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  • Tahmi DeSchepper June 25, 2010 at 10:13am

    I second what Kotah just said - stabilization is key. I've seen both expensive as well as cheap tents fail over the years because people just didn't know what they were doing when they put them up.

    One of the best investments I ever made were the E-Z up stabilizer bars from Flourish (www.flourishdisplays.com).

    I noticed that most tents that go down do so because the legs move out of alignment, which will eventually take the rest of the tent down if they are pushed too far either in or out. These bars keep your legs in place, and my E-Z up tent has gone through many storms over the last 6 years with no problems.

  • Kotah Moon June 24, 2010 at 6:55pm
    I see the canopy problems that go on every year and I think most of it comes down to amateurs not realizing how little metal and fabric they are depending on to protect their art. 4 out of the 6 artist who lost tents the last show were doing their 1st outdoor show. Remember, it's not so much the quality of the canopy but stabilization.
  • Amy Schulz June 24, 2010 at 3:29pm
    I have a Caravan tent that I got at Sams Club about 4 years ago...

    The pvc pipes should not swing free! I have ball bungees that I use to attach them to the legs. Since I use those big boat batteries to run my lights and such, I attach that to the middle of the frame overnight. They weigh a lot. Between those and all the weight from the gridwall panels that are attached to the frame, it does not move much. Most shows that I go to do not allow staking and the ones that do are on rocky desert ground and it is quite difficult to stake into.

    Amy Schulz
    www.happymagpie.com/etching
    custom engraved art & gifts
  • Kotah Moon June 24, 2010 at 12:13am
    I guess working with metal helps. I made 70lb(ea) briefcase weights that sit on my leg base AND hook to the top. The EZ-up withstood severe thunder storms in Ohio 2 weeks ago. . . sadly my neighbors weren't so lucky, but I did scavenge the broken frames for spare parts and art.
  • Linda Anderson June 23, 2010 at 1:16pm
    I sure agree Phil.... those swinging "knock out" tubes frighten me every time. I used to mention to artists using those how dangerous they could be when swinging but my comments were never well received so I stopped alerting those idiots.

    Phil Crone said:
    Lots of tents were busted up at Reston, not just EZups. What seemed to fail in the tents we saw close up was aluminum legs and framework - they seemed to buckle, bend and break in some cases. Many of the tents that "walked" away from where they started weren't broken down, although I'm sure anything in them must have gotten knocked down during the stroll, and most had weights. Unfortunately, the pvc-concrete weights attached to many of them were not touching the ground nor attached to the tent legs, so when the winds came up, they started swinging and the tents followed. Can someone explain to me the rationale behind having free-swinging weights on tents? To me it looks like an invitation to disaster.
    Our Trimline was stable and secure sitting on its 48 lbs per leg Happi Feet. In addition to screwing the tent feet directly into the flat weights, I also have adjustable vinyl coated steel cables looped over the top on the tent frame at the corners which are also screwed into another fitting in the Happi Feet. The frame itself is pretty solid although the sidewalls will flap alarmingly sometimes; this knocked a poster loose from its hangers during the storm, but that was our only "damage". We felt very lucky for ourselves and terrible for our fellows who had losses.
    • Lois M Grosser > Linda Anderson February 2, 2017 at 7:34pm
      If the weights are attached correctly they don't swing ANYWHERE!
  • Bill and Jon Slade June 23, 2010 at 8:58am
    Larry, I think the Reston, Va. shots by Phil Crone on 5/19/10 say it all. Not a ez up in sight/ when the wind howls it doesn't matter what you have; it's how you have it secured/weights at the bottom; and reef those sails mate/ I would rather replace $169 ez than a $1200 craft hut anyday; Fair Winds
  • Chris Hoyt June 23, 2010 at 7:12am
    I'll bet the canopy in the photo isn't even an EZ Up.

    There are so many other companies getting into the picture today I can buy a canopy at K Mart for $59. A straight leg canopy, not those angled leg things with a blue top. They should last about the three days at a show.

    But does everyone do shows just on pavement? Maybe here in New England it's different, but 90% of my outdoor shows are on grass. And next to me is an exhibitor with just weights. Meanwhile I'm pounding in 10" stakes at each corner and tying some dog stakes to the upper part of my canopy in the center of each side and back. It ain't going nowhere!

    Until this year. We did a show near the seacoast in New Hampshire and severe winds came up Saturday night. I arrived Sunday to see the dog stakes and corner spikes ripped out of the ground. My Canopy was upside down in front of my space. I assesed the damage and had two friends help upright it, and we carried it back into place and I reset up my display that was also overturned. The only damage was a slightly bent leg. 30 Seconds later that was fixed.

    A good friend, who has been ragging me to buy a new canopy for the past five or six years had his brand new Craft Hut frame destroyed.

    There were canopies twisted and strewn all over. One fellow exhibitor called it "carnage". But I was surprised when a good number of the exhibitors with destroyed canopies said "No big deal. I'll just buy another one." One even said she thinking about buying two, "So I'll have a spare if necessary." Throwaway canopies now?

    I found out long ago that when the wind blows, I take the sides down. Because it's the sides that act like a sail and move the canopy legs in the wind.
  • S. Michelle Babcock June 23, 2010 at 12:47am
    I ran into a couple last year when I was applying. I remember one was in Chicago, if I run into them again I'll post them.

    Larry Berman said:
    What shows do you know of that don't allow EZUp canopies? I know some shows prefer sturdier canopies but I also know artists that get into almost any show they apply to and use an EZUp.

    Larry Berman
    Digital Jury Services
    http://BermanGraphics.com
    412-401-8100
  • Larry Berman June 22, 2010 at 10:19pm
    What shows do you know of that don't allow EZUp canopies? I know some shows prefer sturdier canopies but I also know artists that get into almost any show they apply to and use an EZUp.

    Larry Berman
    Digital Jury Services
    http://BermanGraphics.com
    412-401-8100
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