The EZ-Ups are a great invention and it's great that the price is coming
down to such an affordable level. I can't emphasize enough, however, how
dangerous these things are.
Amongst the various hats I've been wearing... I've been joining a
Scottish Bagpipe and Drum band (The Wicked Tinkers) to help sell their
CD's at outdoor festivals and so on. There's always countless EZ-Ups
there. In addition, EZ-Ups are basically an industry standard now, when
I'm on set in the film industry. Add tot that all the car events and
swap meets... and I can tell you, I've seen my share of EZ-Ups blowing away.
In Texas last year, I watched as a dust devil throw EZ-Ups around like
rag dolls. A woman was hit in the head, though I don't know the extent
of the injuries. A few months ago, I saw a huge professionally set up
outdoor car sale tent go airborne and crash down on dozen of nearby
parked (brand new) cars causing extensive damage..
If you use 'em, TIE them down. Don't put a 5lb weight on a corners and
consider the job done. That could even make it potentially even more
dangerous! In the film industry, we generally weigh 'em down with
multiple 25lb sandbags (those fancy canvas ones with handles, etc.) and
stake them down or tie them to trucks if there's even a hint of wind.
What makes them so different, is that in the past, you simply HAD to
stake such things down, as it was the only way to get them to stay up.
The EZ-Ups stand alone... and people get lazy! I predict, within the
next year or two, with the explosion of EZ-Up use (coinciding with the
low volume pricing), we're going to see an expose' on something like
60-Minutes, etc... about all the injuries and damage these things cause.
This all said... they really are cool.
--Justin
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