Gilligan and the Skipper had to build a "cozy island nest" for the stranded crew of the s.s. Minnow.
If they'd been at Burning Man, it would have been much harder, because there's nothing there but flat blowing alkali dust, hot sun in the day, and cold at night.
What follows are some of the ways people have found to thrive in this very difficult environment.
The [www.burningman.org Burning Man] festival is held each year at the end of August for the week of the labor Day weekend. It's in Black Rock Desert of Nevada, which is a totally flat alkali dry lake.
This photo gives a good sense of what the surface is like. Now imagine a hundred square miles of just that. Now have fifty thousand people set up camp with gigantic artworks and lots of loud music. Do any possible problems occur to you?
This photo illustrates some solutions. It's a tent peg for holding up a shade structure.
There were 60 mph winds this year. Very few structures blew down due to good use of rebar (reinforcing rod manufactured for cement work) tent stakes.
This rebar tent stake is put through a rubber foot to make it more visible and entertaining. There's an orange mushroom rebar cap on the end so someone doesn't get impaled by falling on it. The guy line to the tent is tied with a tautline hitch so it can be easily tightened. The guy line is ornamented with christmas lights and yellow caution tape so someone doesn't trip on it. A very competent and decorative installation.
If they'd been at Burning Man, it would have been much harder, because there's nothing there but flat blowing alkali dust, hot sun in the day, and cold at night.
What follows are some of the ways people have found to thrive in this very difficult environment.
The [www.burningman.org Burning Man] festival is held each year at the end of August for the week of the labor Day weekend. It's in Black Rock Desert of Nevada, which is a totally flat alkali dry lake.
This photo gives a good sense of what the surface is like. Now imagine a hundred square miles of just that. Now have fifty thousand people set up camp with gigantic artworks and lots of loud music. Do any possible problems occur to you?
This photo illustrates some solutions. It's a tent peg for holding up a shade structure.
There were 60 mph winds this year. Very few structures blew down due to good use of rebar (reinforcing rod manufactured for cement work) tent stakes.
This rebar tent stake is put through a rubber foot to make it more visible and entertaining. There's an orange mushroom rebar cap on the end so someone doesn't get impaled by falling on it. The guy line to the tent is tied with a tautline hitch so it can be easily tightened. The guy line is ornamented with christmas lights and yellow caution tape so someone doesn't trip on it. A very competent and decorative installation.
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Signing UpStep 1: Traditional Desert Shelter
This is a Berber tent from Morocco. It's woven from goat hair, reinforced by cotton straps and wooden pegs. The people camping in it are very happy with it. Inside is carpeting and cushions just like you would find in a nomad tent in Morocco.
The cloth is a fairly loose weave that filters out the dust but allows airflow in dust storms.
It's much cooler inside than you would expect from the dark color of the cloth.
Apparently the heated cloth induces a convection current of air up and out of the tent.
There are removeable wall panels that can be put up in dust storms. The side walls on the southern side are always left up.
The cloth is a fairly loose weave that filters out the dust but allows airflow in dust storms.
It's much cooler inside than you would expect from the dark color of the cloth.
Apparently the heated cloth induces a convection current of air up and out of the tent.
There are removeable wall panels that can be put up in dust storms. The side walls on the southern side are always left up.
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I work as an erection specialist "har har" we do tents....its what we do!
as stated, we also make our own stakes, altho we use super thick hardened rebar and axle shafts, we also do bounceys for kids and use smaller rebar, bent with an oxy torch. We put these stakes into everything, including black top etc....and we do events with tents in the same spot year in and year out so after its bin willed with tar "black jack" it can be tuff to get out the next year.
As stated, sledge hammers, there your friends, but another tool i havent seen mentioned "i didnt read all posts but then again im not going to since i just happened across this" a pipe wrench! its key for stake removal....with or without the use of a sledge, it makes your like simple without the danger of 4x4ing a stake into someones skull or screwing around with a jack.....consider it.
and urine unless coupled with something like a bladder infection, etc, is sterile.
A good sledgehammer puts them in, and helps to take them out.
When I get ready to pull them, I give 'em a couple of good whacks with the sledgehammer from the four cardinal directions (toward the tent, away from the tent, and each side). This generally loosens them enough to pull out.
For really stubborn ones, I thread a free one through the loop, and use it as a tee handle.
For really, really stubborn ones, I put a fulcrum on the away from the tent side, and use a free one as a lever to pull it out. You can stand on it if it needs that much juice.
Finally, like above said, as a last ditch, when your buddy Paul Bunyun drove the stake through a granite boulder, you can hitch your car to it and pop it out. But, that often bends them.
It also reduces the chance the rope will come off if the wind flaps the loose rope around.
I also paint the stakes with fluorescent paints in a couple colors, as two colors are easier to see than one.
If you find a local foundation company, you might be able to borrow their rebar bender, a tool used to make up rebar frames etc. for concrete work.
Take your rebar to them.
As an alternative, have the stakes made up in a rebar shop, yes there is such a place, and odds are the rebar MIGHT be cheaper there.
You can even get rebar that is coated in a green epoxy, which reduces rusting somewhat.
Thor Tarp is another good company.
Other neat things for a camp to have that we did: non-alcoholic beverages for passerbys, giant vehicle for carpooling up & carpet for keeping the dust down
As for urine, it is sterile unless somebody has a raging bladder infection. Also pH neutral (~7). Some people drink it, though I wouldn't. The ammonia smell occurs when bacteria start to act on the urea, which is high in nitrogen, which is why it is a good fertilizer.
great stuff!!!!
If you make a "vajayjaydoor" (as shown) you will need a "chipclip" to keep it closed. but it is nice to not have to mess with anything like a zipper to get in and out.
the spandex breathes, if you spray it with a plant sprayer it becomes a swamp cooler, I had an extra layer of alluminet covering the whole thing, and room darkening tarps on top. it does an ok job of filtering out the dust. (or slowing it down and dropping it between net layer and double fabric layer.) It was also easy to take down and toss in a bin.
I also did this with a standard buckydome, HUGE piece, overlocked together, with tabs on it... sometimes you have to make adjustments... since its stretchy and the dome changes slightly each time you put it up... but if you hang the ridiculously patterned fabric from the inside, and get some color changing LEDs -- it can be super fun. ahem.
Anyway, let me know if you have questions!
Or both. Besides, everyone uses the inhalers now
The burning man sounds awesome. I definitely want to go in a few years. How could you work out a solar evaporator to get water from urine?
I assume that you need at very least, 20 liters of water a week for two people, (a liter a day, plus desert conditions) what would you say?
Very helpful if I ever do go!