Tent Life

[T-bone]

I'm a BM virgin with grand ideas of going to the Playa this year. Most likely solo. The tent I'll be lugging out there is an off-brand 5-6 man generic dome tent. 10' sq and 6' tall, freestanding, two poles. Comes with plenty of tie-downs, especially if the rain-fly is on. Can I expect this to survive the week in one piece, or will a pole snap in the first windstorm? Windbreaks may or may not be an option depending on how I get there and the kindness of strangers too.

If I still have your attention, what about locking up your valuables? Not that I'm paranoid of someone pilfering my personals, but would like to keep honest people honest I may or may not be flying there, and am not relying on having a vehicle to lock things up in. I read somewhere else that it is a good idea to secure your water to keep it from walking away as well. A padlock on the zipper of my tent just seems silly....

[sputnik]

My tent is very similar to this and did fine this past year, but I missed the Monday wind. Anyway, tie it down well, include the rainfly. Be sure to bring rebar stakes. I like to bend them into a candy cane and then drive the into the ground so the end won't hurt people. Try to find someone with a motorhome and camp downwind of them.

[phil]

>SNIP<
The tent I'll be lugging out there is an off-brand 5-6 man generic dome tent. 10' sq and 6' tall, freestanding, two poles.
>SNIP<
Can I expect this to survive the week in one piece, or will a pole snap in the first windstorm? Windbreaks may or may not be an option depending on how I get there and the kindness of strangers too.

I'd bet not, given the size and only 2 poles. I had a 5-6 person Sierra Dome with three poles break a pole during a windstorm before dawn. It was blown down on us, hitting us in the face before the pole broke. But who can tell? It might weather all the weather fine. Bring a backup.

If I still have your attention, what about locking up your valuables? Not that I'm paranoid of someone pilfering my personals, but would like to keep honest people honest :wink: I may or may not be flying there, and am not relying on having a vehicle to lock things up in. I read somewhere else that it is a good idea to secure your water to keep it from walking away as well. A padlock on the zipper of my tent just seems silly.... :?:

Again, who can tell. Louise and I have never had anything stolen. A friend of ours came back to his camp and found his tent and all its contents gone. Bring a backup.

[capjbadger]

I agree with Phil. After doing Ren Faires for about 10 years now, I've seen all kinda of tents in all kinda of weather. Dome tents don't stand up well to high winds. At best, you'll be kept awake by flapping tent and getting smacked in the face with the bowing tent walls. At worst, you're looking at broken poles or a tent flying miles downwind (or even worst, smashed into someone else's camp).

[DoctorIknow]

The tent will probably be fine. I have a "four room" tent, a really cheap Coleman, and it's done fine for the last six years, and I only used 15" rebar's in the four corners, and 12" ones on the rest of the sewn in tie downs. No additional guy ropes or bracing.

However (and this is a HUGE however) the shade structure you put OVER the tent is VITAL for any kind of life in the tent after 7am until about 6pm.

And, not only that, the shade should extend either far enough OUT or go down 90degrees to surround at least two sides of the tent (two if you care about sleeping late, three if you want to save yourself from RELENTLESS late afternoon sun.

The easiest shade, and VERY expensive, is a nursery product called Aluminet. It's like a crumpled mylar, reflective, with great breathability. The huge advantage of it over most anything else is it can be stretched right over a freestanding tent, where as other materials might either be too heavy for that, or more likely, transfer the heat right to the tent.

Camo netting (think military) is great, but takes lots of support, and is bulky.

Lots of people, including myself, have used Swedish Snow Blind material, , VERY CHEAP, which is basically like Tyvek that you find in Home Depot, but with hundreds of holes cut thru it. It comes with rope and ties running down two sides. It is discussed a bunch in this thread:

http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic. ... ight=shade

[Gravity Mike]

My big 10x16 3 room tent is dome style and a cheapy. I was there for the insane wind. No pole broke, but the tent did blow down flat and spill bong water. My zipper did malfunction, and I couldn't fully zip the tent closed for the rest of the week.

This past year I put some aluminet over my tent and I highly recomend it. It might work even better if I could get some separation (aluminet 1 foot higher than tent fly), but I could actually spend some time in my tent during the day!

