Most compactly transportable shade structure for one?

[halfshadows]

hi! this is my first burning man and i'm aiming to be as self-sufficient as possible. i'm riding out in someone else's vehicle and thus have limited space for gear. does anyone have any great ideas for the most compactable shade structure? (and what size tent would be fit under it?) i have been reading up on all the shade structure diy info, but most of them seem to be huge or require an awful lot of gear.

this is the smallest i have found so far: http://tinyurl.com/7uj6c . i wonder about its sturdiness, however. and what size tent (for a single occupant) could i reasonably fit under it?

i also did research trying to join/volunteer in a camp that had available shade, but it looks like i'm too late in the game for that.

thanks for any helpful advice.
-
julia

[robotland]

Those lightweight shade canopies are just that- Lightweight. You'll take up at least as much room with the rope and stakes you'll need to secure it. What's your ride driving? The quickest/lightest/easiest is really to use the car as part of the shade, so if it's a taller vehicle and/or has a top rack then you're in luck. If you're friendly, maybe your camping neighbor will let you rig to their ride, too.

[HughMungus]

Hmmm...I have a 10x10 "dining canopy" laying around here that is still in its original box about 4'x2'x1' so it probably folds up into that size. Do yourself a favor, though, and go to a hardware store and get some stakes that are at least 1' long (Home Depot has 15" and 16" stakes for $2.99 and 12" galvanized steel "nails" for $.90 each) and either some rope or ratchet ties (15' long, about $15 for 4) and guy the shade structure down. Without some kind of guying, that thing is going to come apart or fly away in the wind (and guylines and stakes add only a little bit to your weight/size).

[robotland]

What I hate the most about those things is that when ONE leg-section bends, the whole thing's about shot. Many also have plastic "knuckles", which break if twisted around a little and then become useless. Last time I helped somebody set one of those up on the playa we had to put TWO guylines on each corner to keep it from wiggling or launching.

[phil]

I hate to join the pile-on, halfshadows, but I think that shade will (a) provide no shade for your tent or for you, and (b) then collapse irrepairably in the first wind.

Here's my take on that shade, for what it's worth (and it's worth the phosphors it's displayed on :->): We all have visions from the brochure that comes with those awnings of sitting at a table under the canopy in the shade. Unfortunately, the sun is _never_ directly overhead at the burn. 90% of the time 90% of the space directly under the canopy will be in the sun.

Check the non-dome shade thread at
http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic. ... 73&start=0
Many people put side walls on their shade (as Louise and I do) to keep some shade under their, uh, shade structure.

Louie and I took a Moss para wing one year -- a photo at
http://www.cieux.com/bm/bm98.html
shows the khaki shade. If you have limited space, my suggestion is to get a similar shade with an extra pair of poles -- one of ours buckled during a wind event. That fly came in a bag about 2 feet long and small enough around the put my hand almost all the way around it. Very light. You will need better stakes than come with it (A foot long is way too short; better 18 inches or more. You'll need a hammer, but that can be borrowed). You also need a carpet remnant or a few big beach towels to put under it.

Whatever you get, practice putting it up before you come, as you'll get unpleasant surprises if you attempt it the first time on the playa. It took 3 or 4 tries with the para wing in our backyard before I had it nailed. :->

You notice you won't be able to get your tent under it. Louise and I never have our tent under the shade. We sleep under the shade during the heat of the afternoon, but we stay out of the tent during daylight hours. Your mileage will vary. If you want to stay out all night and sleep during the day (as many of our friends do), you'll need to re-think your space, tent, and shade requirements. Since this is your first burn, you'll get much wrong -- we all do. You'll get a great deal of advice -- much of it will turn out not to apply to you (hmmm.... like this, maybe). You'll learn more from this first trip than you'll ever learn from getting advice.

My mantra for you is to go and
Relax. Enjoy. Repeat.

