My Pro-Panel set up occupies all of my tent interior and is canopy hooked to the stabars. My tent walls fit a 10x10, but nothing more. I had been using the leg wrap-around sandbag weights or the PVC tube with concrete weights depending on who had which tent.
But now, I do not think I can use either weighting system b/c there is no space between the leg poles and the panels to place the weights. Hanging the PVC/concrete weights or sandbags outside will not allow the sidewalls to close and having them visible at the junctions of the panels on the inside will not score style points with any good shows.
Plus, with the sandbags, there's no good way to tie them into the tent legs through the panel junctions
Anybody got ideas or links to products or pictures?
Replies
I don't know if I can explain this or if it will help, but here it goes....I've seen PVC pipe weights filled with cement attached to the bottom of the stabar. I think they had eye-hooks at both ends. They were attached horizontally. As opposed to vertically when attached to the tent poles.
canopyweights.com I went through this same thing when I used large water bottles. They worked great but looked awful. Then I moved to Virginia and found that shows around here tend to give you exactly 10' x 10'. One show actually had the entire square spray painted I got away with putting the bottles on the front but the booths were back to back and no way could I fit my weights on there. I now have the Eaton canopy weights and I raise my stabars enough to fit the weights under. Ever since I got awnings I have not been able to zip my tent outside of the poles. I always zip them inside of the poles.
Flourish makes an add-on zipper for the Trimline which will add about 2.5" to each sidewall so that you can zip around awning ells and they give you a bit more space for putting the weights on the inside. If your ProPanels are attached to your canopy legs with zip ties, it's hard to zip to the inside anyway.
If you're using a Pro-Panel flip bin, there's enough room underneath to slide an 18 gallon Roughneck tote, and more than enough room to slide two marine batteries.
Another possibility for inexpensive weights would be barbell weights. A 40 or 50 pound weight isn't that thick, not as much as as the PVC weights. Use two ropes to anchor them, one at the top of the leg and the other about a foot and a half or two further to the middle, and that will keep them from twisting.
A last resort weight set up may be possible with concrete blocks with some forethought. I use this at some shows where I have to bridge a curb or there's a steep crown to contend with. The advantage is that it doesn't extend beyond your 10 foot square footprint. It's cumbersome to carry is the disadvantage and if you have a small vehicle, it may not fit.
I picked up concrete blocks at Lowe's that are smooth on the ends, actually one end has a thin groove and the other is completely smooth. These are much heavier than the standard construction block. Cut a 2x8" board into 16 inch long sections and use Liquid Nails to glue it to the top of the block. After setting up overnight, paint it with primer and then the color of your choice. I used white, although matching your panels is not a bad idea. Take a couple of 10 foot long 2x8 boards and likewise prime and paint to your choice of color. BTW, the blocks are about 40 pounds each. If you want more weight, turn them upside down and pour some concrete in them and fill them up. It's a toss up if you want to glue a thin board to the bottom to possibly keep the poured section from ever falling out after getting banged around.
Place the boards on top of the blocks and use a couple of 3 inch lag screws to screw them together. Pick up the tent legs and place them on the outside corners and use 1-1/2 inch lag screws to anchor down the legs. If you hung fabric on the edge of the boards (Velcro is your friend), you can hide all sorts of stuff underneath there, including batteries. One thing this does do is to raise the overall height of the tent by about 11 inches.
If you have a doorway in the rear, you may want to take some half-blocks and add a couple of pieces of 2x8x8 on top to match the height of the side boards and blocks of the sides. If your set up never has a rear door, just for the aesthetics you might notch the rear of the side boards a couple of inches to allow another board to bridge across the rear. BTW, I toss a 3/8 inch socket wrench with the appropriate sockets into my tool kit for backup just in case the battery drill runs down.
Would love to see pictures! I'm mostly following what you're saying but a picture would make it really clear.
Alison,
Thanks for your thoughts. I looked up the website you suggested. If I wanted 30 lbs weight on each leg, that would cost me $300.00 (well 295$, but who's quibbling?).... That's $2.50/lb. I admire this company's ability to make $$$... No way I can swing that without going to kickstarter and looking for investment capital. It was bad enough to have to pay what propanel was charging for indoor/outdoor carpet surrounding EMT conduit and high density foam....
Second, they stick out - looks like 3-4 inches from each leg.... so now I have 9 foot 6 inches to play with......
I am still looking..........
What is the density of small steel shot per cubic foot?
They are like a doughnut with a bite taken out of it. The pro panel legs fit inside the "bite". Some questions to ask yourself - How breakable is my work? How much work can I stand to lose before I have lost over $300 in potential sales? How much work can I stand to lose before I have to cancel the next show because I can't replace it in time (and lose the booth fee)? How much liability insurance do I have in case my tent takes off and hits the tent with $3000 oil paintings? How well do I want to sleep at night when the weather report is calling for 40 mph winds? How professional do I want my booth to look? BTW - 30 lbs. is not enough. You need at least 45 unless your work isn't breakable and you have good insurance.
-
1
-
2
of 2 Next