The Most Important Facts to Know When Choosing Banner Bracket Hardware for Outdoor Light Pole Banners – Or, How to Avoid A Banner Blow-out at 30 MPH!
If you’re looking to purchase banner hardware, I suggest you read this NOW!
With the installation of light pole banners (vertical banners on street poles), the primary challenge to sign companies and to banner companies is to do the best possible job they can in choosing the correct hardware. The next challenge is to install it according to the manufacturer’s instructions and guidelines. Too many times we have seen sign companies and end user customers base their banner bracket hardware choices on price alone. Or choose a bracket because it “looks” like it works and not make the choice on its real engineering or long-term durability.
This can be a dreadfully costly mistake. The hardware choice for vertical street banners is the most important decision in the entire process. I’ve heard some folks say, “the banners will only be up for a weekend” (or a month, or a summer, etc.) not realizing that a significant wind may come up the very next day to rip apart the cheap, unstable installation that looked so wonderful on that, gloriously calm day before (I actually observed this very phenomenon in Kalamazoo about 24 years ago when Tyvek® banners were placed on these ingenious (but very weak brackets made out of electrical conduit for a local art fair – the next day they were all flopping around in the shrubbery and fountains after a 40 mile per hour, blustery morning obliterated the entire grand presentation) ( I suppose I was the only one in town that thought it was funny…).
Besides any esthetic factors however, the real fact of the matter is that these banners and brackets are placed above people’s heads on city sidewalks or within parking lots. That, alone, should be about all you need to know to make sure that you choose hardware with care. You simply must make your selection based on the engineering and practical experience of manufacturers who have designed and tested the products to last and who have bothered to write instructions, guidelines and application suggestions based on technical knowledge. This is the same kind of expert manufacturer which can give you recommendations and testimonials from customers.
If this all sounds like a blatant advertisement for a product that meets all those qualifications, it is! We (Kalamazoo Banner Works by Consort) are the ones to talk to! I have written more about this in previous blogs titled something like “Banner Brackets and Fly Fishing Parts I, II & III”. But, I bring it up again in a slightly different way to emphasize the main point that the choice of which manufacturer you use, is the single most important decision when looking to put up these wonderfully popular vertical street banners. I will end this writing with three facts to ponder on this subject. First, I’ve never seen a reliable bracket that was made in China. Second, be wary of brackets with mechanical systems to rust and wear and, finally, be certain that the attachment method to the light pole (banding or bolts) are sized correctly for the size and number of banners your displaying (there is no room for “seat of the pants” theories here). If your supplier doesn’t give you that information, call or email us. We’ll get the job done properly.
Roger Lepley