The hardest part with tent camping at BM is water and showering. My theme camp is tent campers mostly, but we rent a truck to bring in lots of water with a shower set up. This is hard to do solo - but you can sponge bath or something like that.

Gravity

[phil]

I put some aluminet over my ten

Did you find that it collected dust?

[DoctorIknow]

...My zipper did malfunction, and I couldn't fully zip the tent closed for the rest of the week.

Gravity

Most tent zippers are "fine" toothed, just perfect to get jammed by playa dust. I've found that using one of those pressurized "spritz" bottles (they look like bike water bottles except with a pump handle coming out of it, and they have a two foot narrow diameter hose with a quality brass spritz nozzle on the end) and running the mist over all the zippers after any dust storm keeps 'em operating fine. There is very little spill into the tent.

Speaking of tents, if anyone is buying a new one, I think there are four basic rules:

1----NEVER get one that has a net ceiling. (This "feature" seems to be in about 90% of all big tents these days!) All openings MUST be able to have flaps that zip over them. If you think you can just tape or glue some plastic over it, well, the tape and glue may fail in the heat.

2----Bigger is better. Standing shouldn't be restricted to one spot under the peak.

3----Cheaper can be just as good as some expedition tent. Spend no more than $190 for a 8 x 17 footer.

4----If you don't shade it, you will rarely be a happy camper.

oh, and sort of related:

5-----If you use an air mattrass, put something substancial between your skin and the mattrass, like a thick blanket... the cold air inside the air mattrass will sap your heat and your body won't like it....no matter how many covers you have on top of you, it won't make any difference...

[robotland]

And don't forget a pad or mattress or SOMETHING to put between you and the playa...I've been known to lazy out and just put down a tent, throw a sleeping bag in it and call it good- But NOT out there. Hard as a rock! You'll want extra insulation at night anyway, as earlier stated. The dramatic temp change is one of the biggest "camping surprises" for newbies on the playa.

[AntiM]

Our big dome tent lost a pole in high winds at Synorgy, 65 mph. Try to acquire spare poles, and moster tent stakes/rebar.

We usually use a two man sleeper/backpacker tent under a carport. Of course, nothing but sleep and other horizontal activities can happen in there, the carport becomes our open-air shaded home. Good thing we're not modest. I like the bug-in-a-rug snuggle feeling of sleeping in a small tent; the years we've used the large one it got too dusty inside and I slept badly if it got windy. Matter of preference that's all. As for the mesh top, we leave the rainfly off and use springclamps to secure a quilt or thick bedspread over the tent, keeps the dust out beautifullly. Remember to MAKE your BED, so if the dust does get in, it is sleeping on top of your covers, not inside the blankies with you.

We do keep our valubles locked up, but have never had anything taken when we didn't. Except in Reno, dammit, bag of costumes from the roof carrier.

One of our co-campers uses a big three room dome tent and it has done well; even stood up to the high winds which ate our pole.

[falk]

1----NEVER get one that has a net ceiling.

This is worth saying twice. You need to be able to completely seal the tent. I spent one night in a tent that had mesh vents on it, and it was the most miserable dusty place on the playa.

One more thing: The stakes that come with the tent are no good on the playa. Make some proper rebar stakes.

[Kinetic IV]

Every year when I start rethinking my shelter plans for the playa this image always comes to mind. It quickly reminds me of what I'm up against and to prepare accordingly.



It also validates all of the advice given so far. Need good tent stakes? Yes. Need strong tent poles? Yes. And Robotland's comment covers something that doesn't get mentioned much but should be. The temperature swings at night can really be a shocker for the unprepared. I learned that lesson the hard way. Never again.

[Atar]

Couple Q's:

Speaking of tents, if anyone is buying a new one, I think there are four basic rules:

1----NEVER get one that has a net ceiling. (This "feature" seems to be in about 90% of all big tents these days!) All openings MUST be able to have flaps that zip over them. If you think you can just tape or glue some plastic over it, well, the tape and glue may fail in the heat.

Is that no 'Mesh' ceiling or actually 'anything other than solid fabric' ceiling?

5-----If you use an air mattrass, put something substancial between your skin and the mattrass, like a thick blanket... the cold air inside the air mattrass will sap your heat and your body won't like it....no matter how many covers you have on top of you, it won't make any difference...

