Below, American Tent’s very own Tent Guru, Pete McVey, who has dedicated his career to designing gorgeous, durable, and simple-to-use tents for events, gives you a quick look at how best to prepare tents for snow.
How does snow affect a tent? Well, first of all, it's cold. Second of all, the weight of the snow on a tent top can cause a tent to collapse. For a non-engineered pole tent, which has no snow load rating, the best way that you take care of it when there is snow or snowstorm is to keep the snow off the tent.
How do you do that, you ask? Well, there are two ways of doing so.
The first way is to keep some sort of heat in the tent 24/7 during the snow; keep the tent at least 38 to 42 degrees, and up at the top of the tent, it'll be 75 or 80 degrees. As the snow hits the tent, it'll immediately melt and run right off the tent.
The second way to do this is to have somebody on standby with a snow rake; a snow rake is a long, curved aluminum device on a long handle that allows you to just reach up and slowly slide the snow off the tent.
So, the only way to make these tents work in snowy winter conditions is either 24/7 heat or somebody on call at all times to break the snow off of the tent.
If you’re looking for more guidance or are ready to get your very own tent, contact us today!
