Camping has come a long way since the days of Thomas Hiram Holding, considered to be the founder of modern camping, when he fashioned a ridge tent from a sheet of canvas, sticks and ropes. By the 1950s and 60s, people were beginning to take a lot more equipment on a camping trip and the camping windbreak became popular with the ‘modern’ holidaymakers who wanted more home comforts and privacy!
What is the purpose of a windbreak?
As the name suggests, a windbreak is a screen that gives shelter and protection from the wind, but there are various other reasons why campers choose to erect a windbreak. A camping cooking windbreak can create a screen around your cooking area, to shield your stove or barbecue from the elements. As well as providing a degree of privacy from a neighbouring pitch and demarcating your pitch to prevent errant children from straying too close, a windbreak is also a practical way of creating a safe space for small children and pets to keep them confined to your pitch. Cleverly positioned, a camping windbreak can also deflect a breeze into a tent on a hot day.
Can I make a windbreak?
Improvising a windbreak is relatively simple, but does require a position with trees that the windbreak can be constructed between! Taking a tarpaulin, tent pegs, and bungees, attach the tarpaulin to the trees using the bungee cords, making sure the windbreak will block the wind and is facing the sun. The bottom of the tarpaulin should be secured with tent pegs into the ground. For those wild-camping off grid, this may be achievable but for many of us, it isn’t terribly practical.
At BEC Ingoldmells, we stock a range of windbreaks that measure from less than 1.5 metres in length to one at almost 8 metres! When you buy a windbreak, the kind of camping windbreak you choose, will depend on your set-up. Are you a large camping party with several tents, who will be staying on-site? Or are you few in number, with a smaller pitch? For the former, a model such as the Kampa Dometic Pro Windbreak 5 is ideal. Its aluminium frame offers stability, while the adjustable support poles remove the need for guy lines. For smaller camping groups, a more traditional, multi-panel windbreak with poles is perfect. The Kampa Dometic Windbreak is a stylish and traditional-looking windbreak with three panels, supplied with poles, guy lines and tent pegs. The Kampa Dometic Pro Windbreak 3 is a stylish looking windbreak which features a practical viewing panel.
With over 40 years’ experience, BEC Ingoldmells can give you the peace of mind of knowing all our windbreaks are sturdy, made from Weathershield polyester material that is flame resistant and UV stabilised. However, if a storm is forecast, we would always recommend you take the windbreak down for a couple of days or until the storm has passed. Although this seems like a lot of work, it will prolong the life of the windbreak and you won’t be picking bits up from around the campsite the next morning!
.jpg)
