Ballasting tripods in windy conditions...

[4Mal]

Last season I filled a dozen or so paint buckets with concrete, sunk an eye bolt and plate into the mix. I hung a few of those on each tripod. It worked OK. The tent provider in my area has been using water barrels and they have a lot more sail area to deal with... They are also phasing out water barrels in favor of 1000 lb concrete block plus the truck and placement euipment... Kinda out of my league...

This year I just snagged 4, 55 gal plastic water barrels. My though is to nestle a pair of tripods around a barrel and snug them down with a pair of snug down straps. 30 gals of water is approx 240 lbs...

Obviously, having a nearby water source, a hose, maybe a pump is a downside... Anyone else doing this ? Have been doing it and waved it off ?

 

[JohnMCA72]

Don't forget about draining them afterward. You might not always be able to do that right where they sit, & the whole point of having them is that they're hard to move!

 

[4Mal]

Yep. The sites where I would be using these would be drain friendly. Tipping them would be a chore, I'm thinking a drain plug... I'm also beginning to wonder about sand bags instead...

 

[Joe Smithberger]

If you can get by with a bit less weight, you could use bottled water in weight bags like this

http://www.amazon.com/Uscanopy-Cano...&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00

We do that kind of stuff a lot in the photo/video business. The advantage to water bottles is that they are cheap, reusable, and you can drink/dump them if you don't want to haul them home.

 

[EastCoastThump]

I hope these gigs pay you mad money. If securing the PA requires multi-axle trucks and a forklift, I'd start to think seriously about hiring out that part of the job.

 

[4Mal]

That setup isn't too far-off what the pro tent guys are now using. 1000 lb concrete blocks with big honking rings embedded...