Wind: Your New Greatest Enemy.
It WILL come, and when it does you better be prepared.
Enemies are okay, though, when we have friends! Cue in: Tent Weights.
There are many different ways that you can anchor your tent, my favourite being sandbags. I have used these and had great success. Just be ready for your car to get a little sand in it from time to time. Nothing a little vacuuming can’t fix. This is because sometimes the zippered tops will open a little bit if you’re anything like me and just chuck them in after a long day’s work.
I’ve also purchased cheaper ones from Amazon that have a velcro closure on the top, but I found that they opened up a lot more. These cheaper ones also suffered more wear-and-tear on the bottom fabric from being dragged on exposed aggregate concrete during windy days because the material they’re made from wasn’t as thick. I filled mine with a couple of 50lb bags of play-sand, usually from The Home Depot or my local garden store, for around $5-$10 each.
I love sandbags because they can be securely attached to each tent leg via velcro straps and come with handles for easy carrying. Easy to set up, easy to take down. Super reliable.
Other anchoring options include tent pegs (if you’re stationed on grass, which is rare), actual weights with a U-opening to slide around the tent legs (very expensive), cinder blocks (with ropes attaching them to your tent frame), or pails of rocks (also attached with rope). However, most of these latter choices definitely don’t look very professional and can vary in weight. Most market contracts (and city by-laws) require you to meet certain weight requirements, so always make sure you’re up to par.
Not only do I highly, and I can’t say this strongly enough, HIGHLY recommend that you spend the time and money on weights for your own safety, but I recommend it for the safety of others. I have attended too many markets where people didn’t have their tents anchored, and you guessed it, a wind storm came out of nowhere on a beautiful sunny day. Because of the parachute-like top and walls of these tents, any little wind will turn them into a parachute from hell.
Imagine this: it’s just you running your booth and a big storm rolls in. You aren’t anchored and the wind picks up your tent, right off the ground, and sends it sailing into an innocent couple strolling through. I have seen this happen to so many vendors, and it boggles my mind every time. It’s such an easy precaution to take. TAKE IT.
Ways to prep for wind:
- Try to build your display to be as wind-resistant as possible.
- Bring bungee cords to secure displays to your tent
- Make your displays with a heavy base so they don’t topple over easily
- Handmade displays can be heavy to cart around, but they’re fantastic during storms.
- Keep little paper products and the likes in baskets or boxes so they don’t go flying with the wind.
When the wind picks up:
- Take down your tent walls; they DRAMATICALLY escalate the problem.
- Lower your tent to the lowest setting. This helps keep it from turning into a parachute. I recommend going around and lowering one leg notch at a time as your tent legs easily twist in the wind.
- Secure any products or displays that aren’t wind-resistant; business cards, paper-products (almost everything I sell, so think of me during windstorms 😭), signs, unsecured shelves, anything top-heavy, anything glass or breakable, etc.
- If it starts raining pull your display in as close to the middle as you can. Lowering the tent also keeps most of the rain out. Keep in mind that rain tends to pool on your tent’s top and will unexpectedly come pouring down the edge, so keep susceptible products away from the places your tent tends to pool water.
- Once your booth is secure see if anyone else needs help. There’s bound to be someone. I’ve seen people break down in tears because of the devastation wind can cause, I’ve been there myself. When you’re there you’re a community. You’ll DEFINITELY be the one in need at some point. Karma can be really sweet too, ya know!
