Shade Structures: Shade Mesh vs. Poly Tarps? What say you?

[Packoderm]

The heavy duty tarps with silver on one side and white on the other completely blocks out the sun. On the other hand, the mesh tarps allow wind to pass through. My shade structure is of the flat roof variety. It is 1" EMT, and is gusseted. I cannot seem to find aluminet in standard cut sizes at affordable prices. I am standing under two layers of 70% black shade mesh suspended 8 feet above me, and I still feel hot. Not as hot as in the sun of course. The direct sun is 120 degrees and it is 100 degrees under the mesh. Am I hoping for too much? Lastly, did you feel more favorable toward Pee Wee Herman after he did that dance at the biker bar?

[Trishntek]

Personally, I'm all about hard shade. We use 14mil HD silver tarp on our structure. There are camp mates who bring shade material to tie from our structure to their RV's but they don't have much of a frame.

1" EMT is not much of a frame for tarps. I would not have much confidence in that frame with polytarps.

Never liked Peewee Herman,,,,,jus' sayin'

[Packoderm]

About Pee Wee Herman - He was a bit misunderstood.

[Trishntek]

So if your frame has 7' spacing between posts, it would probably support polytarps through a good blow on the playa. Make sure the tarps have grommets every 18" to spread the load.

Can't remember his real name, but the PeeWee Herman actor's best role was in the movie BLOW

[FIGJAM]

I like gray tarps because of the price.

Paul Rubens as the hamburger dude in Nice dreams.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ocv5WdBmSok

[Bob]

He was awesome in Blow.

[Bob]

But really, how come no one brings chicken tractors?

[motskyroonmatick]

The heavy duty tarps with silver on one side and white on the other completely blocks out the sun. On the other hand, the mesh tarps allow wind to pass through. My shade structure is of the flat roof variety. It is 1" EMT, and is gusseted. I cannot seem to find aluminet in standard cut sizes at affordable prices. I am standing under two layers of 70% black shade mesh suspended 8 feet above me, and I still feel hot. Not as hot as in the sun of course. The direct sun is 120 degrees and it is 100 degrees under the mesh. Am I hoping for too much? Lastly, did you feel more favorable toward Pee Wee Herman after he did that dance at the biker bar?

I think shade cloth in other colors than black feel cooler underneath. It seems to me that the black cloth radiates as heat more of the energy it intercepts. Just my unscientific thoughts on the matter. Last year we found it necessary to augment the shade cloth with a tarp on the hottest day. Might be something there in just going with the tarp....a horrible thing for a die hard shade fan to say..

Pee Wee Herman does not bother me. He was good in Blow.

[Packoderm]

I'm in the process of experimenting with the shade. I now have a blue and white striped shade mesh tarp over a black mesh. It measures 98 degrees under both the shade canopy and under the patio of my house (total shade). According to the weather site, it is 92 degrees with 35% humidity. I'm committed to making the coolest shade structure possible, and I'll do what it takes - hopefully without going broke.

Last year, I remember the heat getting trapped under the red and yellow poly tarps. Maybe the silver tarps that totally block the sun's rays are better for this. I'll get a silver tarp to experiment. I think the mesh would be safer in a wind storm however. I do plan on using mesh for side walls.

I felt that after the bikers accepted him as one of their own, Pee Wee accomplished a redemption of himself to that of the masculine male model.

[Casanova]

I was also thinking of Using a White Tarp on top and black mesh on the sides of my stucture

[Packoderm]

I was also thinking of Using a White Tarp on top and black mesh on the sides of my stucture

Despite the wind danger, you might want to use solid silver tarps on the sides. You can see the old and unattractive people through the mesh.

I have wondered about spraying an aluminum paint on the sunny side of the black mesh.

[Bob]

Polypropylene is pretty much designed to resist paint, you'll just end up with silver glitter.

[Packoderm]

Polypropylene is pretty much designed to resist paint, you'll just end up with silver glitter.

Maybe. That's what experimenting is for. A light dusting might stick. I know it's really hard to remove when I spray it on it on accident.

[Bob]

Considered gluing mirror tiles on that puppy?

[Packoderm]

Considered gluing mirror tiles on that puppy?

I can picture the scene: There is the sound of strong wind and then the sound of crashing glass followed by a loud scream in the distance. Still seated with a beer in our hands, somebody mutters, "Yep, there went another one."

[Bob]

C'mon, you wouldn't be the first to sacrifice yourself for fashion.

[Packoderm]

Considered gluing mirror tiles on that puppy?

Maybe securing CDs might be the ticket.

Space Lounge 98

[Packoderm]

The shade is pretty cool now.

[BetaBox]

I have used various mixes of tarps and shade fabric. I do love the complete blackout with the tarp, but after some scary windstorms, I now lean towards shade fabric. If you have a small setup or a nice support lattice/structure, tarps can be a great way to keep cool if ventilation is thought about and the tarps block out 99.999% of the light.

Here's a pic of last years setup
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/H ... directlink

[Savannah]

Nice, Betabox.

My shade (shade fabric also) is similarly flat and works out well (although mine is a smaller footprint, so I don't shade my tent with it).

