We have a 10 x 20 carport. We were considering getting an aluminet 70% tarp to go over the top and lessen the heat from the sun. Alternatively, we can get rolls of aluminized mylar, 97% shade, much cheaper. I wouldn't trust it on top of the tarp, probably get shredded and blown away by the wind. But...

This might be my favorite playa product this year. Throw away that old tennis ball and google "double kickstand"! ($12 and up and your bike will never fall over again) I've seen discussions on making your own, but for $12! I've also made an addition, a piece of 1.5" x 12" PVC pipe with holes bored i...

. . . Hang a sheet as a divider within the tent to isolate your sleeping area, and run the swamp cooler into this inner chamber. You'll trap the cool area at your bed area during nap time. My design goes one step farther. We have a cabin tent, too. The bed itself has a coffinish enclosure over it m...

. . . I believe he said doubling up the pads gives a larger surface area for the tube ring up top to drip, and will help hold it in centered in place. The thinner pads are cheaper, so that works for me. :mrgreen: I put spacers between the pads and the bucket walls. If not, the air flowing in just p...

One option for versatility is to use 12 VDC fan and pumps and get a 110VAC to 12VDC converter. This is safer because you don't have 110V near the water, and if you come back from year to year with or without shore power, you will be equipped. (I also recommend spare components. The playa gods requir...

. . . As long as it's clean cooler water, I take it gladly. Sometimes I add just a few drops of bleach to keep it fresh. No problems. Key phrase, "as long as it's clean". I would surprised to find much clean melt water. We religiously put our ice into large industrial 12mil zip baggies to keep it c...

gaminwench wrote:FWIW, parachutes are not UV protective; you get shade, but no sunscreen protection. Adding Aluminet would counter this.

Generally, parachutes are one big greenhouse unless you line it with a completely opaque inner layer.

I want some of these: http://www.popsci.com/gadgets/article/2 ... ooler-tech

translucent parachute makes for a great greenhouse, and is hard to fasten down because it doesn't fight tightly to anything.

I've been using a tent within a tent since '03. Adding a swamp cooler is my next upgrade. I fly in from florida, so weight and volume is a major issue. I used a 3 season full fly 3 person tent that would seal up over my air mattress inside a cheap cabin tent with shade overhead. Worked well for a wh...

(waking up this old thread) so, how did this work out last year? Your original post was a reasonably intelligent question asking if anyone actually had any real world playa experience one way or another. The majority of replies were more theoretical statements, (some more or less educated), and a lo...

I bought a cheap Target cabin tent, with a short rain fly and full screen ceiling. Don't know what I was thinking. It was a windy year, the dust just blew up under the fly and dumped all over the tent. For the next year, I cut two pieces of ripstop nylon , glued it overlapping the screen ceiling, ta...

lasers will still be allowed on art cars and stationary camps, but they must be inspected and registered.

Dear everyone kvetching, Shut the fuck up and let someone who has personally been injured by a laser to step forward. . . . 2014 burn night. A ranger on perimeter duty was taken to Reno after being painted with a laser from the crowd. Permanent full blindness resulted in one eye and partial blindne...

sharpstick wrote:The paint has completely enclosed the mesh. It might crack, or stick to itself, but I don't think it will go anywhere. I'll report in September.

It worked great. It sealed better than any fabric.

The paint has completely enclosed the mesh. It might crack, or stick to itself, but I don't think it will go anywhere. I'll report in September.

I used ripstop nylon, tackstitched every foot or so with gorilla tape along all the edges. That lasted a couple years as a playa tent before the tape started to come loose. Ripstop does allow a small amount of fine playa dust to pass through. I ended up covering the entire ceiling and hanging down a...

but it will accumulate on the pad, requiring rinsing.

the inner ceiling should help by reducing the vollume that you are cooling, as well as separating the upper layer of hot air from the lower area. and the more you partition off your cooled area with a wall (say around your bed), the cooler it should be. (see my earlier comments on my bed tent of abo...

If possible, surround the intake area with a windbreak of some sort, around and above. I think that if you can slow down the wind, much the dust will drop out before it reaches the intake. (think of breathing behind a bandana. (or that araby cloth thing whatsitcalled). Keep it out of the sun(no brai...

I do the same thing, but my "bed tent" encloses the entire air mattress with overlapping flap. supported from the tent frame with a bamboo crossbar. i estimate less than 50 cu ft of space to cool.

a hexagon or higher order polygon is more efficient and would experience less turbulence. nah, i'm just bullshittin ya.
a knife will work if you're desperate. if possible, that might go easier if you start the corners with a drill hole. and a wood chisel might work better.

Maybe. But not fun. Probably take a few hours. Do you have a sabre saw?

Using your car battery risks a dead battery by burn day. Car batteries aren't designed to be run down as much as DC ones. A small deep cycle battery keeps it separate. Carry along a small charger if you can find someone with a gennie to charge it up midweek or so. This doesn't work for me because I ...

Ready to dry it out and box up.

I tested my cooler today. outdoors, Florida: humidity 49% (reported by wundergrond) ambient temp 86.2 output temp 75.2 difference 11.0 indoors humidity 48% (by meter) ambient temp 78.8 output temp 71.0 difference 7.8 I think I saw somewhere that the higher the ambient temp, the greater difference yo...

Put a second bucket next to it with a hose(about 3/8") arching over from one to the other. (no holes, just fill with water and it will siphon over. doubles your capacity. or add a third . . .
also most pumps will burn up if you run them dry.

orientation is not a variable. It was only long enough in one direction, unless I buy a new larger piece and start over. I am gluing poly foam wedge spacers to the cage on 4 sides to keep it centered in the bucket. Then I'm putting wire nagers on it to loop over the holes to hold it firm to the lid...

orientation is not a variable. It was only long enough in one direction, unless I buy a new larger piece and start over. I am gluing poly foam wedge spacers to the cage on 4 sides to keep it centered in the bucket. Then I'm putting wire nagers on it to loop over the holes to hold it firm to the lid(...