Comments on: DIY Your Burn: Shelter, Shade & Cool Cool Comfort

By: Deck Brisbane

Deck Brisbane — Tue, 01 May 2012 05:01:23 +0000

With the help of blog, you have explained very well about how we can build our own shelter and cooling system. We can have an airtight, windproof, shaded and cool place to sleep away the day, and We can build it yourself for a fraction of the cost of an RV rental. Really very thanks for all this.

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By: Megan

Megan — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 07:55:46 +0000

People coming from afar – tents work. I slept in one for my first ten years on the playa. Bring extra stakes and rope to really tie that thing down. Also great is if you: pitch it in the shade/wind protection of one vehicle; pitch it between two vehicles; stretch a tarp over the tent between two vehicles; pitch next to an RV and drape a tarp from the top of the RV over the tent (lean-to style). By “tarp” I mean preferably canvas – try the painting drop cloths from Home Depot, I sewed a few together. About the dust – i suggest closing off any open mesh windows with canvas/gorilla tape (super duct tape that doesn’t melt in the heat). Bring an extra large sheet and cover your bed during the day, ensuring a dust-free zone to lay your head. Shake the sheet out in the morning, cover and repeat. I started with a real hiking tent and ended a decade later with one of those huge multiroom deals. With proper staking, it was always fine. I liked the extra room for clothing, costume changes and food storage – less stuff blows away under cover. Now I sleep in a cargo vancovered in mylar, on an air mattress. But I love comfort :-).

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By: What is the best way to buy/build a yurt for Burning Man? - Quora

What is the best way to buy/build a yurt for Burning Man? - Quora — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 19:11:00 +0000

[...] page has some info about building a yurt, plus links to multiple vendors and sets of instructions: http://blog.burningman.com/envir…The writer's top recommendation is:THE INCREDIBLE HEXAYURT – $300Holy wow! In 2007, [...]

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By: Tall Steve

Tall Steve — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 17:03:57 +0000

To Alejandro:

Regarding the noise-proofness of hexayurts, location might be a factor. The Black Rock Boutique is located on the Center Camp ring, so it gets a lot constant noise but not much of it is the boomy-thumpy kind. Maybe hexayurts don’t work so well near 2:00 and 10:00? Also, my campmates were careful to bevel the edges of their hexayurt panels and maybe that made theirs more rigid, I don’t know.

Regarding attaching shade cloth to Costco carports, we just didn’t have enough carports to put every tent inside them. You can fit maybe 2 tents in 1 carport. We had to accommodate about 12 tents using 3 carports so stretching shade cloth between carports was an adequate solution, though not the ideal one. Those carports are 10′x20′, and we set three of them up in a row with 12′ gaps to give us a 54′x20′ shaded area for tents. (Gaps larger than 12′ cause problems in the wind.)

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By: Moonshine

Moonshine — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 16:00:05 +0000

Tent in a tent. I’ve been doing for several years now. I don’t have the greatest set up but it’s been working for me nonetheless. I put this configuration together from separate pieces I already had in the garage. I didn’t buy anything special.
I have a standard 3man coleman tent. I glued the rainfly to the top of the tent to permanently seal the mesh ceiling. It stays nearly completely dust free. I place the tent inside a 10×10 EZ-UP canopy with zippered side panels. I use standard blue plastic tarps to cover the floor. Easy to sweep out. Inside the EZup I’m able to set up a 4′ table for gear and store a half dozen large storage bins with supplies, clothes, etc. Tons of room. Key to the structure of course, is making sure it’s staked and tied down securely, but then we all know that by now, right? Whenever possible, I also like to secure the EZup to other structures for added strength.

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By: pauli lama

pauli lama — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 03:50:43 +0000

My wife and I have been using an 18′ shelter systems dome for the last 3 years. As stated above, it’s rock solid and welcome relief from the wind. Stays cool with the shade cloth. (we got a great deal on a used one from craigslist) The 2 of us can set it up in about 30 minutes, more if we’re dehydrated and grumpy.
We also take a 10×10 popup shade. we use 2 come-alongs at each corner attached to rebar stakes. We’ve had one 10×10 for the last 3 burns and no issues with it getting knocked around. The key on the 10×10? buy one that has cross bracing and that sucker won’t twist in the wind.

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By: Max

Max — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 18:03:29 +0000

Coming from East Coast – so usual limitations apply.
Past 3 burns show that sleeping in a regular tent is possible, provided you pitch it in a shade of your vehicle (or, even better, your neighbors RV). However you will be awake by 8:30 – 9 no matter what time you went to sleep. Consuming certain substances night before helps to extend that by couple of hours, but that is kinda OT.
Shade structures (Coleman and such) bought in big box stores hold up pretty well if you put ‘em up right (can be done by 1 person easily), use rebars instead of included pins. 14′x14′ cost is $120-$150 or so, which fits grand picture more or less.
Mylar blankets taped to the rope around shade side nets help a lot, but make noise in the wind and don’t last too long, but, again, cost is minimal.
Another idea is to put all your stuff in the tent and sleep in your minivan with windows taped with mylar – works well for cold nights.

All in all, using common sense will get you through, so do not concentrate too much on this survivalist crap – think about costumes, arts and other ways to contribute to the main cause – making the burn memorable and beautiful event.
See ya in the dust

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By: Spot

Spot — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 02:24:04 +0000

BurningTone–I went last year with just a friend and a tent. The tent got really freaking hot during the day (and I imagine your van will be worse), but we made friends with our neighbor and tied a tarp from his van to our tent. This only-overhead shade structure was later improved when a passerby gave us some netting he didn’t want, which we used to make a few sides. It’s not wind proof but that’s what the tent (or your car) could be for. It did still get quite hot, but we just sucked it up, drank a lot of water, and lay down for that part of the day (or made friends/found a place to hang out that was cooler). Also, one of our neighbors did have a nice, battery operated fan he used that I think helped him a lot. Then again, we also didn’t shower all week (except for once standing in a bucket while dumping water over ourselves with another bucket) and were pretty eternally dusty so that might be more roughing it (and smelly) then you want to go, haha (plus, they do say the alkaline dust will crack up your skin, but I actually had no problems with it all over me except for my fingers, which I just rubbed Vaseline on, but I think like a lot of things is varies from person to person).

Indigo, your horse trailer idea sounds fantastic!

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By: Alejandro

Alejandro — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 04:01:02 +0000

I’ve been considering the H13 hexayurt, but B Rad’s story about it basically being a speaker box would definitely ruin my sleep. Except Tall Steve’s story basically contradicts B Rad’s point about hexayurts being really noisy:
“Hexayurts: These are much bulkier to transport than tents, and they require more effort to set up than tents. After that, though, you’re living the good life. They keep out the dust, heat, and even sound.” So which is it? Are they noisy, or are they quiet? Can someone please give me a definitive answer?

Additionally, there seems to be another somewhat contradictory point. Most people have mentioned that they put their tents INSIDE one of the costco carports. But again, Tall Steve says “Costco carports: Superb on the Playa. They’re always the first things we put up, partly so we can benefit from their shade immediately, and partly because we stretch shade cloth off them to cover our tents. ” Off them?…I’m a bit confused. Why would you stretch shade cloth OFF of your carport to cover your tents? Aren’t you putting the tents INSIDE the carport itself? I’m a BM virgin so, please forgive my ignorance.

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By: Klondike

Klondike — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 22:19:34 +0000

I have to disagree with The Hun’s assessment of the “Commercial Playa Domes”, at least the 18′ “geotensic” one that I bought from Shelter Systems a few years back. Definitely a splurge, but I find it easy to setup and rock-solid in the wind.

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