Would an emergency blanket do it? (example)

[AntiM]

Personally, I couldn't stand the crinkle factor of sleeping on an emergency blanket. Try it beforehand to see if it suits you. Eggcrate foam is bulky, but I like it. An extra sleeping bag just as under padding? A good thick blanket or quilt?

We've given up on the air mattresses and gone to a self-inflating backpacker mattress (memory foam in a vented cover?) with an eggcrate titty pad, flannel sheets and a pile of small blanket throw thingies. I have a cotton bedspread to spread out over it while we're not in it to keep any dust off the bedding. I bring an extra set of sheets and leave them in the vehicle, you never know when they'll be needed. We have a cot in camp which is not in the tent for daytime napping. Of course, this all depends on the size of your set-up, we have lots of shade, if you're simply tenting then your needs will be different.

Because we use a tiny tent there's no extraneous activty dust-raising such as shoes and boots and changing clothes in the tent. We even baby wipe our feet before going to bed. Maybe you could hang a sheet between your sleep area and your active area if you're in a larger tent.

(I am not anal-retentive, really, I just have asthma)

[phil]

Would an emergency blanket do it?

These things don't breathe, so try it before hand. With it under you, it might be okay, but if it's over you, your breath and perspiration will collect on the underside and soak whatever blanket/sleeping bag/etc is underneath it.

Also, if it's slick, you may end up sliding off the air mattress. Check it out before you try it on the playa. Maybe consider putting it between the mattress and the ground?

As an aside, I've slept on air mattresses on the playa and not felt any discomfort from cold seeping up into my bag. I've also camped down in Eureka Valley (just north of Death Valley) on several Thanksgivings with overnight lows in the teens with nothing betwen my air mattress and me but the sleeping bag and longjohns. Mileages vary, so some may be cold and some may not.

[Atar]

Would an emergency blanket do it?

These things don't breathe, so try it before hand. With it under you, it might be okay, but if it's over you, your breath and perspiration will collect on the underside and soak whatever blanket/sleeping bag/etc is underneath it.

Also, if it's slick, you may end up sliding off the air mattress. Check it out before you try it on the playa. Maybe consider putting it between the mattress and the ground?

As an aside, I've slept on air mattresses on the playa and not felt any discomfort from cold seeping up into my bag. I've also camped down in Eureka Valley (just north of Death Valley) on several Thanksgivings with overnight lows in the teens with nothing betwen my air mattress and me but the sleeping bag and longjohns. Mileages vary, so some may be cold and some may not.

Its actually the other way around. Your body gives off too much heat to the mattress. Because your body wants to stay warm and the warmth is seeping off into the cold mattress you will wake up with less energy. The energy simply went into keeping your body up to temperature. I have no idea how emergency blankets work though, so I asked if it would work I'm flying in from Holland and I can pack an emergency blanket because they pack up to about the size of a dinnerplate. Extra normal blankets would add to the weight and size of my baggage and I don't want that
I guess you just have a well insulated sleeping bag though. Or have you ever felt you woke up with less energy than you would normally at home?

[phil]

Or have you ever felt you woke up with less energy than you would normally at home?

I always feel I wake up with less energy than I would normally at home. Even when I wake up at home.

[CLARKcon]

That sized tent should work just fine. Remember: Aerodynamics. It actually seems like smaller tents work better, as they are lower to the ground, and have less surface area, the less risk of essentially turning your tent into a fabric wind sail. Plus, it doesn't hurt to be nestled in the middle of the block, surrounded by larger tents/art intallations.

[phil]

Mileages vary, so some may be cold and some may not.

Its actually the other way around.

Oops, sorry. Some may be hot and some may not.

[Atar]

Sorry phil, I meant to quote this part of your text:

As an aside, I've slept on air mattresses on the playa and not felt any discomfort from cold seeping up into my bag.

I hope it makes more sense that way

[Gravity Mike]

I have no idea how emergency blankets work though, so I asked if it would work :)

These emergency blankets work the same way as aliminet - but without the ventilation holes. Basically, they reflect infrared radiation, which is heat radiation. The problem with sleepin on the ground is that the ground gets cold and steels your heat. The emergency blanket will stop 'radiated' heat, but will not insulate against 'conductive' heat.

