How much will playa dust scratch clear vinyl (a zorb)?

[maladroit]

This isn't about Jeep windows.

[Mojojita]

I would never bring anything with a soft top to the playa. The alkali has an effect on most materials and it does not blow off in the wind. Every single surface will be coated with it. It does not wipe off either.

[Popeye]

I'm asking about the vinyl windows on a cloth top for a jeep or similar vehicle. The flexible rubber-y kind, not hard plastic or glass windows. Does it adhere well enough that you have to wipe it off, or does it get blown off when the wind gusts?

It will not get blown off. PVC feels smooth because the pores or valleys are so close together. Dust will accumulate.
Do a quick google for "abrasion resistance of PVC" and you will come up with all kinds of test results that show the relative scratch resistance of different plastics. If you know what your jeep windows and your zorb are made of (I doubt PVC for the zorb) you can get an idea of what will happen to your zorb.

[Ratty]

Sparr, You seem unwilling to take the advice from virtually everyone that this is a BAD idea. When the wind reaches over 60 mph and you try to take shelter in a porta potty what will you do with your precious plastic ball? If you bring it, (and I have little doubt that you will), We will all be looking for you. Eplayans love a good show. I fear the Leos would put a stop to your fun due to endangering everyone else. Plus, the 5MPH rule applies. I have had some very bad ideas myself but they only hurt my pocket book and my rebel spirit. Have fun and stay safe.

[GreyCoyote]

You are gonna do what you are gonna do. None of the advice on this thread seems to be sticking. You are focussed on superficial scratches when you should be focussed on life safety.

Let me suggest just one thing: issue your riders a locking carton knife with a very short blade. It can safely stay in a pocket, locked tight so there is no danger. If a haboob hits, and your riders become endangered, they can pop that sucker out, click the tiny blade into position, and cut the thing to shreds in an instant. Just let it collapse around them. Yeah, your hamster ball will be toast, but your riders will be alive.

For the record I think you have NO CLUE what the playa can throw at you, and your grasp of the resulting physics is tenuous and wishful at best. This is indeed a foolish and dangerous endeavor. Not so much for your riders (because hey, its burning man, and if they really want to kill themselves, thats just ducky with everybody else!), but for the poor schmoo who gets his neck broken when this contraption clobbers him off his bike. Thats just an unacceptable risk you are imposing on the general BRC public.

The playa has an amazing way of debunking bad science. You'll see.

[maladroit]

I'm putting odds on seeing this roll into the center of a giant dust devil and get some air! That would be awesome! And very likely result in injury, policy changes, etc, but still something you'd never see otherwise.

[GreyCoyote]

Humidity on the playa is nearly zero. The altitude is 4000 feet. The wind is always there to one degree or another. This means you have a huge electrostatic attraction between the dust and your "window". It will get coated, and almost instantly.

Imagine the resulting charge if you rolled it around on the ground...

[Simon of the Playa]

i changed my mind...


bring it....please, please, please bring it....


the thought of a human sized vomit filled plastic hamster ball with it's owner inside, ending up in winnemucca is sorta humorous.







sorta.

[Simon of the Playa]

This isn't about Jeep windows.

*boom*

[lucky420]

It gets deep real deep. Bring a broom

[geospyder]

I'm asking about the vinyl windows on a cloth top for a jeep or similar vehicle. The flexible rubber-y kind, not hard plastic or glass windows. Does it adhere well enough that you have to wipe it off, or does it get blown off when the wind gusts?

On a side note... If you have a Jeep, place a small furnace filter (cut to size) over the intake on the hood by the windshield. Use painters tape to hold it in place and also use the painters tape to cover all the seams/cracks on the hood near the filter. Makes a HUGE difference on the amount of Playa dust that enters you air ducts.

[caffeineslinger]

I remember seeing naked zorb a couple years ago. Google says it was "and then there's only LOVE..."
Perhaps you can ask them?

[goathead]

why would you worry about it? nothing worse then a clean jeep.

[Corvus]

Around here it isn't a real Jeep if it doesn't have Arizona pinstriping - scratches on the side from passing through brush.

[EspressoDude]

I remember seeing naked zorb a couple years ago. Google says it was "and then there's only LOVE..."
Perhaps you can ask them?

something new for the orgy dome: a dusty orgy ball.

[delle]

I can't for the life of me figure out why being able to see out of that thing would be something you'd actually want to ever do. Hazing it up seems like a bonus to me.

Does it come with a puke reservoir?

[geospyder]

Lots of Nevada pin stripes on the Jeep - plus a few from Utah and Arizona. A few rock dents and some deep barbed wire cuts on the front bumper where I chose barbed wire versus deep ditch. This is the first Jeep I've owned that I haven't set on it's side. Even so I prefer to not have the interior blasting me with Playa dust each time I turn on the air. Just a personal choice

[robbidobbs]

Bring vinegar, lots of vinegar. Like they said, plastic is porous. That alkali dirt is hell on plastics, metal, your body.

I drive the PoopMobile (Toyota station weapon) all day. My windshield gets so covered in dirt I have to occasionally jump out and wipe it down with a dry scarf just to see out. During dirt storms ive found that rolling down the windows helps visibility. Go figure.

[Thecatman]

I haven't been to BM or on the playa since 2010 and I'm still finding playa dust in various locations

[Meat Hunter]

Regarding playa dust infiltrating around door and window weather striping, I was pleasantly surprised last year when I departed that found that scant to little dust inside of my 2008 Mercury Grand Marquis. The tiny bit of dust that was inside probably came in when I opened my door several times to retrieve something.

