Tent/Canopy?

[Bitters]

So, with another hot weekend in the forecast, I'm debating purchasing a canopy for racing. Figured it would be a way to keep the car cool during marshaling, and me cool during lunch/prep. I'm pretty sure I'm not the first to have thought this... so, any suggestions/learnings from those that went this route?

[Reijo]

Watch out for wind!  Those things blow away, dent cars, get all twisted up. 

Something people used to do was use tires/wheels to hold the corners down.

so, yes, we've seen plenty of them in use ... buy a slightly heavier duty one ... sturdier.....remember the wind.

[E6Cueman]

Watch out for wind!  Those things blow away, dent cars, get all twisted up. 

This.  Definitely want something solid to tie it too. 

[Tuna]

During events I used to used my road wheels to hold mine down. Mine was the Coleman Event 14 (like this):

[Bitters]

Anyone use those accessory weights that wrap arou d the poles to good effect?

[MurrayPeterson]

At Fort Macleod, they just keep the canopy upright as it sails off into the distance

[NickST]

Me and Dan went in together on a canopy at FM a couple of times before giving up on the idea. We used a standard one initially, weighted each leg with a tire. It ended up getting so twisted up it fatigued the leg connection at the canopy top and clean broke off. After that we tried a heavy duty one, and we also braced it with straps, but it ultimately suffered the same fate by the end of a 2 day weekend.

The one that Shane posted looks interesting, kind of looks like it would put up more more abuse from the wind than the 4 post versions.

[Reijo]

FM is a special case when there are near-hurricane force winds ... I remember a radio broadcast in Lethbridge when I lived there mentioning "moderate winds of 110 kph" ... LOL ... obviously tongue-in-cheek.  No canopies will stand that.  So maybe the trick is to use them in the shelter of a truck/trailer etc. ... and maybe even tied to a vehicle and then quickly taking it down if the wind picks up at any point during the day.

In Calgary and Red Deer the winds are not as bad but it can get quite windy here too as we noticed even last weekend toward the end of the day.

The wind ... be aware.....be prepared.

[Tuna]

Oh, that's a good point Reijo. Cam's trailer works well when it's parked by the runway.