Worth Building a Monkey Hut for 1-2 People?

[Kelsier]

SOOO excited for my first Burn. Initially I was going to camp with friends at a theme/sound camp, but they decided to not do an official placement this year. I was bummed at first but realized this might be better, because as a first-timer I think I would rather have the freedom to wander and explore and find camps to visit that speak to me.

I started thinking about the infrastructure the camp would have provided me that I would miss. Meal plan? I'd rather take care of my own food so I can eat (or not eat) when I want. Powergrid? Unnecessary. Showers and Grey water evap? I'll sponge bathe and cart out my greywater.. Shelter? Already have my Kodiak tent and plan to buy some Aluminet and maybe build a figjam cooler.

What I realized I would miss most is the companionship and community of a camp (I'm pretty shy most of the time, so having an initial community could help me a lot), and a communal shade area for relaxing/socializing while at camp.

My understanding after reading these forums is that is can be quite easy to form a community with your neighbors in open camping, specially if you check to make sure they aren't assholes (and you do not demonstrate to be one yourself).

So that leaves shade..... Is it worth building a monkey hut for just myself (and my other friend who may be joining)? I'm not sure how much room I'll have in my vehicle, and because of the size of my tent, a standard monkey hut wouldn't work as a tent-shading option. So this would entirely be for chill zone (and a shaded area for my coolers).

Is it bad form to try to buddy up with some neighbors that have an existing shaded area, or is that pretty common in open camping? Of course I'd share the wonderful bounty of food and beverages I bring with my new friends.

[somewhatodd]

Virgin and going solo here...
I've been thinking about building a monkey hut just for me.

You can have the flap extension on one side to cover the tent as well.
I figured I could bring an extra chair or 2 for anyone that wants to share

[TT120]

You absolutely WILL need some kind of shade. You tent will become an oven shortly after the sun comes up so if shading your tent isn't an option, you'll want something you can lounge under during the day. A monkey hut would work great for that. Finding a neighbor with shade is one way to go but I prefer to be completely self reliant and bring my own. What if your neighbor decides to have a Frank Sinatra dance marathon under their shade while your trying to sleep off the hangover from the night before?

[Kelsier]

Frank Sinatra dance marathon? I'm having a hard time thinking of a BETTER reason to go without sleep.

I definitely will need to shade the tent one way or another. It seems that draping and staking aluminet over the canvas tents works pretty well, even without the airspace between the tent and shade cover.

For self reliance reasons it might be worth bringing my own Monkey hut if I have room. Or I can just find out where Somewhatodd is camping and use one of his extra chairs. Perhaps we'll be neighbors!

[TT120]

What about a Rick Astley dance marathon then? LOL. Aluminet will work for shading your tent but the airspace between the tent and the shade material is pretty critical. You'll gain an hour or two of morning sleep time by having that gap. Of course, this is BURNING MAN, WTF are you doing sleeping anyway??? You're missing shit.....

[Kelsier]

Of course, this is BURNING MAN, WTF are you doing sleeping anyway??? You're missing shit.....

My thoughts exactly. I sleep too late in the default world. I can't imagine at the end of the burn I'll be wishing I had spent more time in my tent.

Can FOMO be terminal?

[Captain Goddammit]

Figuring on setting up in the neighbor's shade is pretty much not how it works.

You'll be fucking up if you drape your alumninet directly on your tent with no air space. I'm not sure where you heard the air gap isn't important... it is.

As far as people, there's just no way you won't find people and/or camps to hang with. Everyone out there has something in common, everyone out there worked hard to be there.

Good times are comin'! But get that shade up off your tent a foot or two!

[trilobyte]

I'm nudging this over to building camps & villages, since that's a better fit for discussions about shade structures. Keeping Cool is mostly for things like bucket coolers, misting systems, and personal/camp cooling projects.

It's entirely up to you, your sleep schedule, and your tolerance for extreme temperatures. Without some kind of shade structure, a tent will not only be buffeted by strong winds throughout the week, but it will be subject to the intensity (heat and UV) of the sun in a high altitude desert during daylight hours.

I've known some people who aren't bothered too much by that, but for most people it makes their tent pretty inhospitable while the sun's up. If it doesn't bother you and your campmate, then it may not be worth the bother. If it does, the work and expense for decent shade is priceless.

[Luigi]

I use a 'flat top' over the vw van (with about 8" air gap) and sitting area, sometimes slant walls depending on wind conditions. Silver heavy duty tarp, not a fan of the aluminet stuff. Shade is up there in the top three must haves - water, shade, bike.

