While on an astrophotography trip this month at a 4,000-foot-high Airbnb, we had our heated command-tent setup running perfectly. The Bluetti AC200L powered our gear, and the Elite 200 kept our diesel heater going through the night.
The first night went smoothly—we captured great images and the system performed flawlessly. But on the second night, a powerful storm rolled in. We brought the telescopes and cameras inside, leaving the rest of our equipment secured inside the ice-fishing tent we use for cold-weather sessions. Everything was tied down and ready to ride out the weather.
At 3:00 AM, in freezing rain and strong winds, I heard a tremendous crash. The tent had completely flipped over, dumping rainwater onto all of our remaining gear—including both Bluetti units. After wrestling the tent down in dangerous wind, I placed the drenched power stations in my truck and called it a night.
Once home, I set the units inside a heated tent for several hours to make sure they were completely dry. When testing them afterward, both units powered up and ran perfectly—as if nothing had happened.
Huge thanks to Bluetti for building such resilient products. They survived conditions I wouldn’t wish on any piece of gear.
Moral of the story: Bring Bluetti solar generators and use much longer tent stakes when doing mountain astrophotography!
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