Outdoor Pole Pockets

I tell people 10 times a day that printing an outdoor banner is the easy part, figuring out how to hang it is what’s hard. In the photo is a hanging system for outdoor banners that I saw on a recent trip to San Diego.

First of all, the banners are hung close to the building so the wind can’t get behind it very well. That reduces the wind load substantially, and that’s important because these are 5×15′ size. If they were able to catch the wind, you would need huge supports.

The banner is made with pole pockets top and bottom. The poles are a good 2″ diameter and suspended from solidly anchored eye bolts. The trick here is to cut a window in the banner for the eye bolt. Then the pole isn’t sticking out the side, which in my opinion would be pretty ugly.

This allows you to put tension on the banner and adjust the eye bolts to give even tension across the banner. These hung beautifully with no waves in them at all. Thanks to the Timken Museum in Balboa Park for showing a great banner hanging method!