Break the tie!!

I am president of a large art association.  We do 12-14 outdoor shows a season with some 40-50 participants, along with several indoor shows.  There has been a discussion at our outdoor shows as to whether to put the sides down at night or leave them up.  We do not leave our work in the tents.  For many years I had always put the sides down.  Now they have me wondering.  The dilema is:  "If you put your sides down at night and wind or storm comes it will hit those walls & twist or blow you over.  The other opinion is that if down, the wind will go around whereas if the walls are not down it may lift the tent"  (I do not worry so much because I have a full 50 lbs of weight on each leg.) 

Sooooo, I'm leaving it to the expert opinion of you all.  I will inform them of your majority opinion.  Please, Break the tie!

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  • I've always put my sides down at night and I believe that is the best way to do it.  But I have seen tents take off where the zippers are broken and the sides are clamped rather than zipped.  So if you can't leave all the sides down, firmly attached, it may be better to leave them up.

    • I always put the sides down on my Finale, and if I know that there are going to be strong winds I tie straps from the upper corners of the lee side to the lower corners of the windward side. My thinking is that the extra bracing will keep the top of the tent from being pushed away from the wind. Also, my Graphic Display screen setup is tied into the tent so the whole thing along with the corner weights is pretty heavy and stabile. As C Z Williams says, better to do extra work than be sorry.

  • Obviously you must not be in an area with the year round possibility of rain at any time.  Those of us on the western side of the Cascade mountains in WA/OR always have the sides down overnight. You just never know when it's going to rain.

    • Hi Ruth,

      You're right, I'm in the sunny south.  I don't know if I could take grey skies! :o)

  • I've used EZ-Ups for about 20 years. What I found was that as long as the tops were pulled snug back into the corners , rolled up to release the velcro and then pulled down as far as they would go, I never had problems with puddling or damage. A few times I got a little sloppy and I would wind up with water collected in a corner but nothing that caused damage. As far as wind damage, I always used weights that were at least 40 pounds on up in the corners and the legs were tied to the display panels. My tents went through Hundred Year thunderstorms and straight line storms with 60 mph winds. They've always held up, and these are the much-maligned Sam's Club EZ-Ups. I've always left the sides down and zipped.

    EZ-Up has had a metal grommet in the middle of the valance for the tops for a fair number of years for attaching to the frame. If that is attached to the frame, the top becomes very taut and doesn't allow a sag in the corners where they usually fail. The problem is that it's such a pain to fold the tent with the top attached most people don't attach it and then they have failures when heavy rains and wind occur.

    The same failures also occur with the cheaper sides that have velcro strap closures instead of zippers. The velcro allows the edges to pooch out in heavy winds and the wind gets inside the tent. The only cure, short of getting new sides, is to use a boat load of clamps on the corners to keep the sides from billowing out in the wind.

    The cheap pop-up tents have no diagonal cross bracing and a cross wind will rotate the frame and the struts will break. Same thing occurs with the ones that have the splayed leg construction even more so, and when water collects on those, the lateral force sags the frame inward and struts break at the bolt holes. It's not a pretty sight =8-O

  • How large are the tents and are they commercial grade tents? Are the artist's own display equipment being used?

    No matter what you decide, it's possible that severe weather will cause unexpected results. But I do suggest more weight than 50 pounds per corner. Maybe large barrels filled with water.

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

    • They are the normal variety of 10x10 tents you see at art fairs, varying from EZ Ups, Light Dome, etc. the whole gamut.  Walls are mostly Graphic Display walls (with & without covers) but a few have Flourish mesh sides.

      • But who owns them?

        If EZUp's, the panels can be laid down and the tent dropped to half height to cut down on wind resistance, or take the corners of the top off and clip it where it hangs down in the center.

        As for leaving the walls on or off overnight for the better canopies, I've never heard of them not being in place because the wind will get underneath the top and rip it from the frame.

        Larry Berman

        • Each artist owns their own tent.  Most do other shows too. 

          Exactly my thoughts.  I've also taken the corners off my tent and tied it in the center on the rare occasion when I've known a strong storm is in the area.  Better to do a bit more work than sorry.

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