weighing down tents

okay so DW and I are doing 4 fairs this year, some of my candles, and the lot from her side of the store. The question is what do you weigh the tents down with?

We will have a 10x20 and a 10x10 tent...the catch is they are a Medieval type fair where all the piping has to be covered and such.

I'm thinking i should make the pole covers large at the bottom and fill 5 gallon buckets with water. Ideas would be wonderful. TIA

We have a 10x20 and two easy ups for shows. We secure our tents in 2 ways depending on what kind of a surface we are located.

For asphalt - On each pole of the 10 x 20 we fill five gallon buckets with water and put the lids on the buckets. To the handle we hook a good quality rubber bungie, wrap it around the pole and hook it up it the top of the frame. With the cover on the bucket you can devise some kind of cover for the bucket, if that does not matter, we leave the tops off and people with critters give them drinks from it.

For Grass -we have those sprial dog tie out stakes that screw into the ground about a foot or so. When they are twisted all the way to the ground, you can't see much but the top, and to that we attach the rubber bungie on the hook of the stake and wrap it around the pole legs and hook it up into the top of the tent. If you use the dog tie outs, make sure to take a hammer or something to fit thru the top of the tie out handle to help you twist it all the way in the ground, sometimes that is really tough and if you are there for 2 days sometimes they are very hard to unscrew from the ground. Odd Lots has them cheap.

We prefer the buckets, they are easy, but sometimes water is a long way off, but if we even think high winds are around we use the dog tie outs. We have held tight in some nasty weather, and if that is the case, we drop our sides to protect the product, and get out from under it.

I hope all this is helpful.

OH Cathy

That helps a lot, as we will be on grass. I remember the screw dog ties from when we had a dog. If the dog can't pull it out then yeah the wind won't.

We do have the covers for all sides of the tents. The 10x10 will be closed off to hide out boxes and such. We even have to dress in medieval garb, 3 days in a kilt:yay:

Water just didn't cut it for us, so we have hooks in concrete that we tie down with. It's a lot more sturdy than the water. I've seen others fill PVC piping with concrete and use for weights too.

I remember a market we did last summer... it was windy as :rolleyes2. The hubby and I held on for dear life, but the tent was about to fly, so we just took it down.

Bricks and Clothes Line seems to work well. All depends on the setup you have. Those pop up tents are heavier and usually don't need much to weigh them down. If you have a cheaper setup that is lighter, try something that is heavy enough to work, but that doesn't take up too much room in your vehicle.

Scraps of lead or brass might do the trick for you!

I just saved empty plastic kitty litter containers and filled them with play sand I bought from the hardware store. I also bought rachets with straps to hold the containers to the tent. Alot cheaper than buying the tent weights from EzyUp. Now if I only had the sides.... (sigh)

Those pop up tents are heavier and usually don't need much to weigh them down.

Sorry, but not even close.

I have had to weather two shows in the past six months where the wind was about 20+ mph. I saw what OS would consider the pop up (heavier quality) tents at both shows with 30-50 pounds on each leg go sailing down the street. One show I did had mild gusts (15 tops) and a tent that had a cinder block tied to each leg flipped over and took out a neighbor's tent/merchandise in the process. In doing so, someone was in the tent at the time and was hit by flying items. Very dangerous.

The worst show I did had winds that topped 32. I was on grass, and like another poster said, I had the screw in stakes on each leg and then each one was strapped with ratchet straps through the stake and on the bars above. At that one show, my tents were not going up, but the tents were shaking so much I thought they were going to twist and collapse. I had a 10x20 spot and I also use two five gallon buckets which have filled all the way up with cement and embed one of the dog corkscrew stakes in it. I then ratchet strap from the bucket to the center of the tent. (I only do the 5 gallon buckets when the wind is realllly bad.)

When we are on asphalt, we do the pvc thing. My husband took the wide PVC (not sure of size) and capped an end (he used about two feet in length), filled it with cement and then again, another corkscrew stake set down in it. We use bungee cords and hook them around the top part of the tent frame and on to the stake in the PVC tube. I then tie them around the leg of the tent to keep them snug. They would be easy to cover...they are in line with the tent legs if that makes sense.

Bottom line, wind is freaky. Prepare for the worst because again, I have seen tents where people thought they were adequately weighted down fly away like something out of the Wizard of Oz. Dont trust straight stakes included with your tent and the EZ UP weights they sell that go with the tents are just not good enough.

The other thing I have found out is that your placement at a fair/show makes a lot of difference, but there is no way to predict that until the wind starts a-blowing. It is not anything you can control...just the way the wind is blowing, the way trees or buildings break the wind up, etc. Again, my motto is prepare for the worst. I just wish everyone at shows did the same because my tent could easily be taken out by someone who is clueless, or even more horrible, someone could be seriously injured.

I think i'm going to do the dog stakes and a kitty litter bucket full of play sand for the center if needed. 3 of the 4 shows are in western virginia, west side of the hills (yes folks hills, i don't think they are mountains after driving throught the rockies)

The 10x20 is one of those put together PVC pipe jobs, and i'm more worried about that one then i am the 10x10 ez-up one. Going to set up the 10x20 this weekend since it's new and we just got it in.

Be careful with any kind of staking and that includes the doggy stakes a lot of festivals are forbidding you to stake at all. I have 4 that require you find other means of holding your tent down.

I usually use large water jugs and sand bags.

