Tip - How to roll up a canopy wall by yourself

In the couple years doing shows now, I've been fighting with the trick of rolling up the wall tarp of my canopy. When my wife is there to help, it's not a problem. However, when I end up having to open by myself, it can be a real pain.


Previously, the way I did it on my own was to:
1) Start rolling up the wall at one end.
2) After you roll it a few times, you'll see that the other end of the wall isn't rolling. At this point, I put a clamp onto the rolled up wall so I can let it go without it unrolling
3) Move to the other end and repeat the process.
4) Move back to the first side and repeat steps 1-3 until the wall is fully rolled up

This works, but it's a huge pain.

Lately, I've been looking at upgrading my canopy. In the process, I was browsing the flourish website and I found a gem of a tip in there. In case that link ever stops working, I'll summarize the process here:

Grab the 2 bottom corners, one in each hand, and fold them inward onto the canopy until they form a point at the bottom middle of the wall. If you are having trouble visualizing it, think of how you make the first folds of a paper airplane to create the pointed nose.

When you get the point made, use one hand to hold both corners together, and use the other hand to grab the newly formed point. Step back as far as you can so that the wall is as close to horizontal as possible. Let go of the 2 corners with your first hand and use both hands to start rolling up point. Once you get it started rolling, the entire wall, edge to edge, with roll up with it.

What once used to take a frustrating couple of minutes is now just an easy 15 seconds of work. Its a small tip, but it makes things less stressful, and if you are ever late opening your booth in the morning, less stress and an extra minute or 2 is a great thing.