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
Where to start
If you hire out marquees, start with the complete guide for the whole picture, then UK ground types for what your region tends to put under the pegs. If you run inflatables, the two that matter are EN 14960 anchoring and the 24 mph wind limit, which together cover what a PIPA inspector will ask about. If you are specifying stakes for structures you build or sell, the numbers are in specifications by structure type and anchor load calculation. If a term here is unfamiliar, the glossary defines what the rest of the library uses.
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 wind decision, made before the day rather than under pressure with a queue waiting: what to measure, who makes the call, and what the anchoring underneath is buying you while a unit comes down.
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
A working method for sweeping a marquee footprint before the stake plan is fixed, including the points at which the right answer is to move the layout rather than drive the stake.
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 competent survey looks like from first check to final sweep, so you can judge whether the one you are watching on site was done properly. Background for buyers, not a qualification.
Read the Guide →Finding Plastic and Non-Metallic Pipes
The services a locator will never find on its own, the two methods that sometimes will, and what to do on the day neither of them works.
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
Why the same stake behaves differently on Cotswold limestone and Cheshire clay, how to read a site before you commit to a stake plan, and a decision table to work from on the day.
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
Why two stakes that look identical on the trailer can behave completely differently under a breaker, and what specifying the steel for one job changes about that.
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
The test that turns an assumption about the ground into a number you can put in a file, with the kit list, the method, and what to do when a stake starts moving earlier than it should.
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
The terms used across this library, defined once, for anyone specifying stakes or reading someone else's anchoring spec and wanting to be sure both parties mean the same thing.
View Glossary →Frequently Asked Questions — Marquee Stakes & Tent Stakes
Manufacturing Since 1948
Hogan Tent Stakes has been making high quality metal products since 1948. The specification has been tested, refined and validated in professional manufacturing ever since — 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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