Thanks so much for the tent which arrived and we already put it to use. See pictures below at the Marin County Civic Center (built by Frank Lloyd Wright) in San Rafael. We are using it as a “pop up” meditation hall inspired by this permanent structure in the High Andes Mountains of Argentina: https://www.parquepuntadevacas.net/parque.php.
I have had my 14” dome up at my hunting lease for over 3 consecutive years and it has held up great. I love how the shingled panels seem to prevent build up of condensation overnight, so my gear is dry in the morning.
I cannot describe the excitement of everybody (even the Nepal Customs officials) when they saw the tents…. the only thing here that is close is what the Chinese brought in, and I’m unclear as to how waterproof those are. But everybody goes crazy when they see the tent. You guys are a very big hit here in Kathmandu. Today, we started airlifting tents and some of our folks to the most remote areas around Everest where no relief agency has been. We’ll have pics of that too. So check for updates, and please use the pics any way you choose – you can credit Chabad of Nepal. The orphanages of course, were utterly heartbreaking but the kids were so excited to help set the tents up, even if was just holding a tent piece until we needed it…
The Snow Festival was a great success. Yay! We arrived on site at about 6am with the temperature at a bracing 27 degrees fahrenheit, clear blue skies and no wind at all. Perfect! (well, except it was freezing cold) 🙂
With 4 people we had the dome up in 1.5 hours and then mini-craned in the 24 x 330 pound concrete blocks onto the ripstop pads that we made from the materials that you sent over. I also used small rubber mats under & on top of the ripstop material before placing the concrete blocks on top to prevent any slippage. It all worked really well and the simple design for setting up on asphalt in the manual was easy to follow.
Once we had set up all of the interior tables and decor that we needed we then braced ourselves for the torrents of people to come. There were an estimated 30,000 people at the festival and we must have had about 6,000 children through the dome in the 7 hours that we provided free craft workshops and face painting. The organisers of the festival were extremely impressed with our work and the unique look of the dome that fitted in well with their snow theme. The giant igloo is what they called it. 🙂
I have attached some photos of the dome set up before the festival and a couple of the inside before and during the event. I have also added a couple of the ice sculptures that were carved outside the dome during the day.
Thanks again for your help in achieving our deadline and for doing everything you could to correct the error made in your warehouse with the order.
Hi Eleanor, well the festival has been and gone after all our preparations, the dome was, as ever, a great success. For your future reference the door bars worked a treat & we were able to remove the door tapes without a problem, they had to come off as they were deemed a ‘tripping hazard’ in the eyes of the ‘Health & Safety’ people. I made the bars with 1″ steel box section 54″ long with 16mm holes drilled at 42″ (the door spacing), 3′ of 16mm studding was passed through the 16mm holes and locked in place with nuts either side of the box section making an ‘H’ shape with about 9″ of studding protruding from the bottom of the box section and 2’3″ protruding from the top. The top part of the studding was bound with Duck tape to prevent the threads of the studding chafing the ties that hold the door tubes to the dome and the studding was then inserted into the tubes/poles. Once the dome was in place the bottom of the studding was pushed into the ground to keep everything in place & the dome was roped down to the plastic pegs with the ties provided. There were also two 14mm holes drilled into the box section 3″ from each end incase extra ‘pegging’ was required but it wasn’t. I hope this makes sens, I have attached some pictures where you will see the door opening without the tapes & how cool the dome looks with the light show in action. Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get a video of the dome with the lights as we were very busy and as you know; the best laid plans of mice & men, eh?
We used one of your Grodomes on a research project in Antarctica a few years back and really liked the translucent material. We are working on a custom fabrication for another research project in Antarctica. attached is the only picture I have with me right now in Alaska, once I get back to my lab in Oregon I will dig up some more.
The dome worked well for us though the PVS is very brittle at very low temperatures, so we busted quite a few of the pipe poles.
The picture is taken near McMurdo Station on the sea ice in McMurdo Sound, the mountains in the background (right side) are the Royal Society Range of the Transantarctic Mountains.
Hey guys,
Here are the dome pics that were past due form my end. Thanks for everything.
Also I wanted to purchase some PVC poles. but there is no option to choose small ones. I wanted two small ones and two large ones. How will i do this ?
I just wanted to show you what i’ve done with the dome that i bought from shelter systems.
From within the dome, the audience is surrounded by 360 degrees of video projections. It was set up/displayed at a regional burn/art festival in new England. I intend on bringing the project to burning man next year, once i solidify the projectors and protect them from the desert environment.
I have been using this tent for few years. I would like to add another to my collection.
These are before and after shots of Foyer Orphanage right after the quake with your tents and after we built new house. If ever you want to help support these 16 children let me know. We give them food plus $100. US per month but not enough.
