North Pole Party Shade Crawl

[Eventfarm]

Ok - anyone still up for this?

In this thread --> http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic.php?t=29107 , it was tossed around to do a north pole party shade (NPPS) structure crawl.

I'm game to herd the cats to organize. I'll toss out Friday at 2pm as a time, but that's without looking at the WWWW to determine if there isn't anything *big* then - let me know if you'd prefer another time. Once I get an idea of how many tents we'll visit, I'll pick a starting point and plan a path.

PM me or add to this thread the following information:
Your playa name (or real, if you don't have a PN yet), is this your first year in a NPPS or is this a repeat, your location (if you don't know your location, let me know where you're going to TRY to camp).

I'll go first:
Jennifer, first year in tent, in the AEZ (DNA &6:30)

[Elorrum]

Yes! I don't have a clear or even a difuse location at this point. I was thinking K ring somewhere in the 4-7 range. I'll register when I get settled, and check in at AEZ by note or hello. would that work?

mi NPPSS es su NPPSS

[sputnik]

2pm on *any* day is likely to be open. I'll put this on my personal WWWW

[Eventfarm]

Yes! I don't have a clear or even a difuse location at this point. I was thinking K ring somewhere in the 4-7 range. I'll register when I get settled, and check in at AEZ by note or hello. would that work?

mi NPPSS es su NPPSS

That'll work for me.... I won't be there until Wednesday, but my camp mate will have the NPPSS up by Monday evening'ish.

[z276]

Zsa Zsa here,
Sputnik, you have a North Pole Shade Structure too?

Would love to do the crawl.
We'll be at 4-5oclock and J probably.

[unjonharley]

Zsa Zsa here,
Sputnik, you have a North Pole Shade Structure too?

Would love to do the crawl.
We'll be at 4-5oclock and J probably.

fuck you guys. i have stay home this year.. just got my north pole

[Elorrum]

I didn't participate in the crawl, hope you all had a good tour. I must say that I am extremely happy with the performance of this structure on the playa. It is super in the wind. While my tent was flapping from stress in the wind, the party shade shelter just flexed a little as the wind blew right through, no flapping noise, no strain. The bottom edge between stakes lifts a little in the wind, but that is a good thing. I was careful to get the edges as taught as I could before I put up the center pole. The fabric tension is not super taut: you can see it compressed somewhat against the wind, but the combination of the tension, the round shape and the open mesh absorbs the wind and spills it before it can get any real purchase on the structure. Zippers stayed functional, although a little fussy as zippers get. The zipper pulls are a good size for grasping. I kept one door open most of the time as entrance/exit. After running to check on it a couple of times, I stopped worrying. Granted we didn't get a 70mph blow this year, but I think it would be o.k. or o.k. enough. I was more concerned about the stuff inside getting blown around, then I was worried about the shelter itself. For peace of mind, it was better than my kelty tripod which stayed in one piece the last two years, but I was always checking to see how it was folding down in the wind. There are guy out loops on top of the three doors. I only put one rope out from the windward side door. I was worried about the metal pigtails on the spreaders, but the fabric is tensioned enough and the pigtails screw through a couple of rotations, no movement there.

NPPSS Good shade and beautiful headroom. Very spacious feeling. I moved the portable panel from sunrise side to sunset side in the afternoon, and kept all my coolers near the center. I hung my speakers, lights, and even the solar shower when in use from the top spreaders (near the center.) I saw several of these shelters out there. For the price, finished size, functionality, and the packability of this unit, I think it's a real BRC winner.

I set it up by myself, and it took maybe a half hour or less. Two or more people would get this done in 15 minutes. I put a big nail with a 15 ft. rope in the estimated center. I staked out with rebar two opposite points using the 15 ft. measure. Then I pulled the two other stake points tight from each side of the two measured stakes. I used the nails provided, in case I needed to make adjustments. When I had the center pole up, I put in rebar all around and capped them with solar garden lights. I angled the center pole up and kicked it into place., I put 3/4" pvc sleeves on the spreaders, and put them in place last. It would help to have a small ladder or step stool, my cooler worked o.k., but I don't think it likes being stood upon. I needed to angle the center pole a bit on this last step for slack to get the spreaders into the holes in the tent. I have tried raising the center with the top spreaders already in place, but I'm not strong enough on my own to do it, since it has to be lifted vertically against all the tensioned fabric. a few people might have success this way. I nailed the center pole in place with two of the long nails provided.

When I took it down, I tied the guy rope that was still staked, around the top of the tent, so it wouldn't blow away. then I pulled the whole thing out straight like a folded up umbrella, folded it to get it bag size in width, and rolled it up with the poles in the middle.

[z276]

That shade structure worked for us really well this year too. I was sweating a lot the first couple of days, wondering if it would stay up... because a failure with that structure would be painful. But it stayed up and took a massive beating. The extra tarp thing was worthless for us. The stupid little plastic rings broke about 10 minutes after we put it up. Oh well!

