Tent accessories and ballast

What you need them for

• Ballasting tent legs on hard surfaces where anchoring is not possible
• Anchoring in grass or soil with pegs and guy lines
• Linking several tents into one continuous canopy
• Transport and storage of tent, walls and weights in a trolley or crate

Versions

Ballast comes in various forms. Cast iron or concrete discs and blocks slide over the leg and are ready to use straight away. Fillable plastic weights are filled on site with water or sand, which keeps transport light but requires filling on the spot. Ballast feet or base plates combine stability with a flat foot that does not stick out into the walkway. On grass you use pegs with guy lines, in a length and thickness that suits the ground.

Material and technique

Weights are made of cast iron, concrete, steel or fillable plastic. Metal is compact and immediately usable; plastic is lighter to transport but needs water or sand on site. Ratchet straps are made of polyester with a buckle closure and have a stated load rating: do not use luggage straps for structural work. Pegs come in different profiles, because a stake that works in firm ground holds nothing in soft meadow soil.

Practice, wind and liability

The amount of ballast depends on the tent area, the height, the ground and whether the side walls are open or closed. A closed tent catches the wind like a balloon and needs considerably more ballast than an open one. Spread the weight over all the legs, not just the two you happen to reach, and fix the ballast to the leg instead of setting it down beside it.

This is not a detail but a safety matter. A tent that lifts off is a frame of sharp tubes rolling across a site. As the organiser you are liable for the damage and injury that follow. Agree in advance who decides to dismantle when wind is forecast, and make sure there are enough people to do it quickly.

Maintenance and storage

Rinse weights after use on sand or mud and store them in a trolley, so you do not have to carry them one by one. Empty fillable weights before winter to avoid frost damage.

When this is not enough

For a tent structure that stays up for weeks, or for large spans, loose ballast is not sufficient and you need a calculated anchoring. On sloping or soft ground you also run into the limits. The classic mistake is choosing ballast on the basis of what is easy to carry instead of what the tent area demands.