I built my hexayurt for a week in the desert(Burning Man). It worked great and I put it together poorly I did it mostly by myself and I didn't cut one straight edge. I also didn't tie it down completely and my ropes got loosened. It still didn't blow away it just did an odd breathing thing when it was windy. When I did tie it down it was rock solid. Oh and I did not use all of the anchors cuz I lost something like tent pegs or something. That was more than a day ago so it has left my brain.
The main issue I had was the break down. With all the metal tape and the bifilament tape I cut myself up a bit. Should have worn gloves. Also the break down made it difficult to reuse. I am looking at using some type of wrap(think bungy meets sports tape) instead of bifilament tape for the ring. I am also exploring velcro and legos as wall connector options. I might also try to do what my training matts do which is jigsaw together. That is more difficult and cuts down on overall size so I am avoiding it right now. I want to re-use my Hexayurt on all my travels. Using non reusable things like Bifilament tape makes that difficult. Also I am trying to keep the building blocks around 48" X 48" as they are easier to transport. I will let you know as things go along how they are going. Rich Shumaker On May 11, 5:31 pm, lance95 <[email protected]> wrote: > Thanks to all who have responded. > > Obviously, if one has sufficient resources, one can simply buy a fully > equipped retreat that is complete with provisions. > > But I’m choosing to focus upon an average, North American citizen who > may have to abandon his or her home in the middle of the night-- > possibly with children and pets. In gentle climates, one needs little > more than a tarp and a wool blanket for protection against the > elements. > > But when the temperatures drop and the snow begins to fly, a good warm > shelter is of paramount importance. This is especially true for the > very young and old, along with those who are either sick or injured. > The northern latitudes can be very cruel in the winter. > > The hexayurt has a lot going for it, but the basic units have to be > heated in the winter. And at this juncture, I’m not sure how to do > that. > > That causes me to, once again, look at yurts/ gers. I’m speaking of > the convention kinds. Some nice ones can be bought from a number of > sources. And they are both beautiful and functional—often complete > with electricity, plumbing and woodstove. > > But those kinds of yurts probably aren’t going to be an option for the > person who must evacuate in the middle of the night. So I’m looking > for something that can be built with easily obtainable materials—such > as odds and ends from local hardware stores, or salvaged from > demolished buildings. One key part you need when building a yurt is a > good “roof ring.” > > One of the major challenges is designing a “roof ring” that can easily > be made from common materials. At one time, I had a decent home > workshop that featured a good table-saw, circular saw, router and > drill press. With those tools, I was able to do some pretty fancy > work. Certainly, building a good, “roof ring” would have been a simple > job. > > Now I have nothing but a couple of hand saws, a small saber saw and a > portable drill. Most of the roof rings I have seen can’t be created as > quickly and as easily as I would like. Yes……………personally, I could > build one even with my paltry selection of tools, but I have the > advantage of a lot of experience. > > A good friend of mine is endeavoring to design a new sort of “roof > ring”, we shall see what he comes up with. > > Many of the experienced yurt people I have talked to concede that > there’s a problem; unfortunately, they are vague about possible > solutions. > > Please don’t misunderstand, I’m not looking for a personal solution. I > have the time and resources to either buy or rent what I need to build > a roof ring. Hell………….I can afford to buy a complete kit. That’s not > the issue. What I want to do is to come up with solutions for others. > > As a final note, keep in mind that those who don’t own property might > have to move their yurt/ger frequently. > > Anyway, there are a lot of issues to confront. > > Sincerely, > Royce > > On May 11, 4:30 pm, "The Distinguished ..." <[email protected]> > wrote: > > > Greetings, > > > On Mon, 2009-05-11 at 11:24 -0700, lance95 wrote: > > > This is my first day on this discussion board. And I want to thank > > > everyone for the work that they have done. I am impressed. > > > It is quite impressive. > > > > I’m very interested in empowering myself and others to survive in a > > > battered economy. I have, for the last couple of years, studied a wide > > > range of options for those with only minimal resources. > > > And, if you read some of the essays our Fearless Leader has put out, > > there is lots of information on how to transport and build > > minimal-resource infrastructure, starting with a shipping container full > > of supplies, and ending with housing and a