[Dork]

As mentioned, if the sun were hot only from 11am-1pm that canopy would be ok. You really need shade on two sides.

I'd suggest a tarp and pole setup like the one Blackrock Hardware sells (their site seems to be down so I can't provide a link) or something like a Kelty Sunshade. The latter doesn't block 100% of the sun, but it should deflect the wind and help keep the sun off. You can get even more room underneath one by attaching one or two of the poles to the roof of a car instead of to the ground.

[gawul]

my first year (99) i took a similar shade structure as the one you linked to. it was thrashed with in hours and we ended up with three legs ductaped like hell to get a small triangle of shade. it was bad and we were there for 10 days.

i saw a neat shade thing in a big 5 sporting goods ad. it looked like a tent, but it had only 3 walls. so the front wall was wide open and it looked like you could fit a couple chairs and stuff in there. i dont know how sturdy it is, but if a tent can handle it, this thing should. it looked just like a tent. i think it cost 20-30$

hth, and good luck.

g

[robotland]

If you MUST use a "picnic shade" style of structure, I recommend the EZUp variety- The legs are fairly heavy and square, to resist bending. They're also adjustable for length, so you can tilt the canopy down on the sun/wind side and up on the "party side". I've taken them camping for years, and use two when I exhibit at art fairs. Look for the all-metal style if available- The newer styles have plastic joints that (so far) haven't broken but are weaker than the older, metal ones. They're powdercoating the legs now, though, which is nice. Their velcro-fastened side panels, however, leave something to be desired.

[HughMungus]

If you MUST use a "picnic shade" style of structure, I recommend the EZUp variety- The legs are fairly heavy and square, to resist bending. They're also adjustable for length, so you can tilt the canopy down on the sun/wind side and up on the "party side". I've taken them camping for years, and use two when I exhibit at art fairs. Look for the all-metal style if available- The newer styles have plastic joints that (so far) haven't broken but are weaker than the older, metal ones. They're powdercoating the legs now, though, which is nice. Their velcro-fastened side panels, however, leave something to be desired.

Yeah, I concur. Look at Wal-Mart, sporting goods stores, and Target for these. You're looking at about $100 for one and you'll be able to judge which is sturdiest. Then add "sidewalls" made out of blankets or tarps or something using "tarp clips" (available at Home Depot and Walmart) and some rope (tied to your horizontal overhead sections). Use the same tarp clips to clip to the feet to keep it from flapping.

[halfshadows]

thanks for the feedback, everyone. its good to know my suspicions are correct and that i should save the effort and money.

based on your comments, i think i'll try to a) warm up to my transportation hosts to wiggle my tent next to the RV or b) buy a little tarp, rebar and pvc and try to rig something up myself.

thanks, again!

[Cabanasprings]

Most compactly transportable shade structure for one?

A hat.

[devilgrrl]

http://www.backyardcity.com/shade/canop ... 312435.htm. It uses shade cloth which should make it slightly more managable in the wind. I also bought 4 1' construction stakes to tie it down to. To cover 2 of the sides I bought a 9'x12' & 4'x12' painters drop cloth that I will clamp to the frame.

This is the first time I'm attempting this up there, so it should be interesting, keep your fingers crossed for me.

[CagedKitty]

If you're going to get PVC, rebar and a tarp(should be meshy so wind can go through it, or get both so if one tears you can still use the meshy one), this looks like the best design I've seen:

http://www.maxicon.com/Burning_Man/PVC_ ... _playa.htm

I just bought my supplies for it yesterday, all precut to size. My practice build seems like it will be very easy on the playa. It's big, and uses 10' pieces of pipe, but I bet you can make one just big enough to put your tent in(might need smaller diameter pipe for a tighter bend?), and if you still need the pipes shorter, just cut them in half and get extra 7" x 1 1/2" pipes to join them. They look like they won't stay up, but they've already been tested at BM, a very distilled design with only the essentials.

[Mr.?]