Thanks for that Vicky, i'll e-mail the event and ask

Well how bout that. Everyone I've talked to about the EZ UP tents said they work well. For both ease of setup, and in windy conditions.

I don't have an EZ UP, didn't want to spend the $150-200. I got a cheapo at Pat Catan's for $20.00. It has thin poles, but a real good canvas top. Works well in normal weather, rain, but not at all for wind over 10 mph or so.

Sorry, but not even close.

I have had to weather two shows in the past six months where the wind was about 20+ mph. I saw what OS would consider the pop up (heavier quality) tents at both shows with 30-50 pounds on each leg go sailing down the street. One show I did had mild gusts (15 tops) and a tent that had a cinder block tied to each leg flipped over and took out a neighbor's tent/merchandise in the process. In doing so, someone was in the tent at the time and was hit by flying items. Very dangerous.

The worst show I did had winds that topped 32. I was on grass, and like another poster said, I had the screw in stakes on each leg and then each one was strapped with ratchet straps through the stake and on the bars above. At that one show, my tents were not going up, but the tents were shaking so much I thought they were going to twist and collapse. I had a 10x20 spot and I also use two five gallon buckets which have filled all the way up with cement and embed one of the dog corkscrew stakes in it. I then ratchet strap from the bucket to the center of the tent. (I only do the 5 gallon buckets when the wind is realllly bad.)

When we are on asphalt, we do the pvc thing. My husband took the wide PVC (not sure of size) and capped an end (he used about two feet in length), filled it with cement and then again, another corkscrew stake set down in it. We use bungee cords and hook them around the top part of the tent frame and on to the stake in the PVC tube. I then tie them around the leg of the tent to keep them snug. They would be easy to cover...they are in line with the tent legs if that makes sense.

Bottom line, wind is freaky. Prepare for the worst because again, I have seen tents where people thought they were adequately weighted down fly away like something out of the Wizard of Oz. Dont trust straight stakes included with your tent and the EZ UP weights they sell that go with the tents are just not good enough.

The other thing I have found out is that your placement at a fair/show makes a lot of difference, but there is no way to predict that until the wind starts a-blowing. It is not anything you can control...just the way the wind is blowing, the way trees or buildings break the wind up, etc. Again, my motto is prepare for the worst. I just wish everyone at shows did the same because my tent could easily be taken out by someone who is clueless, or even more horrible, someone could be seriously injured.

Well how bout that. Everyone I've talked to about the EZ UP tents said they work well. For both ease of setup, and in windy conditions.

Hey Jeff...how did your EZ UP look a couple of weeks ago when it was flying away carrying your weights with it?

We have teh Walmart knock off of the EZ Up (they are on clearance for 68.43 here for a 10x10 btw) DH took 3 bags of sacrete divided it up into 5 gal buckets and sank the longest eye bolts he could buy into them. Since we have a country theme, I bought burlap in the fabric dept of walmart and spray adhesive to cover the bucket look. We used the racket straps that you find in the auto section at walmart to secure - 4 straps for $10. This setup sustains winds of up to 25 mph without movement, anything else, you still need to hold on for heavy gusts. If I can find a pic of the setup, I'll post it later. Good luck.

okay we can stake down the tents. Think i'll use cloth around the ratchet straps. Just learned i'm going to have to make up a cover for the 10x10 so it's not so plasticly looking.

Those pop up tents are heavier and usually don't need much to weigh them down. If you have a cheaper setup that is lighter

Wind is wind too, regardless of tents and BRANDS. We have an expensive one and it isn't really that much heavier. It IS built more sturdy than whatever clump of cheapies you failed to define.

:tiptoe::tiptoe::tiptoe:

:tiptoe::tiptoe::tiptoe:

Good Idea!!! LOL

OMG.. That is the fist thing you have written that I agree with!!! LOL

Good Idea!!! LOL

OMG.. That is the fist thing you have written that I agree with!!!

LOL

Me too, ROFLMAO. My hubby is LHAO also.

Well how bout that. Everyone I've talked to about the EZ UP tents said they work well. For both ease of setup, and in windy conditions.

I don't have an EZ UP, didn't want to spend the $150-200. I got a cheapo at Pat Catan's for $20.00. It has thin poles, but a real good canvas top. Works well in normal weather, rain, but not at all for wind over 10 mph or so.

I hate to tell you this, but I have the EZ UP tent and last year, while at a show and with the darn thing weighted down with milk jugs full of sand, a big gust of wind came up and took my tent away. It bent my tent all up and broke a pole. And the wind also took my display of candles and broke over $200 worth. So EZ UP tents can and will blow away in windy conditions - even when anchored down.

If I had had a cheapo brand, that thing would have been completely destroyed and would have been alot worse off then the EZ Up. It's better to spend your money on an EZUp rather than a cheapo.

Mines an EzyUp and I learned the hard way to stake it down and weight it.

I was lucky- someone was throwing away an entire weight set at my townhouse complex and I snagged all of the weights. I hope I can explain this right- they're the kind for a weight machine, where they're rectangle with a hole in the middle. I can stack them up to add more weight when needed. The poles of my tent fit right through the holes in the weights- they have a flat section at the bottom, so I pull the last section off the poles, put the weights on, then put the section back onto the leg. I then use bungies or the tie downs to secure the edges of the tent down around the weights.

I've seen these weight machines at garage sales before too. They work great!!