Vintage Canvas Tents on playa

[gyre]

If you block all light/heat ventilation isn't an issue.

But aren't these open at the ends?

[fresh]

You are going to what the extra hight as the top foot under the shade will be HOT.

Do you mean "... want the extra height .."?

Gyre- Yes it would be open on the ends, but i have seen in thread where they suggest 6" - 1ft gap on the sides as well.

I may just stick with the double spine option and cut the 10' rib pieces to 8.5'. with a 5 ft middle piece it would be 22' rib with 20' tarp so have a 1' gap between playa and tarp. Maybe cut middle section as well to 4 feet for a 6" gap. Glad i bought that pvc cutter.

[gyre]

I don't guess it matters much when it's open at the ends.

My tent stayed cooler totally wrapped, until late afternoon.
I try to save late day heat for the night.

[wimala1]

fresh, here is the link that i built my hut from. last year was truly no test though due to no wind! i agree with figjam in that it is hot near the top of the tent and i am also going with a small backpacker tent under the hut this year instead of the larger tent from last year. more hang out shade! once again, i am going with figjams swamp cooler. try this link as the plans for the hut are very solid.

http://galaxybeing.com/galaxyhut/

[fresh]

Ok got my Kodiak tent today!!! Finally! After putting it up I feel like I would like to keep my current PVC setup, the double spine, and get two 3' pieces of shade cloth to compensate for the large gap on both sides. Attach that to PVC ends using gator clips. This hopefully will provide shade and give a little more air flow. Any thoughts if this is over complicating things or if maybe it will actually work??

[nncoco]

I have one just like the photo and it has been to burning man 8 times since 1999. It works great. Very roomy and sturdy. Seals up against the dust and can not blow over. I highly recommend a tent like that over a modern 2-wall dust catcher.

[nncoco]

The exterior bars also hold a tarp with a nice air space to keep it cooler. Get an old area rug for the entrance and you have it made.

[Ratty]

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1 ... 38,7832805

This is the tent I got today. It appears to be made of felt. Where is the tent of my dreams? This ain't it. I gave up trying to coax the poles into the end grommets.

[Oldguy]

A tepee has a hole in the top for a reason, remember to use sidewalls to create that vent draft.

[gyre]

That's car cover material.

Make sure the poles aren't hanging on the sleeves.
Can be tricky.

[Bob]

What happened to the Thermos tent?

[Ratty]

Now it has a buddy in the hut. I still plan to put it up. After I got those additional instructions I felt it was going to work. Hummmmm...I guess I better try it huh? This gold tent is made of an extra heavy version of that car cover material. It has a heavy plastic floor too. Supposedly it's waterproof. I guess I love tents. I knew I had a thing for giant stuff and office supplies. But tents? Learn something every day.

[Bob]

Bring them all. Make a tent farm.

My favorite tent is an old Sierra Designs pyramid, has three straight poles and a hexagonal floor. Elegant as fuck.

[Ratty]

I'm gonna give that thermos another try and if it isn't easy I'll bring a low profile back packer and move on to more important things like what kind of tequila, pop tarts or power bars.

[fresh]

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EPIC FAIL!! Put up my new Kodiak 10x10 tent under the skeleton of the monkey hut setup. Sure enough the tent height is so high that it was hitting the top. DId not even attempt to put the tarp on. I may try to move make the hut a couple feet narrower to increase the height of the peak, but I'm not too hopeful. I may have to rethink the entire shade structure!! Any opinions out there?? Geez I really wish I had a big yard to test this out than trying every rocky patch. I pound that rebar so hard it is bending....

[Ratty]

Wow. And I thought I had troubles. I confess. I bought a tent at a yard sale today. For just $5 I got some Walmart thing that is 3 tents connected together by tunnels. (The 2 small ones remind me of dog igloos.) You can zip them together or not. It has a plastic tarp floor on all 3 but the main tent has mainly a screen for a roof. Nice rain fly though. Maybe I can use the rods/poles to put up that Eddie Bauer that came with no poles. Or throw the rain fly over that Thermos. This brings a whole new meaning to 'Tent Sale'. If I had room in the car I would bring em all and pass em out to the shelter disadvantaged.

[Bob]

PVC is ass. I'd gift it to your local Mexican landscaper, at least he'll get some use out of it.

I'd bring the Kodiak and rig a simple awning and leave it at that.

[Bob]

This page on tarp configurations is part of a site that contains a vast amount of camping savvy.

http://www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/tarp/TarpShel.htm

Top level of the FAQ files:

http://www.bushwalking.org.au/FAQ/

[Ratty]

That tarp configuration page looks a lot like origami.

