We take the awning/sunshade/whatever you call it down when we leave the pit for more than a few minutes. Leaving someone to tear things down in case of wind works - usually, but then there are the times that the winds blows up when you're not paying attention -- and you try un-rigging during a big blow. Nah - easier to take it down. We do it like this: We don't try to secure the legs to the surface, and when we want to take the thing down we just fold the structure down and back into the 12"x12" by 4' bundle - with the top cover still in place. Yes, we do now and then damage the fabric, but we still get three or four years out of one of 'em.