Link in my email didn't work. Got in the sale via link in my profile. See the spinning arrows until about 3:00 PDT Then see the "you're early..." for a while. Now see "main sale has ended" at 3:20 PDT. It is bad enough not to get tickets, but worse when incompetence decides who goes and who does not...

I attempted to enter sale from the link supplied by email. No response at 12:01 I entered sale from my profile. See the same screen now at 1:50 My wife entered sale from her profile. After a while her screen went all white and nothing now at 1:50. The usual sale problems. Guess burners aren't progra...

Hi Fixxer, I can pick a little. After 7 years of trying I'm an intermediate player. Definitely not professional by any stretch. 2015 will be my wife and I second burn and our friend Deb's first. It's early now but maybe a BG camp would be fun...!? We're completely self contained experienced off-road...

Don't overlook the root cause of ticket shortages: this event is held on public land. I can imagine BMorg increasing the number of tickets towards the demand. That's how America works. Make more money after all. But the attendance is set by the land managers. Your gov't at work. If no ticket the bas...

I'm in! Dust time!
By the way all the stress is your Gov't at work. Like getting a campsite in Yosemite Valley, a ticket to BM has a lot to do with regulation of public lands...

Seeeeee Yaaaaa!

Looking for a name..."command module"?

Here's the post-playa 2014 roundup. Tent worked really well. Air inside the tent ran at exterior air temperature. The sun fly performed as hoped. We placed blankets between the interior poles and the tent wall to keep heat flux down for the A/C. This had the added effect of dampening the noise some....

Tubes fit loosely. I suspect that joint failures are due to bending stress at the joint. Since the tent edge is pegged to the ground, wind stress on the side of the tent should place just downward force on the tubes. And there are 8 in just a small area to divide up the force. If there is a mechanic...

Here are the completed photos. First is inside looking up. You can see the plastic PVC pipe receiver with tent poles inserted, holding up the tent. Note that this plastic assembly has a fabric jacket that has velcro on its outside. The tent top has straps with velcro and so makes a very strong attac...

Jumping ahead through many hours of work, here are pictures of the final result. Well, I guess not. The system won't let me upload pictures since I just did this. Guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow.

After the tent is complete it is time to make the sun fly. This is constructed of 'pie wedges' cut in the same way as the tent. I seamed a perimeter nylon web at the bottom but didn't bother to reinforce the seams with nylon web. I just installed nylon web at regular intervals from top to bottom, ma...

Here is the door being sewn at the detail stitching step and the top. I placed an additional fabric disk at over this stitching to keep the rain out.

Now it's time to sew. First the tent floor is sewn together, and cut to proper diameter. Next all the "pie slices" are cut. Next is fabrication of various features: 1) floor vents and flaps 2) door with window and screen 3) diametrical reinforcements (3) 4) top vents Next the detail work on the pie ...

So now that the cutting is established, it's time for a little modeling to foresee what the top flat part will be like. Here's a picture of a paper cone. IMG_2978.JPG I made the cone first, then cut it in the expected way that each of the panel "pie slices" will be up at the top. I then folded all t...

Here's the next installment. The diagram shows the pattern for cutting the sides. I show my usual 1/2" seam allowance. Turns out a cone is efficiently cut from fabric of any width. I just keep cutting the patterns out until I have sufficient perimeter to be longer than the perimeter of the tent floo...

So, a strong word of caution. PVC connectors shatter in wind.The PVC may bend, but the connectors are a much harder plastic. Under surprisingly small tensions, they will explode. I have learned this this hard way on playa. Rule for PVC building on playa: 1" Sch 40 PVC minimum, no couplers. Thanks! ...

Here are the design details. The cross section of the Teepee will be cross section.jpg Notice that the top will not go all the way to the point but will be flattened. This is necessary to provide space for the top connection for the supporting poles. I had originally planned a vent here but on consi...

Here's the progress report: On the sewing machine front, I discovered that my AC clutch-motor is a 3600 RPM but there exist 1800 rpm versions with the same HP rating. So equivalent HP at different RPM means different torques, HP being torque times rpm. I traded my motor and $50 for a very old 1800 r...

Yep, screws will work. Shoulda thought of this on my own... EMT: The oak verses the palm. I'm with the palm as an overall strategy. I'm just planning the tent will bend and not break. As for the servo motor sewing machine, here's a link to a video that compares the machine I was planning to purchase...

Thanks for needle info. I visited my sewing shop and now my knowledge of needles is vast... which is to say that I have found the size among the numbers. I now have 14, 18, and 20. Unlike wire gauge, #20 is much larger than #14. He told me to use #14 for the aluminum material and so that's what I'm ...

I ordered a 'servo' motor today to replace the AC motor on the machine. It will come in next week. They say I can turn a knob on the motor and set the speed. So I expect to be able to shift the gears down to something a little more manageable. I'll take a picture when I've mounted the new motor. The...

Sorry, not a Singer. It's a cheap knock-off IMG_2838.JPG Purchased it off Craig's List for $250 from someone who had it stuffed in the crawl space under their porch and then had to have about $250 repairs made. Works well but it only has one trick: sew forward and reverse. I've used it for a bunch o...

Ulisse: Thanks for calculation. The ecofoil supplier claims 97% reflectivity so maybe I'm down to 30 W/m^2. Anyway its the best I can do so I'll have to take what I can get. As for 4" distance between truck and cover, this doesn't do much about radiation but the distance is there to allow the heated...

I received the PM below from GreyCoyote and, because it contains so much useful and detailed info, am posting it here with permission. Sent: Sun Mar 16, 2014 6:04 am From: GreyCoyote To: mhead Hey: Wanted to share something I learned using very similar material to what you have posted in the "Teepee...

Tested sewing the new ecofoil. Material sews well. The resulting seam, even if doubled, can be pulled apart by hand although with a lot of effort. The inner plastic fails first, followed by the thread weave. IMG_2834.JPG I tried backing the ecofoil with tyvek. This really works well. The resulting m...

Yes I saw aluminet in other posts. I was concerned that I could not join this material by sewing. And if the wind gets thru the net it will hit the tent underneath so I might as well plan to resist wind at the sun fly level as plan to resist it at the tent. And like you say, material is already here...

Materials are beginning to arrive. I'll put these in from time to time. A bill of materials will gradually develop. Today's arrival is the outer 'sun fly' (as in rain fly). Material ordered from EcoFoil http://www.ecofoil.com/All-Products/Radiant-Barrier-Perforated/Radiant-Barrier-Perforated-4-x-125...

Thanks for advice! The most important is the PVC. Did your camp mate's structure die from heat distortion or did it die because the pvc wasn't rigid enough and bowed? I suppose you could tell if heat distortion since maybe you saw the dome disassembled for removal. If heat then the pipes would retai...

Sunbeam56 - thanks for zipper info. I usually purchase these from Rochford supply. I'll have a bill of materials and suppliers later after I make the purchases. Today's addition is a concept sketch of the inner support for Teepee. Not a single pole, but multiple angled supports - like the plains Ind...

So here is the concept (downsized my sketch to fit 1/4MB): Sketch1.jpg Here is how it is responsive to the goals: 1)Teepee construction technique Obvious from the sketch 2)Space for 2 to 3 persons and related gear for 1 week. This will be established by choosing the base diameter and peak height. I'...