We finally decided to join the show circuit (circa 1996) which required, among other things, a Show Tent. So we started going to shows to see what different vendors used. There seemed to be two general classes of tent, easy to put up and not so easy, so we figured there must be some trade-offs. This turned out to be the case, with several trade-offs to consider.
If it is easy to put up:
Pros:
Light weight
Usually can be erected by one person.
Inexpensive
Setup and tear-down can be done quickly
Cons:
Big wind can move them more easily.
If anchored against big wind, it can be more easily destroyed.
If harder to put up:
Pros:
Less likely to blow away in a big wind.
It will take big winds if anchored properly.
Cons:
Heavy
Expensive
Will likely require more than one person for at least part of the setup
Setup and tear-down a bigger effort
After talking with several vendors we decided to go with an Archtop. We got the side screens, top window and side flaps. Total cost around $1000. We used it for dozens of shows where we sold wire wrapped jewelry and my beads. We also, during our 5 years on the road in an RV, erected it in front of our bus to use as a studio for the summer. It worked great for that. When I was working on developing a signature bead, we rented a tank of liquid oxygen to run my torch. The tent was a great studio for the RV park. We used it every day for the months we were in Duluth. We anchored it down with ground augers, the kind you screw into your back lawn to keep Fido confined to an area.
I was listening to the radio one day and the weather bulletin advised of a rapidly moving front approaching with 80 MPH winds. Yikes, I called the RV park owner and went to my tent where I tied the 700 pound liquid oxygen tank to the tent structure for a little extra support. Good thing, the 80 MPH winds hit and our tent strained but stayed save and in place. The RV down wind was not confident that it would and moved. He had a $600,000 rig with a paint job that had to be $50k, so I was a bit relieved to see him move too.
Shows are a better test of what you need in a tent. Either way you go, it needs to be white. Some shows require white, but on a practical note, get white just because of problems from the color cast given off by blue tents. Inside of a blue tent you can not properly judge colors, and if customers try on an item and look in a mirror, the blue cast will suck the life out of their skin tone. Nobody like looking like Morticia from the Addams Family.
The side screens were wonderful for allowing air flow while controlling access to the space. They also come with canvas covers that Velcro on the inside so you have a secure tent at night or to control the sun or wind. Our front flap was divided in three pieces that zip and each could be rolled up to the top. This allowed you to control traffic flow. The one part we never used was the back awning. This gives you extra covered backspace for processing and storage.
We were caught up in several situations where big winds hit our show. One danger of having a flimsy or unanchored tent is having it do damage to others property. If your tent rips through a booth stuffed with expensive art, you could run up quite a tab.
There are several ways to anchor tents, we have seen some clever systems. Most of the time you will not be able to use ground anchors, you will be in a street or parking lot. If you are on turf, use the Fido ground augers.
We used 4′ long pieces of 6″ PVC pipe filled with concrete with an Eye Bolt stuck in the top. These weighed a lot and served us well. One cleaver system involved water tanks that were filled on the show grounds and emptied as the show ended.
You are going to need to learn a knot or two. You will need to use a Tautline Hitch. Learn it and it will come in handy for the rest of your life. Google up ‘Tent Knots’
We have seen a few horror stories regarding show tents. You can push around a big sailboat with a 100 square foot sail. The wind gets under the tent and up it goes. I forget where we were, but I’ll never forget an unanchored tent getting about 200 feet in the air before disappearing into a body of water a few hundred yards away, not before doing thousands of dollars damage to other booths.
We got to where we could set up our Archtop in about 20 minutes, but that won’t happen the first time you try with any but the easiest tents.
We have quit doing shows and sell our wirewrapped jewelry through galleries and online. Shows are great fun and we met a lot of nice people, but they are a bit of work.
Susie and Steve
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