Dr. Dust's 'V' style Rebar Method- 10 steps to perfect Vbar™

[lemur]

vbar is the only rebar shape that gives me that "there's no fuckin' way this structure's gonna blow away" peace of mind, thus allowing me to have a carefree experience.

WE PUT 3 O-RINGS ON THOSE BOOSTERS.. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

[Dr. Dust]

I used rebar between 2 and 3 feet long, because I was a paranoid noob. I welded flat washers to the top to turn them into giant nails and pounded those suckers flush, to hold down a 6-man tent and a 20' monkeyhut. Of course, it didn't go anywhere (though there wasn't much wind in 2012). Getting them out was a serious problem.

Damn, I bet those were damn near impossible to get out. Last year I used some 12" gutter nails to secure my ground tarp and I found those way more difficult to pull than any rebar I've used. I can only imagine trying to pull a 30" nail .

This year I'm going to try FIGJAM's 14" lag screw idea. I figure a 14" screw will bite in about as much as a 24" rebar, since it actually threads into the playa instead of depending on friction inside the hole it just punched. I will also bend some of my old stakes in half, Dr. Dust, to give it a try for some guy line anchors. But I'll use a blowtorch to heat up the rebar at the bend location, because I suspect cold-bending it will make it fairly brittle in the exact spot you need to hammer.

Definitely blowtorch it! Great idea!!

[Savannah]

I used rebar between 2 and 3 feet long, because I was a paranoid noob. I welded flat washers to the top to turn them into giant nails and pounded those suckers flush, to hold down a 6-man tent and a 20' monkeyhut. Of course, it didn't go anywhere (though there wasn't much wind in 2012). Getting them out was a serious problem.

Damn, I bet those were damn near impossible to get out. Last year I used some 12" gutter nails to secure my ground tarp and I found those way more difficult to pull than any rebar I've used. I can only imagine trying to pull a 30" nail .

Seriously, that must have been miserable.

I am going to leave my 10" tent stakes one inch up this year (topped & lit, of course). Pounded flush/recessed is just too much for my nylon teepee. I've got a wrecking bar, but getting 'em started was still arduous.

[maladroit]

Vise grips and lots of twisting. Each one was a little project, especially with a couple of freshly broken ribs

[Savannah]

Your poor ribs!

(Did you hurt yourself on playa, or arrive that way?)

. . . I am not a wizard with vise grips. I'm not sure why. I'm clumsy with 'em. For me, it's a wrecking bar or nothing. Note: my stakes are like large nails, so the wrecking bar actually grips 'em.

But yeah--1) I pounded 'em too far and 2) put one under a friend's trailer. Brilliant.

[maladroit]

I cracked them on Thursday when going ass-over-teakettle over a random bike jump someone put in the street. Broke them the rest of the way helping tear down an art structure on Sunday. Banged my leg up pretty good too:


But, I am thankful. I feel like I got the full Burning Man experience as promised on the back of the ticket, without going so far as falling off a scaffold into a forest of uncapped rebar.

[Savannah]

Wow! That IS one of the splashier non-distastrous injuries I've seen. It's perfectly Burning Man.

[maladroit]

Yup, I rocked it for a day or two before going to a med station to ask whether this was likely to cause any permanent damage. Doc seemed tired and relieved to talk to a relatively coherent and ambulatory patient, said it was very likely a small amount of torn muscle tissue, and to "enjoy the bruise." Thanks Doc.

[theCryptofishist]

Wow! That IS one of the splashier non-distastrous injuries I've seen. It's perfectly Burning Man.

Scar story night...

[AntiM]

Or, you can just get a long steel bar and pry the v-bar out of the ground.

We, and by we I mean MyLarry, uses a wrecker bar/gorilla bar to get our rebar up and out. Like a giant four foot crowbar (could be smaller, I've not measured it).

He hates pounding bent or curved rebar (candycane or otherwise) as the sledge bonces off the curve. We have long rebar welded into "t" shapes... they look like vampire killing cross-shaped stakes. Enough so the wooden ammo casket they reside in is called "the Buffy box".
Properly pounded in, the arms are flush with the playa. Construction cap on top, although solar lights work too.

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But everyone has personal preferences and strong opinions.

[unjonharley]

tried u shaped rebar one year.. Just to hard to pound in.. They spring to much when hit..

this year i'm going with one foot sand pegs.. Drive them with a 1/2 roto-hammer,(hammer only) at a forty five degree angle.. After the lines are attached.. the pegs can be driven flush with the ground.. To remove.. take the line loose and pull the line With the angle of the peg...

[newbiehippie]

So, is the consensus that 10-inch nails won't cut it? I'm a virgin burner, and just picked up nails over re-bar since they are small and no-fuss. I've only got a little solo backpacking tent to secure, but just want to double check before packing up for the Playa.

[nixiebunny]

Ten inch nails won't cut it. The nail starts gripping about 8 inches down. 2 foot 3/8" rebar is fine.

That candy cane thing mentioned in the official literature is silly. The U shape described above means you have to pound in twice as many pieces of rebar, as each U has two legs.

I put a 3" long hook at the top end of a 2 foot rebar, bent over 120 degrees. This works great, if you make the hook bend nice and sharp. To do this, use two 1/2" pipes as handles to hold the two ends of the rebar, and leave only a tiny gap between them. The pipe with the long end of the rebar sits on the floor under your foot, and the hook end is in a longer pipe that's pulled up and over to bend it 120 degrees.

If you have a welder handy, weld washers or hooks on top instead of bending the hook in.

[crstophr]

Getting rebar out isn't hard.

You need a crow bar, vice grips, and a small board or block of wood.

-clamp the vice grips on the rebar close to the ground but with enough space to get the crow bar under it.
-set the board on the ground and put the crow bar's point against the board
-place the crow bar under the vice grips
-pry up against the vice grips using the board to lever against

With this method it's often necessary to move the vice grips down and repeat the procedure 2-3 times before the rebar is loose enough to come out by hand. 5 years later and we still do it this way...

--Chris