Step 8: Deployment
To do this most easily have all supplies stacked in the center of a tarp marked with a 14’ circle, and build from the inside. Optionally draw a circle in the sand if you don’t use a floor tarp. Use a stepladder to save time.
The dome will be quite floppy during deployment and hard to manage until you get the hang of using the support poles. You will need to adjust the poles during the process to allow all edges to meet their neighbors and get the true dome shape. Moving one pole can make 2 other poles fall down.
Partially unfold the 9-piece base segments and clip them to their neighbors; as you adjust the ring to fit the circle it should hold itself up. See photo. A couple of chairs help. Once the ring is even, nail down all the footers with the stakes.
Pre-assemble all the pentagons. If you have a helper, they can put together pentagons and hexagons while you clip them in place from within. Hang the first 5 pentagons off the outside of the base ring.
Open a base hexagon up and clip it into its convex shape, then support it with a pole. Flip up a pentagon beside it and connect them with the tabs; support the pentagon with a pole. Go around the perimeter and flip up alternating hexes and pents. See photo. Finish with one 6’ pole holding up each of the 5 pentagons - things should balance in a sagging fashion.
Next pre-assemble all 5 upper hexagons, hang them all off the outside by their tabs, then flip them up in turn using 8’ poles to support them as you clip them together. As you go around, the 6’ poles will fall away and you will need to adjust the tall poles frequently. Once you’ve added the last hexagon the dome gets firm and the 8’ poles fall down. Add the top pentagon to complete the structure.
Put in the light bamboo sticks to hold up the vents, and put two poles on either side of the door to support the opening. For tough conditions use tape on the outside to reinforce connections between segments as desired. You can put extra clips inside around the door frame.
The dome will be quite floppy during deployment and hard to manage until you get the hang of using the support poles. You will need to adjust the poles during the process to allow all edges to meet their neighbors and get the true dome shape. Moving one pole can make 2 other poles fall down.
Partially unfold the 9-piece base segments and clip them to their neighbors; as you adjust the ring to fit the circle it should hold itself up. See photo. A couple of chairs help. Once the ring is even, nail down all the footers with the stakes.
Pre-assemble all the pentagons. If you have a helper, they can put together pentagons and hexagons while you clip them in place from within. Hang the first 5 pentagons off the outside of the base ring.
Open a base hexagon up and clip it into its convex shape, then support it with a pole. Flip up a pentagon beside it and connect them with the tabs; support the pentagon with a pole. Go around the perimeter and flip up alternating hexes and pents. See photo. Finish with one 6’ pole holding up each of the 5 pentagons - things should balance in a sagging fashion.
Next pre-assemble all 5 upper hexagons, hang them all off the outside by their tabs, then flip them up in turn using 8’ poles to support them as you clip them together. As you go around, the 6’ poles will fall away and you will need to adjust the tall poles frequently. Once you’ve added the last hexagon the dome gets firm and the 8’ poles fall down. Add the top pentagon to complete the structure.
Put in the light bamboo sticks to hold up the vents, and put two poles on either side of the door to support the opening. For tough conditions use tape on the outside to reinforce connections between segments as desired. You can put extra clips inside around the door frame.
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If you built it with the tabs on the outside for a smooth interior, you would need to build it top-down to reach the tabs on the upper segments.
The poles get easier after a couple of runs, but it can be pretty comical to move one thing and have them all try to fall on you.
Have you found any other materials that would lend to waterproofing? A campmate built a hexayurt out of insulating panels last year, I'm wondering if that might be a path to investigate; though I wonder how well the tabs would stay attached once scored, even with a strong tape.
As for the seams... short of adding an extra layer of waterproof tape on the outside, that's a tricky one. There's always Great Stuff, but man, that stuff is a pain, and not ideal for repeated setup/teardown.
I'll take some pics and update this Instructable to show the method. I'm going to the desert first week of May and will be setting up the dome for another trial, so I'll include some pics of that as well.
Send some pics of your project!