I purchased the 18′ dome to use at Burning Man several years ago and each year it functioned flawlessly. This year, 2007, the Black Rock Playa experienced some of the wildest, wickedest weather in over a decade. I had the dome cinched all along its midsection to trucker straps to provide shock abosorber protection against the 70 mile/hour winds that continuously came up out of nowhere.
I remember one afternoon a windstorm came up that was so strong that everything immediately went into a whiteout condition. You could literally stand up outside and lean into the wind and be held like a huge hand at a 45 degree angle. The sides of the dome bent inward but the compression of the spars transferred the force throughout the structure.
I sat inside the dome with some friends and people seeking shelter and amidst the sound of the wind and dust hitting the sides of the dome it sounded like a freight train running us over. We had a wind turbine set up on a 30″ tower right outside the dome and it was screaming. Our annemometer showed wind speed over 70 mph, the turbine was producing 20+ amps, we were all coated with a post apocolyptic white dust, but the dome remained intact and strong.
Thanks for your well made product. It is easy to set up and break down and amazingly small in its packaging.