[vargaso]

fresh, here is the link that i built my hut from. last year was truly no test though due to no wind! i agree with figjam in that it is hot near the top of the tent and i am also going with a small backpacker tent under the hut this year instead of the larger tent from last year. more hang out shade! once again, i am going with figjams swamp cooler. try this link as the plans for the hut are very solid.

http://galaxybeing.com/galaxyhut/

That's a really great improvement over the basic monkey hut design. I especially like the vertical supports you added, which I imagine keeps the shape of the structure a lot better during wind storms. I just might use this. Thanks!

Monkey huts do act quite well as a wind block if you've situated it correctly so that the wind comes at it from the sides. We had ours up during the really bad white-outs in 2008 and while the hut was a'flappin', the tent underneath was not. Thankfully, we sleep in our minivan now. Sleeping in tents at Burning Man is a young man's game.

As for old canvas tents, hell no. Go to Walmart and spend $60, use it solely as a Burning Man tent for a 2-4 years, then buy another one when that one is toast. We still use an old Coleman tent for gear, it's survived 4 times on the playa and can still be used as the kids' tent when doing regular camping. Pretty sure we didn't spend more than $50 on it.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, the absolute best way to sleep on the playa if you're not doing an RV or trailer, is to park a van or SUV under a monkey hut and sleep in that. Put up solar shades on the front and rear windows and you'll stay cool until almost noon. Helluva lot quieter and FAR less dusty than a tent, too.

[fresh]

OK I altered the monkey hut by reducing width to 12 feet. I also used two 3' x 16' sections of shade cloth to compensate for the area not covered by my tarp. I am attaching pictures below. This is not 100% complete. I need more rope to do cross supports and want to do guy lines from the outer pvc ribs to playa. I did have issues with candy cane rebar not holding in the dirt area I am testing at. I am wondering how HABOOB proof this will be!!! I am considering scraping this whole project to avoid disaster, but have enough time and $$ invested that I want to make it work.

IMAG0288.jpg

IMAG0300.jpg

IMAG0296.jpg

ANy advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

[Bob]

I don't see why you can't kick out the sides a foot or two at an inward angle to make more of a parabolic arch that should shed the winos a little better and still clear the tent by a foot. Might need stiffer stakes than 1/2" rebar to make it happen.

Also, should be easy to retrofit all edges with 3/8" or 1/2" brass grommets every 12", between the stitching. Grommets in the middle of the tarp corresponding to where it rests on the frame might be good for passing guy lines through and tying onto the frame, maybe at the one-third and two-thirds height levels, or just punch them in every foot or two. Reinforce grommet locations w/ Gorilla tape or other good quality duct tape. Makes more locations where you can put stakes, guy lines, rope ties, zip ties or bungee balls, to attach tarp-to-tarp, tarp-to-frame, tarp-to-ground, etc. That variety of vinyl tarp can rattle a lot in the wind.

Save your wine corks, they're good for random tie jobs on unruly awnings.

[fresh]

Thanks BOB!!!! Are you saying pound stakes pointing inwards an inch? As far as rebar, i got way too much 1/2" already cut. I got 3' stakes that I have not used and will probably pound in 1 1/2' deep leaving 1 1/2' to put pvc over. Did not use those in this test since I been hitting some rocks there and have bent a few stakes already!!! I have grommet kit and will reinforce the tarp. The shade material I am using clip-on holders. Is gluing the shade material to tarp a smart move?? EEK!!! Need to buy even more Bungee Balls!!!!! And more Monster Tape!!!! Wish I knew the cork trick earlier!

I also want to guy out from last pvc rib to playa. Was thinking of using straps, not sure if that is smart or dumb....

[Jared]

I'm thinking about making my own canvas tent for next year. What is the lightest fabric that would block dust? (ie: Can I use something more air-permeable than canvas?)

[Bob]

Should probably look at canvas tents similar to what you want, online or at the library, use a similar weight, and heavily reinforce the seams and corners. You might be happier using canvas tarps on a conduit frame, though.

[Jared]

Should probably look at canvas tents similar to what you want, online or at the library, use a similar weight, and heavily reinforce the seams and corners. You might be happier using canvas tarps on a conduit frame, though.

Canvas tents are generally designed for a wider range of conditions than the desert. Canvas painter's tarps are definitely my fall-back option, but I'd like to hear some speculation about what I could get away with. Bedsheets?

[Jackass]

Um, actually you get probably the widest range of conditions in the desert. Temps. high and low, wind, rain, flying dirt, flying neighbor's camp stuff, possible snow or hail, thunderstorms and possible inundation all you're missing is earthquakes, tornados and wild boar.

[Ratty]

That weird yellow tent of mine was a superstar, (until the zipper died). Zippers have a way of doing that in the dry heat dust etc... I'm sewing a velcro flap on it for next year. It was a great tent.