Tent Weights?

Right now, I'm just using 4 barbell weights like these:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Cap-Barbell-1-Hole-Weight-Lifting-Plates/11099734

Sometimes I just lay them on the tabs on the bottoms of the legs, and sometimes I work the legs into one of the holes in the barbells.

What I'd like to have is this:

http://www.buyhardwaresupplies.com/?t=5&m=g1&itemNumber=8304990

These look intriguing though:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380277545228#vi-content

Here's a tutorial on how to make tent weights:
http://etsymetal.blogspot.com/2009/06/tent-weights-tutorial.html

Such good info....I am listening and learning! Thanks everyone and Psalm, hope your hand is all healed up now.

IamGinaW wrote:Right now, I'm just using 4 barbell weights like these:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Cap-Barbell-1-Hole-Weight-Lifting-Plates/11099734

Sometimes I just lay them on the tabs on the bottoms of the legs, and sometimes I work the legs into one of the holes in the barbells.

What I'd like to have is this:

http://www.buyhardwaresupplies.com/?t=5&m=g1&itemNumber=8304990

These look intriguing though:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380277545228#vi-content

Here's a tutorial on how to make tent weights:
http://etsymetal.blogspot.com/2009/06/tent-weights-tutorial.html

Thank you all. My hand is all better(I think I strained the tendons/muscles in the back of my hand).
Gina, I use the barbell weights & thought they'd be perfect. They became very dangerous projectiles & scared me to death. Thankfully by the time the real wind had hit, no one was near my tent as they'd all taken cover inside. I would love to try the weights you showed in the pic. I think I fixed my tent enough to make it useable, but I really want to make sure it never takes flight & hurts someone. I don't want to be the painter that uses up our Specialty Insurance Cap...

I vote for the men

Here's another type that should stay very securely attached: http://www.soccergarage.com/ezdwb.html

Sad to say... I've seen tents fly away with those:

http://www.soccergarage.com/ezdwb.html

Hmm, maybe they're not heavy enough.

I've had one of my EZ-Up for 5 years. Addressing whomever it was that said she heard they are the worst...if you get the garden ones, they are horrible. However, they have commercial grade and this thing has been through downpours, high winds, thunder/hail storms, everything. Last year we had an event where we were not allowed to weigh down at all (long story short: the park thought weights or stakes would ruin the park...my girl who was working forgot to lower the tent and it rolled like a turtle. She caught it in the morning, put it upright and kept right on using it. Only damage was a slight bow in a crosspiece...everything else including walls and canopy are fine.) I have 3 commercial Ez-Ups and I love them. For $200 at BJ's they come with sign holders, awning, rolling case, sides...everything. It's not failed me yet.
Only one fair here bans them and it's for the look...they want traditional canvas at their event.

As for the weights, the ones Gina put up that fit around the legs have to be stacked. Singly they are 10lbs each. We have anywhere from 4 to 6 on each leg, and if we can stake down we do that too. We stagger where the opening is and have had no problems with them. We used them for our entire season last year. They are about $30 for 4 at naughty word's so they can get a little bit pricey. They are filled with cement/sand so I highly advise against dropping one on your foot, speaking from experience. My 5-year-old EZ-Up has been out to three festivals this season with these, one of which had windy thunderstorms, and it stayed put without needing to be held down.

I've also filled milk jugs with play sand and tied that to the leg. We've one event that's a wind tunnel for 8 years (started there with my henna booth) and I've used the tubes of play sand at that, putting them in the middle of the back and non-entry sides and tied the corners down to it. Worked awesome.

I've also tied to trees, the ground grates around trees, sign posts, nearby benches and had a non-weighted neighbor tied to us- all successfully.

I don't have a vented tent and have kept them from flipping using those things. At night we always move all of our stuff to the center (table, chair, etc) and drop the tent to the lowest setting (half up) which has always helped as well. We've come back to find other tents flipped around us and ours right where we left it.

Whenever looking at weight systems my main concern is loading. We have 5 girls (not including me) and 3 guys. If I can't move it without one of the male hawkers, then there is no way 4 of my girls can and I need them to be able to un/load everything. The homemade 50lb things are great in theory but if you are on your own and can't move it, then it won't work (or if the added weight to the car does damage).
No matter what you consider, please keep that in mind. It won't help you much if you throw out your back and can't paint.

I'm glad to hear your hand is doing better, Linda, and that you were able to fix your tent. Best of luck to you!! <3

Hmm... We don't have a "naughty word" store anywhere around here. LOL!

Hey! That "naughty word" is my Dad's name!!! lol

Perhaps they're available in other sportsman stores (BassPro or Gander Mountain?) that sell the tents and all of the tailgating supplies, which is the section I found them in. Maybe?

Is it short for Richard?

Yup, short for Richard
Thanks for all the info!
The 1st time I set up a tent I about killed myself w/ my hubby's weights. I went a little overkill
I'm going to really be rethinking the whole thing. My EZ-Up is the top of the line one.
But, I was downtown between a bunch of tall buildings & I think we were hit by a micro-burst of wind from a major storm(we went from 99 degrees to 72 degrees in 10 minutes). I really think I was weighted enough & it was just a very bad storm. It took out trees in other areas of my town.

If you decide to put slits (vents) in your tent fabric, there is a product called "Fray Check" you can buy at sewing stores that will keep the raw edges from fraying.

Another idea- check out the vinyl-coated lead weights they use in drapery hemming- also found at craft/fabric shops.

Lynnie wrote:I've had one of my EZ-Up for 5 years. Addressing whomever it was that said she heard they are the worst...if you get the garden ones, they are horrible. However, they have commercial grade and this thing has been through downpours, high winds, thunder/hail storms, everything.

That was me. I've been searching review online like mad and the commercial EZ ups had terrible reviews on many sites. The terrible reviews were somewhat consistent, so that's where my info comes from. It's good to hear you've a good experience with them first-hand. I have been having trouble finding a decent vented one, though that seems to make the most sense as far as weather goes. I'd like to just settle for the EZ Up since it's the most accessible version, looks fine, and I'd like to stop searching for my perfect-unicorn-of-a-tent, lol.

The liability aspect does scare me a bit, especially in a freak situation like Linda experienced. If my canopy or canopy weights conked someone in the head....oy!

I've been keeping an eye on Art Fair Insiders and it seems they have the same tent issues, of course. This thread looked liked a really good resource for dealing with different methods of weight tents down:
Sorry for the long link!:
http://www.artfairinsiders.com/profiles/blogs/properly-weighting-or-tying-down-a-tent?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+artfairinsiders+%28ArtFairInsiders.com+Blog%29