[unjonharley]

did't get to the playa..

good to hear the north pole shade work on the playa..

i'll get mine out of the box and set it up for drill..

guess the plastic rings to be addressed..

anything else??

[Artemis]

can someone post a picture?

[unjonharley]

can someone post a picture?

search Heart Land Am. Where i bought one..

[Elorrum]

[unjonharley]

Tanx, now i realy feel bad for going this year..

[Elorrum]

unjon, that is next year's picture.

[unjonharley]

unjon, that is next year's picture.

Tanx, i feel a little better..
sitting here holding my noth pole still in the box,, rocking chair gently..

[mikesieben]

Same experience, held up great except for the rings on the movable panel.

[Elorrum]

check out the gigapan image... the North Poles show up very distinctly, three dark triangles, and three light ones in a circle.

[Elorrum]

north pole party shade got good comments on this architecture of brc blog... so many wonderful photos and good comments, all kinds of shelter.

scroll down to the third shelter under best in show 1 http://thisisblackrockcity.blogspot.com/

[whaleboy]

How big are those things? The ads say 30' across. Looks smaller than that. How much headroom is there? How many people can stand at one time in one? How many people can sit comfortably in one? How about lie down?

thanks

[Elorrum]

centerpole is 12ft. 30 ft corner to corner

[teardropper]

Yeah, thinking about a new shade. This may work. It does look smaller than 30' but I think I like it. Especially since it is less likely to fly away...

[copilot602]

According to North Pole, they discontinued this tent in 2007! Guess that is why WalMart blew them out! Managed to snag one though! Hope it is as great as it looks! Now that these are rare beasts, they are like historic buildings! Any plans for a tent crawl again this year???

[LostinReno]

According to North Pole, they discontinued this tent in 2007! Guess that is why WalMart blew them out! Managed to snag one though! Hope it is as great as it looks! Now that these are rare beasts, they are like historic buildings! Any plans for a tent crawl again this year???

We scored ours on Amazon.com back in May, I looked about a month ago and there were still some on there. We took it to Pyramid Lake last weekend and had to take down the center pole when the wind hit about 60 mph. We probably wouldn't have "had" to, but I didn't want to chance ruining our BM shade. LOL!

[copilot602]

had to take down the center pole when the wind hit about 60 mph.

Hell, if that thing could handle 55 mph winds I imagine it will be in better shape than 95% of the tents and shade structures at BM if things get that ugly!

[teardropper]

Yeah, thinking about a new shade. This may work. It does look smaller than 30' but I think I like it. Especially since it is less likely to fly away...

I thought about it and then got one. Had it on the playa earlier this month but had no wind to test it. The pictures weren't misleading. It is not a cavernous 30', it isn't as big as it seems it should be, but still big enough. I havd 16 1/2" rebar stakes made for it. It set up nicely, and good to know about the winds you were in. And that you could drop it while it was blowing. But 60 mph is pretty good.

[unjonharley]

I'll be camping alone now.. Campmate is getting to old to do Burning Man anymore..

So I'd be into letting my North Pole go.. It's never been out of the box..

[LostinReno]

Yeah, thinking about a new shade. This may work. It does look smaller than 30' but I think I like it. Especially since it is less likely to fly away...

I thought about it and then got one. Had it on the playa earlier this month but had no wind to test it. The pictures weren't misleading. It is not a cavernous 30', it isn't as big as it seems it should be, but still big enough. I havd 16 1/2" rebar stakes made for it. It set up nicely, and good to know about the winds you were in. And that you could drop it while it was blowing. But 60 mph is pretty good.

I even checked the weather service reports for that day at Pyramid just to see if my guesstimation was correct. The wind was clocked at Sutcliffe at 62mph gusts with sustained wind at 40+mph.(we were about a mile north) We do have some PVC lying around in the garage, love the idea of sliding the 3 support poles through the PVC for extra strength. Thanks!

[nico_freako]

Did the Party shade crawl go down last year? Does anyone know if its happening again?

I wasn't there last year, but my party shade and I would love to participate in a crawl this time around :)

[blackrockcitydreams]

[quote="unjonharley"]I'll be camping alone now.. Campmate is getting to old to do Burning Man anymore..

So I'd be into letting my North Pole go.. It's never been out of the box..[/quote]

I am in desperate need of a structure that a little short gal can put up by herself- if you are selling it!.. and hey - then next year you can camp with me!

[unjonharley]

I'll be camping alone now.. Campmate is getting to old to do Burning Man anymore..

So I'd be into letting my North Pole go.. It's never been out of the box..

I am in desperate need of a structure that a little short gal can put up by herself- if you are selling it!.. and hey - then next year you can camp with me!

Another burner snaped it.. I'm bringing to BM for him..