Burning Man Skills

Step 12 Pull Out Tent Pegs with Vicegrips

Alphageek demonstrates tent peg removal technique. He clamps a vicegrip to the rebar and twists it left and right. There are two ridges on the rebar that enlarge the hole, making it easy to pull out of the ground.

Notice the garden sprayer in the background. That's to spray passersby with a cool mist of water, which is very nice.

Comments

[rgrimm1]

I use a propane torch to heat the rebar end red hot, then bend it in a loop. The loop end allows easier withdrawal by using a length of rope to yank it straight up and out, and the round part reduces injury.
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.

[RogueRiver]

Re: Static's question about recycling gray water from a shower into swamp coolers. Absolutely. I tried a proof of principle this year at Burning Man and it worked. Used a Kiddy Pool under the solar-heated camp shower, a 12V marine pump to move the water into a raised 7-gal holding bucket, which was connected via irrigation fittings to another bucket with layers of washed sand and charcoal held in recycled panty hose. The sand filters out particulates like hair and skin cells and the charcoal absorbs bacteria. After passing through this filter the water was clear and odorless and worked fine in my swamp cooler, which was a 120V wick-action room humidifier I got for $25 at Wal-Mart. Ran that off an inverter connected to a 12V marine battery connected to solar panels. Some tinkering left to do, but a sweet concept. Everybody likes showers and cool air.

[RogueRiver]

I just hooked a chain from the rebar to my trailer hitch and pulled them out with my 4WD truck in compound low (don't want to pull too fast and nail someone in a camp across the street). A variation on the vice grips method is to pound them from side to side for a while, then pull. Without a 4WD truck or vice grips, pouring a little water alongside the stake hole will soften up the playa to mud and make removal much easier.

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.

[finnindian]

weld steel rings to the stakes and insert a common bumper jack inside the ring and jack the stake out of the ground

[static]

Going to get this out of the way first and move on to practical matters and comments on burning man. On the removal on the current administrative branch an possibly some members of Congress is not the duty of the military, but the duty of the people and their elected representatives. The military is the last one we would want to do the job, as that would be a slippery slope. On P in a bottle, read volume 5 of the foxfire book series to learn how P was collected and processed to obtain nitrates for black powder production here in parts of the US long ago. The P bottle in the sun, will help disinfect the urine or one can add hydrogen peroxide to seed that process along. A long neck funnel from the auto department can make a P bottle easier to use for women and also help men make sure they actually hit the target. Would in be practical to recycle grey water in swamp coolers, or would there be enough bacteria from showering to make that a nasty idea?

[Derin]

p is sterile

[thebriguy]

Doesn't pee (as a body fluid) also carry disease? You'd be fine around your own pee, but who knows what the next person has inside them? Am I wrong?

[the_mad_man]

what smells is the ammonia

[earth_rabbit]

Mushroom rebar caps work great if you don't want to bend them, so no one gets hurt. I don't know if that's their official name, but they look like orange mushrooms and you can pick 'em up at home depot.

[genericanonymity]

Also, rebar sticking straight out of the ground is dangerous. Like Smedberg suggested, bending the rebar will make it easier to remove. It will also make it a lot safer to walk around.

[Michael Smedberg]

A lever can make it much easier to remove stakes. If your stakes are bent over at the top (like an inverted "J"), you can slip a long lever under the hooked over portion, place the far end of the lever against the playa, and lift the other end. If the lever is long enough, the stakes will slide right out.

[technomorph]

Use TWO vice grips. Align them on opposite sides. Then you can turn the rebard back and forth way easier while you apply a slight lift to pull it out.