tenant moves out even if the alarm is only 2 years old.  Besides, taxpayers of America help pay for all my repairs and upkeep expenses.

[canalligators]

If you are a licensed amateur (ham) radio operator, many handheld radios also receive the nine weather frequencies.  So if you’re taking your HT anyway, you might have your weather radio too.

[LouMelini]

Thanks for the thoughtful words and it applies to me; a newbie planning a summer cross-country ride. Four panniers will be used, so I should have plenty of space for extreme weather gear.

Do you think my Big Agnes Copper Spur Bikepacking tent will hold up in pounding rain, or should I take a tarp as well? If a tarp is recommended, how does one use it?

Hoverbird:  Julie and I have been in some nasty weather while tucked inside our Big Agnes Copper Spur. We bike tour with a 3-person tent and it has worked for us. Make sure that you get the fly taut. No sagging. Hobbesontour especially and the rest of the responders gave good advice

[HikeBikeCook]

I have a Copper Spur HV-UL 3-person and camped in the White Mountains in a huge storm with no issues. It was a big tent for 1 person but I wanted to take it on a test run and my daughter was carrying my Big Agnes Seedhouse SL-2, which I carried on my AT thru-hike. No need to carry an extra tarp unless you want to cover your bikes or eating area, the tent fly works great.

The first night in the rain is never an issue, it is the second night if you have packed a wet tent. Of course, if you also had a tarp, that would be wet as well.

[froze]

I have a cheaper tent than your Big Agnes Copper tent called a Marmot Tungsten 2, which cost me only $145 on closeout sale, but regularly it was $220 or so, so about half the price of yours, and mine held up fantastic during a driving rain thunderstorm with high winds and didn't use a tarp, so if mine held up yours would be just fine.

[Westinghouse]

The fact this polar vortex has covered almost 75% of the contiguous US in snow and ice points up how suddenly and extremely the weather can change for the worse. Millions in Texas are now without power and running water.

[froze]

The fact this polar vortex has covered almost 75% of the contiguous US in snow and ice points up how suddenly and extremely the weather can change for the worse. Millions in Texas are now without power and running water.

The Ice Age cometh.

[Westinghouse]

Thanks for the thoughtful words and it applies to me; a newbie planning a summer cross-country ride. Four panniers will be used, so I should have plenty of space for extreme weather gear.

Do you think my Big Agnes Copper Spur Bikepacking tent will hold up in pounding rain, or should I take a tarp as well? If a tarp is recommended, how does one use it?

As I pointed out, weather can change quickly and radically. Suppose you were cycling the southern tier in Texas and not paying much heed to the weather. After all, you have been on the road for five weeks and everything has been just fine. Then out of nowhere the polar vortex sends this debacle from hell crashing down on you while you are sleeping peacefully in a big Agnes copper spur tent. Houses and building collapse through their roofs, millions lose electrical power, water pipes burst, houses flood, store shelves bereft of food. What would your condition be in all this? I would not even want to think about it. And all this is why there in not any one definitive unequivocal answer to your question about the efficacy of the BACS tent protecting you from the weather. I have done the southern tier quite a few times in winter. I did not run into the kind of disastrous weather events they are suffering now in Texas and elsewhere.  Your tent will protect you to a certain average or statistical probability of what you might encounter, but what else you might run into could be far worse than your shelter can stand.

[canalligators]

Some handheld walkie-talkie type radios also receive the NOAA weather channels.

[froze]

It wasn't that long ago, just 50 or more years ago, that people could forecast the weather simply by being outside, that art has been lost due to modern technology taking over that job, but it's still known and if memorized could be very useful when outdoors, and dare I say probably more accurate for your particular area than the weather report!  combining the high tech weather with the old school method you would probably never be caught unaware.

Below is a website that I think is the most knowledgeable in this old school method, memorize this stuff and practice it and I think you would be surprised as to how good you could become at predicting the weather that day to 2 days out.

https://www.superprepper.com/predicting-the-weather-using-nature/

[HobbesOnTour]

Does nobody talk to people on their travels anymore?

[Pat Lamb]

Does nobody talk to people on their travels anymore?

No, only people far away on internet forums.

[Westinghouse]

It wasn't that long ago, just 50 or more years ago, that people could forecast the weather simply by being outside, that art has been lost due to modern technology taking over that job, but it's still known and if memorized could be very useful when outdoors, and dare I say probably more accurate for your particular area than the weather report!  combining the high tech weather with the old school method you would probably never be caught unaware.

Below is a website that I think is the most knowledgeable in this old school method, memorize this stuff and practice it and I think you would be surprised as to how good you could become at predicting the weather that day to 2 days out.

https://www.superprepper.com/predicting-the-weather-using-nature/


The art and skill of predicting the weather are lost to the wider world, but they are still alive and kicking with a select group of people, specifically, people who cross oceans in small sailboats. Some books for mariners explain how it is done mostly by cloud formations and winds.

[CannonBill]

I’m starting a criss-cross tour from SoCal to the Northeast in 3 weeks. I’m planning to be in hotels when I can see the weather patterns becoming an issue, but am also taking what just happened in Texas as the worst this winter is going to bring our way. Statistically I should be right, but if not, it will simply be dealt with like every thing else on a tour. How many of us remember the perfect days out there anyway? It’s always the brutal days that stand out in our minds. (and as horror story badges of honor. Lol) All part of the adventure I’d say...