[ibdave]

About Pee Wee Herman - He was a bit misunderstood.

My Camp-mates and I, enjoyed some down town with Paul and David Arrquette about 4 years ago at our friends camp. Later the camp-mates partied late into the night at Paul/Davids camp.

you never know who shows up...

[Elorrum]

"Never drop names." is what Paul McCartney told me.

[Packoderm]

The biker scene notwithstanding, my favorite part of the movie was when he was working in the hotel lobby. He conveyed so much even though his voice was overdubbed.


I'm looking into discount compact discs to attach to the tarps.

[BBadger]

I think shade cloth in other colors than black feel cooler underneath. It seems to me that the black cloth radiates as heat more of the energy it intercepts. Just my unscientific thoughts on the matter. Last year we found it necessary to augment the shade cloth with a tarp on the hottest day. Might be something there in just going with the tarp....a horrible thing for a die hard shade fan to say..

Your intuition is correct. The black material probably has a higher emissivity which is the property of a material to emit absorbed radiation. The property also affects how the material absorbs the radiation as well. A white shade cloth, with a lower emissivity would better reflect light that it is not supposed to penetrate it, whereas the black material will absorb that light and radiate it, and not necessarily back towards where it came from.

[DoctorIknow]

Military camo has worked incredibly well for me for 11 burns. I double layer it, as the stuff is famous for having gaps. I suspend it from wire, 4 eight foot 2x4 posts (yes, 2x4's), rectangle size 30 feet x 18 feet. Three sides are shaded.

The stuff is a little moopy, and a pain in the ass to suspend because I never dust or wash the stuff after each burn. Also, it doesn't store near as efficiently as shade cloth or tarps.

However, the wind passes thru much better than with shade cloth, and the patterns of light/shadow on the tent are great.

It also SOUNDS good.

I do notice it's getting more expensive. I haven't seen a REAL army navy store for years, and the crap at make believe "outdoor" stores sucks. Try:

http://www.majorsurplus.com/New-Commerc ... 15859.aspx

or this one has white camo:
http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/ensemble ... =112191778

very expensive, but some great camo netting:
http://www.usnetting.com/HTML/camo-netting.html

and some nice pics (I made my own "spreaders" for "net sag" from bowls from a 99cent store and some 10 foot 2x2's
http://www.camonettingstore.com/

Good luck

[Sail Man]

Military camo has worked incredibly well for me for 11 burns. I double layer it, as the stuff is famous for having gaps. I suspend it from wire, 4 eight foot 2x4 posts (yes, 2x4's), rectangle size 30 feet x 18 feet. Three sides are shaded.

The stuff is a little moopy, and a pain in the ass to suspend because I never dust or wash the stuff after each burn. Also, it doesn't store near as efficiently as shade cloth or tarps.

However, the wind passes thru much better than with shade cloth, and the patterns of light/shadow on the tent are great.

It also SOUNDS good.

I do notice it's getting more expensive. I haven't seen a REAL army navy store for years, and the crap at make believe "outdoor" stores sucks. Try:

http://www.majorsurplus.com/New-Commerc ... 15859.aspx

or this one has white camo:
http://www.cabelas.com/catalog/ensemble ... =112191778

very expensive, but some great camo netting:
http://www.usnetting.com/HTML/camo-netting.html

and some nice pics (I made my own "spreaders" for "net sag" from bowls from a 99cent store and some 10 foot 2x2's
http://www.camonettingstore.com/

Good luck

This is where I get mine Vermont' Barre Army Navy Surplus

[MyDearFriend]

Thank you guys, I feel a lot better about my aluminet now. I read so much about needing to block 100% of the light, getting a dust bath every time I touch the stuff etc that I was really getting worried. But I didn't have a choice, really, since I don't have the size or strength to wrestle with a solid tarp and, fuck needing help from the get-go, for real.

So it is very nice to know that incomplete and breezy shade can be effective. Seriously, I will sleep better now.

[motskyroonmatick]

I think shade cloth in other colors than black feel cooler underneath. It seems to me that the black cloth radiates as heat more of the energy it intercepts. Just my unscientific thoughts on the matter. Last year we found it necessary to augment the shade cloth with a tarp on the hottest day. Might be something there in just going with the tarp....a horrible thing for a die hard shade fan to say..

Your intuition is correct. The black material probably has a higher emissivity which is the property of a material to emit absorbed radiation. The property also affects how the material absorbs the radiation as well. A white shade cloth, with a lower emissivity would better reflect light that it is not supposed to penetrate it, whereas the black material will absorb that light and radiate it, and not necessarily back towards where it came from.

WOHOO! YES!!!!! (fist pump)

[danibel]

Considered gluing mirror tiles on that puppy?

Maybe securing CDs might be the ticket.

Space Lounge 98

A use for all those useless left over CD's! Thank you Thank you! How did they attach them?

[DoctorIknow]

[quote]A use for all those useless left over CD's! Thank you Thank you! How did they attach them?[/quote]

However they did it, I would bet money that at one point during the labor, they wished they'd gone a different direction. Making individual panels of ANY material for a dome is very time consuming. Even worse is making a cover that is wind, water, sun resistant, and on top of that, make ventilation possible.