You are going to love it. Whatever you do for shade remember it will be windy and a loose tarp will drive you crazy.

Any one ever build a 'mini monkey hut' ?

[Chowski]

You will hear alternate opinions, but I burned with a 10 x 10 carport as my shade for four years before it died (off playa). I always parked my car to block the wind, then set up the tent in the lee of the car and angled the ez-up to cover as much of the tent as possible, with some kind of curtain (bedsheets) to block the rising sun. A solid-top on the carport makes it more likely to catch the wind, so I used a camo netting twice and aluminet twice, but I've seen many ezups with just the standard solid top do fine. Having a little shade over your tent and little place to sit will save your life at burning man. Just make sure you use nice heavy stakes to keep it down. I use the tall green T-stakes and duct tape the crap out of it. You really don't have to build a whole monkey hut, unless you want to, but a loosely-tied tarp will drive you crazy with noise once the wind starts.

[BBadger]

If you can fit it on your trailer or vehicle, and don't use something like a carport, it's worth building a monkeyhut even just for one person. Some of the best shade experiences I've had were under a monkeyhut, and they can definitely fit two tents or a tent and a chill space easily.

Oh, and if you're not thinking of bringing shade at all you should just sell your ticket now and stay home.

[tamarakay]

Yep, what he said. You can cut your pvc short enough to fit in you car and sleeve it together with slightly smaller diameter pipe.

[Elorrum]

Monkey huts are so well suited to the environment there. They are tensioned by design and are quiet. That said, I find them a bit cavelike and uninviting to just wandering in to say hello. They feel rather private to me, and not perfect for watching the passing show. If they contain a tent and kitchen, You sit along the sides facing the others who are lucky enough to fit along the other side. Perfect for tent, kitchen and seating for a few. Perfect for one or two people. I admit i am biased mainly against them as a person with no storage space and a very small car. I prefer a more open feel, sleep in an unshaded tent mainly waking in the heat, and napping in the open shade later. I like kelty's shade structures, have used a tripod design with tie outs and a chair in the windward corner. (2 yrs.) Big tipi design North Pole shade has also been great (7 yrs). Both can fold up and fit in a bag in an apartment closet (and do!)

[BBadger]

Monkey huts are so well suited to the environment there. They are tensioned by design and are quiet. That said, I find them a bit cavelike and uninviting to just wandering in to say hello.

Yeah, they're kind of cave-like, personal, and uninviting. At my old camp we brought monkeyhuts for our sleeping arrangements, where they were awesome, and had a carport with only the roof cover and a shade cloth to one of the sides for the chill space. Worked really well and our little shaded area under the carport was actually more popular than the camp's common area.

[VultureChow]

Having built a monkey hut just for myself, I highly recommend it. While I agree that it does have a less welcoming look for guests, it was perfect for me in that it allowed for guests and shade, but also expanded my living space. It feels kind of private and I was happy to change clothes in it even though it was open to the street.

Also... I'm on a mission to fancy up the Monkey Hut. If a crochet cover can hold up to last year's storms, lots of other fabric and covers can too. Say gold spandex. Or 1000 pair of panties stitched together. No one needs to live in a drab gray hut.

[lucky420]

Having built a monkey hut just for myself, I highly recommend it. While I agree that it does have a less welcoming look for guests, it was perfect for me in that it allowed for guests and shade, but also expanded my living space. It feels kind of private and I was happy to change clothes in it even though it was open to the street.

Also... I'm on a mission to fancy up the Monkey Hut. If a crochet cover can hold up to last year's storms, lots of other fabric and covers can too. Say gold spandex. Or 1000 pair of panties stitched together. No one needs to live in a drab gray hut.

1000 panties! I just wouldn't have the patience and that could get quite expensive but I love that idea. I fancy up my monkey hut with groovy tapestries....

[Kelsier]

Unfortunately my behemoth of a tent won't fit under a monkey hut without serious modifications, but I can potentially see running something off of the monkey hut to build some shade for my tent. I realize that one way or another I'll have to shade that thing, unless sleep isn't important to me.... The hut would mostly be for socializing, cooking, etc. If I've got room in whatever vehicle i'm bringing, I definitely think I'll want to go that route.

Of course, lots of time till the burn. Plenty of opportunity to scrap rework all of my plans multiple times.

[Elorrum]

my friends brought this one for a few years. very open, and great for watching the show.

dale shade ls.JPG