I have no explanation for the lack of dust inside my car other than it being parked at the airport, the car was up wind and not in line of the dust generated by the activities in the city.

However, the outside of the car and the motor compartment had a measurable amount, but no where as much as I was expecting. My body, my dome, my other equipage, accouterments and my body/hair were a totally different story. I posted a few months ago about the crust and nostalgic smell of playa dust on my unopened cans of beer.

My automobile manual advised that if I used the "Max" setting on my A/C that the air was re- circulated and no outside air was circulated. I used this setting while arriving and departing. This might have helped explain the minimal amount of dust inside.

Based on this, I am of the opinion that if one can find a setting on their A/C that re-circulates the inside air instead of drawing in outside air, they might try using this setting.

Another surprise, I brought along an engine air filter that I changed when I arrived in Fernley. I found that my old air filter was not very dusty, but I changed it anyway. Who knows, because I could not figure that one out?

Yes, I am still finding dust in curious places on the outside of my car and my body.

[sparr]

The dust sticking to the outside will be more vision obscuring than any scratches you might pick up. Seriously go blow up your zorb right now and rub a box of cornstarch over the entire surface, inside and out, this is exactly what will happen.

I wasn't able to get any sort of powder to stick to it myself, but the folks in another thread brought up the matter of static attraction, which isn't something I can immediately replicate. In such a dry environment, it probably will end up charged so the dust sticks to it more than in environments that I can test in.

I'm rather sad that I haven't been able to get ahold of anyone who has brought a zorb to the playa before. I've found four people/camps with blog posts and posted events and such (including the orgydome folks having naked zorbing years ago) involving zorbs, but none of them have returned my (probably poorly aimed) contact attempts.

Maybe I should just stake it down as a cozy cuddling shelter at night.

[maladroit]

Stake down a cargo net over it and I'd imagine it would be a pretty interesting thing to have even as an immobile object. Don't forget to bling it out with LEDs!

I'll summarize the points above:

1. If you can't accept having to replace it after Burning Man, don't bring it
2. Letting it loose on the playa could be an extremely bad idea
3. We all still think it's pretty cool and would like to see it, just worried about the practical matters

[Jovankat]

there would have to be sustained 60mph winds to actually keep a non-consenting human moving across the playa in the zorb, and even then they could just slide out and abandon the zorb to the wind in favor of saving themselves. I would be very very sad to moop a zorb, both from cost and LNT perspectives, but that's better than actually endangering a rider.

Sustained 60mph winds are not unheard of on the playa. And it probably wouldn't take them being sustained for too long before the rider freaked and bailed. Your seeming lack on concern for what damage the zorb may cause after the rider is safely out is pretty damn infuriating. You've gotten some harsh words in this thread but being so lackadaisical for the safety, belongings, time and effort of others is really not in keeping with the burn's community spirit and frankly is pretty shitty.

[Roundabout]

What happened to "safety third"?

[gaminwench]

'safety third' is a choice that one makes for oneself, not thrust upon one by some random.

If I CHOOSE to go down a three-story astro turf covered slide nekkid, that is 'safety third'.
If a structure/toy/MV/fireball unexpectedly comes at me with deadly force, that is non-consensual harm.

there is a difference.

[Jovankat]

This is a response I to thins sort of comment over on Reddit I really appreciated.

I'm just going to use this opportunity to dispel the myth of Safety Third.
Safety Third doesn't mean not taking safety into account! In fact, you should always take it into account - third! The reason it comes about is because if you're focusing too much on safety and forgetting to have fun or feel good doing it, you've missed the point. BUT IT DOESN'T MEAN DISREGARD SAFETY AND NEVER HAS.
Safety always third.

Sparr hasn't taken anyone else's safety into consideration. He has barely considered it at all.

And safety third really only works when you're talking about your own safety. If you want to do risky things, have at it but if your behaviour could ruin someone's burn, or worse you're a being a dick, actually I'd use another word but since this board is full of Americans I'll refrain.

Inflicting your poorly thought out unsafe ideas on others is hugely shitty. Civic responsibility is a principle. Safety third is not.

[sparr]

Sustained 60mph winds are not unheard of on the playa. And it probably wouldn't take them being sustained for too long before the rider freaked and bailed. Your seeming lack on concern for what damage the zorb may cause after the rider is safely out is pretty damn infuriating. You've gotten some harsh words in this thread but being so lackadaisical for the safety, belongings, time and effort of others is really not in keeping with the burn's community spirit and frankly is pretty shitty.

I'm really unclear how *I* am the one responsible for [lack of] safety here, when it sounds like you're proposing that someone else is out gallavanting in my zorb with 60mph winds going on. Why are you angry at me and not at that person? (easy answer: because I'm here and they aren't)

[FIGJAM]

On safety third............

1st....conceive the project.

2nd....build the project.

3rd....SAFETY of the project!!!!!!!!!

[MrBeardy]

Safety is obviously the biggest concern(can they be deflated reletively quickly if needed?). I think most of us would love to try it out provided the weather cooperates. If it is anything like the last 4 years of perfect weather it will be fine. Zorbs are not new to Burning Man, just like most things nowdays.
Have a safety plan and be smart about it(an attached teather might be worthwhile), and let the good times "roll"!

[Mojojita]

Hi Sparr - I'm far less concerned about someone being hurt while using the Zorb, but my concern would be for the person who gets knocked down by it once the user has to bail out in a high wind. The speed and bounce it could pick up once empty could certainly knock someone down or off a bike. It is an environment where things do become airborne that send people to the hospital - even things that have been tied down. It can be a lot more like the flying house scene in Wizard of Oz than one would wish.