Sandbags

A 25lb bag with a carry handle, made to sit over the foot of a barricade or the base of anything that has to stay where it was put. They are the least interesting item we rent and the one whose absence ends an outdoor event early.

What they are for

Mostly barricades. A galvanized panel stands on two flat feet, which is enough indoors and on a still day, and not enough on an exposed site with wind coming across it. A bag over each foot turns a line of panels into something that stays vertical.

They also weight signage on a windy forecourt, hold down the corner of matting, and steady a banner frame. Anything light, tall and outdoors is a candidate.

How many to order

One bag per exposed barricade leg is the working rule. A ten-panel run has eleven legs, so eleven bags for a fully exposed line, fewer where the run is sheltered by a building or a treeline.

Under-ordering is the norm. They are the cheapest line on most orders, they weigh nothing on the quote, and sending a second truck out for four more bags costs more than the bags do.

Handling

Twenty-five pounds is a comfortable one-handed lift for most people and an awkward one at height, so place them at ground level and leave them there. They come filled and go back filled — there is nothing to assemble and nothing to empty.

What a bag will not do

Ballast is for wind and for knocks. It is not force. A weighted barricade line holds because the panels are built to hold, not because there is sand on the feet, and a weighted sign still goes over if somebody walks into it hard enough. Order bags to keep equipment where you put it, and order the right equipment for everything else.

Weight adds up in the vehicle

Twenty bags is five hundred pounds. That is the point where self pickup stops being the easy option: a few fit in a car, a barricade line's worth wants a van with a low load lip, and every bag gets lifted twice whatever you arrive in.

On a delivered order they come off the truck with the panels they belong to, so the only carrying anyone does is from the stack to the foot.