Most likely your banner will not need wind slits.
Most regular banners are produced by either digitally printing images to vinyl or adhering cut vinyl lettering to the face of a vinyl banner. Vinyl banner material can act like a sail, in the wind, because of the nature of the material. Vinyl banner material is manufactured to be rugged for extended outdoor use, but since it is a solid and dense material, makes it susceptible to damage from excessive winds. Most banners can endure normal wind conditions without an issue, but if your banner is hung in a location that experiences high winds, gusty winds may possibly cause all sorts of damage to your banner.
Banners usually come outfitted with grommets either in the corners or placed all the way around the banner for hanging. If your banner is hung by the corner grommets, and left out on a very blustery day, the corner or edges of your banner may rip under the stress. Most of the time this can scenario can be avoided by installing the banner utilizing all the grommet points. But even proper installation may not save your banner from high wind damage.
So now let's get into the matter of banner wind slits. For all intensive purposes banner wind slits seem like a great solution to allow wind to more easily pass through the banner. And having air passing through key points of the banner logically alleviates some of the sail factor that banners experience. However cutting into a banner to make wind slits actually damages the original integrity of the banner material. Wind slits are actual cuts in the material, which under strong wind conditions, can also rip and may actually do more harm to your banner than good. Since we feel that wind slits compromise the integrity of a banner, we typically will not sell a banner with wind slits, but opt to suggest another style of banner that may better fit your needs.
If you feel that your banner will be placed in a very windy location, contact our banner specialists, before production of your banner. We have several options available in pre-production, such as heavier, stronger, banner material, non-rip banner fabric, reinforced nylon webbing on all sides, extra stitching, mesh banner fabric (perforated vinyl for better wind flow), flag banner options and other reinforcement suggestions.
Need Banner Help? Call our banner specialists: 714-573-9313
