Marquee stake guides, specifications, and FAQ for UK hire and event professionals
Guides & Resources
Technical guides on marquee stake selection, installation depth, and ground conditions — practical knowledge from the field.
Practical Knowledge
The Complete Guide to Marquee Stakes for UK Hire Companies
Everything you need to know about stake selection, ground conditions, installation depth, structure types and accessories — written for UK hire companies and event professionals.
Read the Guide →Bouncy Castle Wind Limits: The 24 mph Rule and When to Deflate
The EN 14960 operating wind limit is 24 mph (Force 5). When to deflate and evacuate, how to measure wind on site, the Summer Grant case, and why the anchoring still has to hold.
Read the Guide →Tent Pegs and Marquee Stakes for Hard Ground
Limestone, chalk, compacted clay, showground aggregate — what actually happens to cheap stakes, how to select the right size, when to use gang staking, and how to test ground before you commit.
Read the Guide →How to Drive Tent and Marquee Stakes with a Powered Breaker
The safe two-person method with a petrol or electric breaker — holder and operator roles, grip and stance, machine heat and pinch-point safety, the driving angle that holds, and checking for buried services. Includes a demonstration video.
Read the Guide →Cable Avoidance: Scanning for Buried Services
Before you drive stakes or dig, you check for buried cables and pipes. What a CAT and Genny does, when scanning is required (MUTA / HSG47), and why a survey informs safe digging but never replaces it.
Read the Guide →Scanning a Marquee Site Before You Stake
How to sweep a marquee footprint for buried cables and pipes before you fix the stake plan — the stake line and anchor positions, marking up, and when to stop and move the layout.
Read the Guide →What a CAT and Genny Is, and How It Works
The cable avoidance tool (detector) versus the signal generator, the Power / Radio / Genny / Avoidance modes, and — the part that keeps you safe — what each mode finds and misses.
Read the Guide →How to Survey with a CAT and Genny
What a survey involves — pre-use and function checks, the signal-application methods (direct connection, clamp, induction), and the four-sided sweep. An overview for buyers; not a substitute for training.
Read the Guide →Finding Plastic and Non-Metallic Pipes
Plastic and rubber pipes carry no signal for a CAT to detect. The trace-rod and tracer-wire methods, where they fail, and the safe answer when a service can't be located at all.
Read the Guide →Marquee Stakes for Sailcloth Tents
Stake selection, recommended sizes and ground condition advice for sailcloth marquee installations. How stake quality and consistent installation affects the finished look at weddings and prestige outdoor events.
Read the Guide →Tent Stakes for Stretch Tents
How continuous-tension anchoring demands differ from traditional marquees, and why stake quality has a direct impact on the structure's profile throughout the event.
Read the Guide →Marquee Stakes for Clearspan Structures
Baseplate forces, engineering specifications and stake selection for clearspan and frame marquee installations. What makes clearspan anchoring different — and why it matters.
Read the Guide →Tent Pegs for Tipi Tents
Stake sizing, season efficiency and ground condition advice for tipi and giant hat tent operations. How consistent peg quality pays across a high-volume summer season.
Read the Guide →Marquee Stakes for Pole Tents
Traditional pole marquee anchoring — driving angle, perimeter stake counts and why consistent stake quality matters when you're putting in and taking out at pace.
Read the Guide →UK Ground Types: A Staking Guide for Marquee and Event Professionals
A regional guide to limestone, chalk, clay, compacted showground, saturated ground, and artificial turf, with a quick-reference staking decision table.
Read the Guide →Marquee Stake Specifications by Structure Type
A structure-by-structure reference for clearspan, pole, stretch, sailcloth, pagoda, tipi, and inflatable anchoring, with practical size guidance.
Read the Guide →Why Marquee Stakes Bend — and How to Avoid It
A practical look at why standard stakes deform under impact, what the heat drawn point does differently, and what it means for your workflow across a season of events.
Read the Article →Forged vs Cast Tent Stakes: Why Forging Makes a Tougher Stake
What casting leaves inside the steel, what working it under a hammer changes, and why grain direction through the point matters for a stake that gets hit, levered and loaded for years.
Read the Article →Hardness vs Toughness: Why the Best Tent Stake Isn't the Hardest Steel
The two properties every stake needs, where each one belongs — hardness at the point, toughness through the shaft — and why the balance is struck at manufacture, not on site.
Read the Article →The Steel in a Marquee Stake: What It's Made From
Steel is a family of recipes, not one material. What goes into a stake's steel, why most UK stakes aren't made from a consistent grade, and what a purpose-designed alloy buys on site.
Read the Article →Tensioning Winches vs Ratchet Straps
How tensioning winches compare to ratchet straps for tension marquee applications — control, repeatability, speed, and when the switch makes financial sense.
Coming Soon →The Complete Guide to Marquee Anchoring on Hard Ground
Why hard ground defeats standard stakes, how UK geology changes holding power, and when high alloy steel or alternative anchors become the right answer.
Read the Guide →Staking for Inflatables: EN 14960 Compliance Explained
A deeper guide for inflatable hire operators covering minimum anchor dimensions, holding force thresholds, PIPA expectations, and ground testing.
Read the Guide →How to Conduct a Pull Test on a Ground Anchor
Step-by-step guide to pull testing marquee and tent stakes on site — equipment, method, interpreting results against the IFAI soil table, and record keeping for structure sign-off and insurance accountability.
Read the Guide →Ground Anchor Load Calculation for Marquee Stakes
How to determine the required pull-out resistance at each anchor point — by structure type, with safety factors, and a practical workflow for turning pull test results into anchorage decisions.
Read the Guide →Gang Staking and Spreader Bars: Load Distribution for Poor Ground
When a single stake cannot provide adequate holding power, spreading the load across multiple stakes is the answer. Structure-specific guidance on 2, 3, 5, and 6-stake arrangements for UK hire companies.
Read the Guide →Marquee Stake Extraction: Technique, Tools and Ground Conditions
Why extraction is where stake quality shows most clearly — correct technique, what different ground types do to de-rig speed, tool options, and combining extraction with pull testing.
Read the Guide →Marquee Staking Glossary
Definitions of key terms in professional marquee staking — high alloy steel, pull-out resistance, gang staking, embedment depth, EN 14960, MUTA, PIPA, and more. A reference for hire companies, event professionals, and structure manufacturers.
View Glossary →Frequently Asked Questions — Marquee Stakes & Tent Stakes
75 Years of Manufacturing Experience
Hogan Tent Stakes has been making high quality metal products since 1948. The specification has been tested, refined and validated across 75 years of professional manufacturing — in a wide range of ground conditions and climates.
We're building a UK knowledge base to sit alongside that experience — practical, specific, and written for the UK events and marquee industry. If there's something you'd like us to cover, get in touch.
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