Hexayurts- where to use 3" tape?

[watchyourfeet]

Sorry if this has been answered before, I wasn't able to find anything specific enough by searching.

Our camp is building several hexayurts and we are trying to reduce our tape costs a bit. Several hexayurt guides mention that you can use 3" tape for certain purposes, as well as certain people on these forums. The best answer I've gotten from anyone is "any seam that isn't structurally critical", which is pretty vague. I'm thinking on the "tight seams", the tape on the outside of the seam can be 3" as the only tape that will actually be resisting wind force will be the 6" tape on the inside of the seam (see this for reference on what I mean by tight hinges http://www.appropedia.org/images/0/0e/2 ... onsPDF.pdf).

Any reason this is a terrible idea? If it makes any difference, these will be small yurts. Thanks!

[Meat Hunter]

Google is a good place to start looking for 3" wide tape.

https://www.google.com/#q=3%22+wide+tape&tbm=shop

[watchyourfeet]

Thanks for reading my post before responding.

*Edit: Even if I was looking for a place to buy 3" wide bi-fil tape (which I'm not), your google search would still be useless

[otakup0pe]

[maladroit]

3"tape is ok for places where two panels actually touch at all times. A lot of places on a hexayurt require some sort of gap either for folding or as required by the geometry.

It does not hurt, at all, for you to use 6" tape for every seam and for every edge you tape up. The cost of the tape is pretty minor compared to the rest of the hexayurt, or your trip to the playa in general. The cost of hours spent chasing pieces of hexayurt during Burning Man is up to you to decide.

[andy]

Another way to visualize it is this: you want at least 1.5" of grip surface on each panel. So when you have a tight hinge, you can use 3" on the inside (since there is no gap to span) but for the outside you want 6" tape, because with a sandwich of two 1" boards, you would only get 0.5" of grip on the two faces from 3" tape. The portion of the tape that goes over the edge of the board basically does not count not does tape that jumps a gap between angled boards.

About 3/4 of your yurt of your design will use 6" tape so don't worry too much about using it throughout.

[ACfromSAC]

I use 3" gorilla tape for the center seam of the triangular roof panels and 6" tape everywhere else. There will be a bit of a gap between the rest of the panels so the amount of tape contacting the surface of the panels would be pretty minimal with 3".

[Train Wreck]

That picture is worth a thousand words. Use the 6" and reinforce the fuck out of your yurt. The moop created when they explode from the wind is horrendous.

I've used 6" every year on my 6' yurt and never have I had an issue. The price difference is worth it for the peace of mind IMO. Also worth noting is that the 1.5" or 2" panels are significantly more ridged than the 1"-- my roof cone is made of the 1" and after three years it's starting to show signs of stress.

[watchyourfeet]

Well everything's all built and done so this thread is moot but thanks anyway for the advice everyone!