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tent weights

Posted by Diane Wright on March 23, 2010 at 12:10am

As this season up north is about to commence, I need to think about my tent.  I have a top of the line EZ up which worked very well for me last year.  Weights are my purchase for this year as I don't wnt to be the human weight when the wind kicks up like I was last year.  I have researched my options and I have decided against making my own - I'm not handy that way and live in an apartment.  I'm down to HappiFeet tent weight system or the e-z weights system.  Has anybody used either of these and if so did it work?  Or if someone else has an idea, I'm all ears.  Last year I used tent weights from Dicks and water jugs. 

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Replies

  • Diane Wright May 30, 2010 at 10:14am
    This is a follow up to my purchasing Happi Feet. They are great. I have used them in two shows so far. The first was Mothers Day Weekend where we had high velocity winds and my EZ up tent did great. Some others lost theirs but I was good!! This past weekend I also used them. Weather was nice just a slight breeze. Some of my jewelry forms blew over but the tent was solid. They are expensive and heavy but for me it was a good investment. I was not likely to make my own PVC weights (my talents lie elsewhere). If you are in the same boat as I am then this is a great solution.
  • Angela Finney May 29, 2010 at 9:27am
    Jan, how many bags of salt do you use? Just one for each leg? This is a very inexpensive idea!

    Jan Raven said:
    40# bags of salt from Menards are cheap ($7) and have a heavy duty handle at the top, making them easy to transport. I cover the bags with pillowcases (color-coordinated with my booth) in which I cut a slit in the top. I run webbing with cam-locks through the slit, handle, wind around the tent legs, and up to the top of the frame. My Trimline (admittedly heavy by itself) withstood an entire day of steady 35 mph winds with documented regular gusts of 45-50 mph (there was an airport with a weather station 1/4 mile away). My tent didn't budge. The bags are quite durable; this will be their fifth season.
  • Jan Raven March 30, 2010 at 11:44pm
    40# bags of salt from Menards are cheap ($7) and have a heavy duty handle at the top, making them easy to transport. I cover the bags with pillowcases (color-coordinated with my booth) in which I cut a slit in the top. I run webbing with cam-locks through the slit, handle, wind around the tent legs, and up to the top of the frame. My Trimline (admittedly heavy by itself) withstood an entire day of steady 35 mph winds with documented regular gusts of 45-50 mph (there was an airport with a weather station 1/4 mile away). My tent didn't budge. The bags are quite durable; this will be their fifth season.
  • Ann March 30, 2010 at 2:50pm
    I have never shown, but hope to hear soon if I have been accepted at my first this summer...
    I went to the show last summer where I hope to attend this summer, and the easiest, best way (if you are on grass, and IF you are allowed) was a few vendors had pounded rebar into the ground beside their tent pegs, leaving a few inches sticking up. Then they wrapped duck tape around their tent pegs and the rebar. The tent pegs never moved a muscle all weekend and it was windy and rainy all weekend.
  • Barbara Sistak Baur March 26, 2010 at 12:47am
    Look at Eaton Canopy Weights. I think they are the best looking weights out there. And easy to place on the tent, easy to store and easy to carry around. They are round cast iron weights that are installed around your tent legs. You can stack 'em as high as you want but three on each leg is about what you need to hold down everything tight. I think they are more attractive than happy feet which get in the way of my display.
    http://www.canopyweights.com/

    --Barb
    Art in Good Taste
    www.SistakBaur.com
  • Dawn Waters Baker March 24, 2010 at 3:23pm
    I have EZ Weights and had a hard time zipping down my tent at night because they are so big. I now put lay them on the ground and bungee them to my stability bar (I have a Trimline with a stability bar) and that has worked really well. I like the happy feet but they are pricey.
  • Diane Wright March 24, 2010 at 12:10am
    thanks for the imput. Those are what I was leaning toward. And yes, appearance is important in my opinion.

    Phil Crone said:
    We used four 48 lb Happi-Feet for Coconut Grove and Winter Park and are very happy with them; well worth the investment for their compactness and utility.
    They also look considerably more professional, imho, than just about anything anyone else has come up with. If that's important to you, get them.
  • Pauline Ross March 23, 2010 at 7:13pm
    Hand Dumb bells 15# x 8 = 120# all around. Put 2 at each corner tied to rope and going over corner top area. They are not that expensive at Sports Authority store. If you can carry heavier then do so. I find it exhausting lugging any weights around but these were the easiest for me.
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