Translate to English: if you wrap an icecube in an emergency blanket and then touch it, you will feel the cold of the ice, just as if it were wrapped in plain plastic! If the emergency blanket were 'near' the ice and you tried to feel the ice, it would have insulating properties compared to holding your finger near the ice without any barrier.

Results: I wouldn't sleep on one of those. You need something that puffs up and holds air to insulate you from the ground. If space is an issue for those flying in from far off places, you need a backpacking style insulating pad. You sleeping bag doesn't provide this protection cuz you squash it flat and bassically have 1mm of synthetic between you and the ground, not good.

Most 'conductive' insulators are just holders of air. If you stop air from moving around, it makes a great insulator. Look at double pain windows. And regular fiberglass wall insulation, your jacket, etc. just hold a layer of air in place, so that there is a gradual change from cold on one side to hot on the other. Without the medium holding the air in place, the air can freely move from hot to cold and transfer heat more effectively.

Gravity

[Atar]

I have both a lightweight airmattress and a sleeping bag, together they are under 2 kilo's. But someone suggested you insulate yourself from the mattress since the air does not warm up and will drain energy from your body. I now believe an emergency blanket would be ideal for that purpose, because of the size and because of the properties you described.

[phil]

As I've said, mileages vary and some may be cold and some not, but I don't see a need for an insulating barrier between the air mattress and the ground during the nights at Burning Man. It's not that cold at night.

[Gravity Mike]

I have both a lightweight airmattress and a sleeping bag, together they are under 2 kilo's. But someone suggested you insulate yourself from the mattress since the air does not warm up and will drain energy from your body. I now believe an emergency blanket would be ideal for that purpose, because of the size and because of the properties you described.

Yeah, that probably would help. Although I generally agree with the assessment that it's not that cold at BM, we shouldn't have to do anything extraordinary - but all our bodies generate different amounts of heat (my wife's from the tropics, her hands are ice cold for 10 minutes after washing her hands in 90-degree weather!), so do what works for you. I've been warm for years in a junky CostCo sleeping bag on top of a standard 4-inch-thick air matress - but that's me.

Gravity

[Atar]

What kind of temperatures can be expected at night? My sleeping bag is comfortable until about 5 degrees Celcius (41 fahrenheit). If thats not good enough I can allways buy some all cotton sweatpants and shirt for 2 dollars and sleep in those, then burn them at the end

[Lassen Forge]

Last year was unusually chilly at night - so much so that the city was relatively quiet for a few hours at night (relatively being a relative term - this *is* Black Rock City, after all). I'm guessing that it probably got below 40.

What worked best for me (tho I had a +5 bag and an arctic mummy bag) was blankets and comforters - if you gotta make that "late night JOTS run" you can always wrap yourself in one of them to get there and back. You can also shake them out a lot easier when they get dust-laden (and they will). BTW - even tho it's more expensive, Wool works better than Cotton.

Also, something I found out a long time ago camping - (1) you stay warmer if you sleep naked, and (2) you stay warmer still if you sleep nakked with someone! >>grins<< Something to think about!

bb

[Ugly Dougly]

I put some aluminet over my ten

Did you find that it collected dust?

What, I ask you, will not collect dust?

[Lassen Forge]

People who miss Burning Man this year? >grins<


Poor souls...


bb

[phil]

re: aluminet

What, I ask you, will not collect dust?

I've read on the AEZ web site that aluminet is particularly nasty about collecting dust. My fear is that I'll end up living under a ceiling that pours dust on me if I accidentally touch it or when any breeze ripples the fabric. It's bad enough on the playa without living under a dust trap.

Just wondering if the post I read overstated the case.

[robotland]

From my observations, Aluminet DOES retain more dust than, say, a tarp...It can't slide down and either pool up or fall off because of its woven-from-strips consistency. But there's no way you AIN'T gonna get dusty.
For the past couple of years, nighttime temps have gotten down to the low thirties. Confirmed by instrument readings. My self-inflating Slumberjack pad LITERALLY saved my ass. Highly recommended. Good for under your tushie when sleeping in a hammock, too. Just gotta remember the leg warmers to augment the Utilikilt this time...longjohns violate the tradition of "Scottish freedom".