Gone With The Wind or Toto, We’re Not In KS Anymore

Crafts in Chelsea, Courtesy of The {NewNew}

Last Saturday I participated in Crafts in Chelsea, an outstanding market with 100 Etsy vendors to benefit P.S. 11. What started out as a routine day on a picturesque side street in Manhattan turned into a study in sudden climate change. The morning began with a little drizzle that turned into rain. Luckily my tent was up, we were all cozy and waiting for the show to begin. The sun came out. It was a pretty day. Then the air started moving. The tent walls came down and everything seemed peaceful again until a gust tore some merchandise off the table. The winds subsided. A sudden crash, a swirl of wind had turned over the table next to me and the tent on the other side had walked away 10 paces all by itself. At that point my tent mate and I decided to take the whole tent down. We just managed that when another gust pushed over one of our tables. Now we decided to pack it in.

Curiously, as we were walking just a few feet down the street, everything was tranquil again. Just a little breeze here and there, but nothing like the gales we had experienced.  Business as usual. Apparently our spot had been right in the middle of the micro-tornado touchdown zone. Crafts in Chelsea even made the New York Times under the headline Winds Delay Travelers and Commuters.

Which brings me to the point of this post, How does one weigh down a tent.

1. Tent Weights From The Store

There are two types of commercially available tent weights one kind is essentially a bag that you fill with dirt

or actual weight plates with a notch to “wrap” around the tent leg.

2. Tent Weights You Make Yourself

Nordea of Nordea’s Soaperie has an excellent tutorial on how to make your own heavy duty tent weights.

And finally, there is the 5- gallon jug of water solution. Not pretty, not recommended and not necessarily safe.

Don’t forget to check-in with the organizer of the fair. Some organizers have a minimum weight requirement for each leg!!