Hi there!
We’re coming to Burning Man from the UK this year so we can’t afford to get this wrong! this is all a little remote from so far away but i saw your domes worked really well last year (my first time!)
Some questions before we place our order….
1. Will the porch work on the 18ft. dome? Which fabric would you reccomend for it?
The porch is mostly used in rain. Not much at BM. But you could order a porch of white out black in covering to provide some shade.
2. What size shade cloth should we get for the 18ft- bearing in mind that this will be our entire camp so we need it to be as cool as possible during the day- we thought we’d just roll up one of the sides to increase airflow during the day (unless it’s howling of course)
At least two 6 by 12 or four if you want more coverage. Or the 14 by 14 black woven shade cloth or two so you could pull one out to your car to make a nice shade “porch” that is open on two sides. Nice to sit or cook under during hot part of day and watch the foot and bike traffic.
3. We’ll be arriving on the playa 2 days after flying in to San Fran so there’ll be no time for a dry run- we’re both fairly handy but is it simple enough for two novices to put up first time around?
Yes.
You say doing it in the heat will help? How long should it take us more or less?
First time give your self an hour. Second time two people 1/2 hr.
4. What length rebar should we take, how many to secure the dome and porch for Black Rock kinda winds?
See our pages on winds and BM:
Snow and Wind Warnings: https://shelter-systems.com/warning.html
High Winds: https://shelter-systems.com/warning.html
Dealing with Strong Winds: https://shelter-systems.com/wind-tents.html
Burning Man: https://shelter-systems.com/yurt-domes-burning-man.html/index.htm
Burning Man General https://shelter-systems.com/
Read our instructions on staking:
Instruction Manual: https://shelter-systems.com/lighthouse-manual.html
5. Are the guide ropes provided adequate or should we plan to bring extra rope to tie it all down?
If you plan to use rebar bring some 3/8″ nylon rope : https://shelter-systems.com/wind-tents.html
Because of the dust and wind I would recommend you get some sticky back Velcro so you can seal any seams you are not using all the time.
Also, It is nice to lay down a tarp inside your dome, fold under the edges so it fits with about 6″ up the inside of your dome and then put down an old rug. The rug gives the dust a place to settle out into
Thanks so much,
Look forward to hearing from you
Kim and Nick Lane
On Jul 3, 2005, Kim Lane wrote:
Thanks for all that, we’re ordering this afternoon! Just to be clear, if we’re getting the 18 should we get the 18 floor or would the 20 be better so that we’ll have that overlap you speak of?
I was actually suggesting you use a blue tarp from say Home Depot for a floor (this works fine for a floor and is much cheeper) but if you want to order a floor from us you would order an 18′.
You may want to consider ordering your dome as an “Extra Strong”. This just means that the windows are of a translucent material that is much stronger in heat and cold than the clear vinyl which you can see clearly through but is not as tough. The cost is the same either way.
I think we’ll make do without the porch in that case, friends are donating a shade awning that we can abuse as required!
thanks so much
Kim