One word TENSEGRITY.
Here is a link to all you need to know and you can build from there.

www.bweebweebwee.com/tensegrity[url][img]

I used Scaffolding my 2nd year and carports last year. This year was Tensegrity and it worked out the best. The only problem with this design was no break from the wind. That is were scaffolding comes into play next year! The trick is tension because it's sturdy, cheap and takes up no room to transport. With this design all you need is at least three poles (or 2x4s), rope or wire to connect the poles at top, Rebar (5/8ths works best at least 24" long with a 90 degree bend at one end) and tension ratchets to pull tension.

This was our camp this year. Like I said no break from the wind, but the design was a pro for overhead shade and it was as sturdy as anything. You could hang a hammock from the poles or build several together for a larger plot. I used silver tarp with camo netting on the walls. The shade structure on the left broke down to four 1" poles 8' long camo netting folded up and small box of hardware.... oh ya rebar!

Or support me and my camp mates make the sickest camp next year and camp with us?

[img][img]http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f187/ ... CT0013.jpg[/img][/img]

[Bob]

[Fire_Moose]

If you're going to get PVC, rebar and a tarp(should be meshy so wind can go through it, or get both so if one tears you can still use the meshy one), this looks like the best design I've seen:

http://www.maxicon.com/Burning_Man/PVC_ ... _playa.htm

I just bought my supplies for it yesterday, all precut to size. My practice build seems like it will be very easy on the playa. It's big, and uses 10' pieces of pipe, but I bet you can make one just big enough to put your tent in(might need smaller diameter pipe for a tighter bend?), and if you still need the pipes shorter, just cut them in half and get extra 7" x 1 1/2" pipes to join them. They look like they won't stay up, but they've already been tested at BM, a very distilled design with only the essentials.

I made one of these for this burn. It was SOO great worked out really well. The only problem is you have six, 10' poles you need to haul out there, It wasn't bad for me, i have a pick up truck but i'm sure it can be a pain. Also be sure to use a guy line on each open side, I had it guyed to my truck and to the ground. And finally bungee ball the bottom of the tarp to....i used 3...pieces of candy caned rebar.


Directions....

http://www.chromatest.net/Lovemonkey/

[Toolmaker]

This method works!

This is what I did this year except the hat was different. Than again I didn't have much choice since my performance art was being homeless.

[mk-ultra]

You definitely want more shade than that.

If you'd like to sleep past 6AM, you're going to need (at a minimum) shade from the morning sun... not just the afternoon, overhead blast. It gets hot, early, out there.

[Intubater69]

Tool, I think what MK is trying to say is to make sure your sombrerro's are UV protectant

[Elorrum]

I've used the tripod shaped shelter made by Kelty, I've seen it by ALPS as well. It held up o.k., two years at bm so far. I need to JB weld some bending open but not broken yet pole connectors, but it didn't tear apart, and when the wind died, it went back to shape. The repaired pole connectors that pried open last year held well this year. I'm considerind pro-active repair. I planted a folding chair in each corner during the storm to keep the poles from bending down. packed it is about 40" x 7", good for my small car. One drawback is that you have to duck to get under it, and always mention to folks that there are ropes there there there and there, and there... I used trip tease reflective guy rope and put solar lamps on all the stakes, and put flags on the ropes too. It was sort of funny to see someone walk all the way around looking for the unimpeded stand up walk through opening. The low edges discourage hallos from the roadway, so it stays kind of private due to this, although the view is still quite open. nice when you are snoozing, but I think I'll go for something more open next year. Sierra trading post has had the ALPS version time to time under 80 dollars. The side shade coverage is not bad, a drape would help, but I haven't gotten around to that yet. I only had to move stuff about a little to keep it in the shade. One person cannot set it up. I've tried to figure it out, and this is the stage of set up where I have met my best friends for the rest of the week. [/img]

[Elorrum]

tripod shelter on sale http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/,881 ... lter-.html 10/10