field-hospital. > > > > I am very involved with alternative medical treatments, especially > > > those associated with Qi Gong. I believe medical issues to be very > > > important area since our quality of life depends largely on the state > > > of our health. > > > You might want to talk to Dr. Evan Hughes about such things, he has > > several good talks about such balances. > > > > My research suggests to me that one might be well advised to remember > > > that threats to one’s plans to survive a calamity can arise from many > > > sources, which include the federal, state and local governments. > > > Indeed, although most of the focus here has been on disaster recovery, > > theoretically with the support of the Federal, State and Local > > governments, rather than in opposition to them. Most of the work, here > > has been on temporary structures, rather than permanent ones, with the > > exception of the co-op farm (search the archives for more information) > > > > Consider the harassment that can come for simple vagrancy. > > > Vagrancy is a whole other topic, that I'm not sure this is the correct > > forum to focus on such within. Safer to talk engineering, rather than > > causes. We all want these, for our various reasons, and when they > > effect the design (as my reasons did) it makes sense, but ... if it is > > outside the design reasons ... we should leave that to the business of > > the private individual. > > > > In regard to semi permanent shelters, I’m greatly interested in both > > > the traditional yurt designs and the hexayurt. Has anyone extensively > > > tested the hexayurt in cold climates where there is the possibility of > > > heavy snowfalls? > > > I have experience with both ger (yurt means village and ger means house) > > and hexayurt designs. Last fall, I was experimenting with the Hexayurt > > design, for winter storage (due to a sudden lack of my standard 12' > > diameter, 5' high ger, because one of my friends needed to live in it > > for the winter, his contractors royally screwed the building of his > > house, and his "newly poured" foundation was crumbling within weeks of > > it being poured) and found that the simulated snow-weight on the roof, > > with the extra weight of the building materials (orient-strand board, > > ledger-board, and flashing, basically) wasn't going to hold up to a New > > England winter. So I erected a Pentayurt (well ... at the moment, just > > the roof, up on cinder blocks, then it started snowing, the rest will be > > going up as soon as I have time in the next several weeks) and the > > pentayurt roof, with 2-foot cinder-block walls worked just fine, > > structurally. In terms of living in it? I'd want to do a lot more to > > it, to keep it warm, and habitable. It also survived winds that the > > Thermax design might not have survived. A ger is also well-suited to > > wind-swept snowy areas, the more the wind, the more the convection > > pushes the yurt closer to the ground, as opposed to taking off with it, > > like a circus tent. Ask some Pennsic Hurricane veterans about what > > structures were standing and what structures were just gone. > > > > And what about heating the hexayurt? Wood gasification stoves—forced > > > air stoves—are fine for cooking out in the open, but the don’t meet > > > the needs of someone cooking in a hexayurt that lacks some kind of a > > > chimney. > > > For my ger, that was lived in, up in northern Maine, there is the > > outer-layer (canvas), a vapor barrier layer (tyvek attached to felt), > > the khana, and then the inner wall layer (duralon (I believe that's the > > name of it)). About 2 feet away from one of the walls was a pipe-hole, > > surrounded by cement-board/insulating foam sandwich inset in the rafters > > (and had things attached to it, to make an appropriate vapor barrier as > > well) that the pellet-fed wood/cook stove was vented. We didn't really > > have to worry about a snow-load, although the plug for the standard > > ring-hole was a bit of a problem (not as tight a water-seal as he would > > have liked, even though he insisted on being able to open it, all winter > > long, because he liked the sky and the airflow through his house) but he > > lived comfortably in it for the whole winter. > > > I would _not_ have been comfortable putting the stove in either a wood > > or an insulation-board Pentayurt. Too much structural dependency on the > > setup, and not enough space to be able to safely separate the heat from > > the stove, from the construction materials. Also, it might burn up too > > much oxygen, and not leave enough for the residents. > > > > I realize that there are archives. And I will try to access them. > > > Possibly concerns such as mine have already been fully addressed. > > > Much more is in the archives, it's well worth the look. > > > > Thanks again. > > > > Royce > > > Percival --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hexayurt" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/hexayurt?hl=en -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
