I used straight rebar, and a rebar driver I made. The driver is a heavy piece of solid stock about 2" thick and 3' long. I taped the end to accept a piece of 1/2" rigid electrical conduit (not thinwall), and screwed a 11" piece of conduit into the hole. When you put the rebar in the conduit and slam the device down a few times the rebar is in the ground with 11" sticking out. I covered these with water bottles and glow sticks. Next year I plan on placing the rebar stakes in the middle of each panel directly next to the hexayurt (between 2 corners). Each tiedown point (6) will have lines to 2 pieces of rebar (except the door panel) and won't stick out at all. I'd like some feedback on this idea if anyone thinks it's interesting (maybe everyone does this and I just don't know).
On Sep 15, 9:35 am, Zippy <[email protected]> wrote: > The original poster referred to tarp tie-downs (anchors), but the > responses seem to be talking about guy line anchors. I'll respond on > both: > > Tarp anchors: If I want to secure a tarp to the Playa surface, to be > used as a floor for a structure for example, I use simple smooth 6" > nails and nail down through each tarp eyelet, putting a backwards > angle on the nail so it puts tension on the tarp as it goes in. I > nail them in all the way down, so they don't create a tripping hazard > and the head of the nail pinches the eyelet against the Playa > surface. I've been doing this for 8 years and never had a problem. > The tarps hold down tight all week, and are easy to remove at weeks > end. Tent pegs also work, but depending on the ones you use, they are > harder to nail down flat than the regular 6" nails. > > Guy line anchors: I'm of the opinion that many people over-design > their guy line anchors at Burning Man, like putting 18 inch rebar > stakes in for a personal 2 man tent. There are many, many threads out > there suggesting that this is what you need to do. That said, when in > doubt, over-design is always preferable to under-design on the Playa, > because there are serious potential safety issues at stake (wow ... a > nice unintended pun there!). > > On Hammering: On of the key factors to establishing a solid guy line > anchor is hammering your stakes in arefully so as to disturb the > ground as little as possible, thus maximizing your purchase. When > people hammer sloppily, bending their stakes, and resetting them over > and over at different angles, the ground ends up being so disturbed > even an 18" stake can be rendered ineffective. Here's what you do!: > set your stake on the ground at an appropriate back-angle ( I use > about 30 degrees) taking time to plan out the correct and final > location (you don't want to have to relocate it 4" away). Hold it > firmly with one hand, and use sharp, accurate blows with an > appropriately sized hammer, starting with a small hand sledge, and > moving to a larger sledge if necessary once you've established > alignment. If your not good with a sledge, that is okay, but recruit > someone who is! > > On Stakes. For my hexayurt I used six 12" #5 rebar stakes (in the US, > the gauge number represents the number of eights of an inch, so #5 > rebar is 5/8", #4 is half inch etc.). The stakes were custom welded > with a tie down hook and a hammering plate. Having a good quality > stake like this is important. First, a hammering plate (1" x 1.25" x > 3/32" steel plate) ensures your hammer blows transmit more accurately, > and your hammer doesn't skip off your rebar end (and hit your other > wrist (ouch!)). Second, having a shorter length (12") and a thicker > gauge (5/8") reduces the chance of your stake wandering or bending as > it goes in, thus maximizing it's pull-out strength. Third, because #5 > steel is stronger than the more commonly used #4 bar (1/2 inch), and > because the stakes are shorter than the commonly used 18" stakes, they > are easy to remove by hammering on the stake sideways gently in all > directions (1/2" rebar will bend), then rotating them (with vice grips > if necessary) as you pull them out of the ground. They are only 12", > but their properties allow them to be hammered in almost all the way > down, minimizing the tripping hazard and maximizing pull-out strength. > > My stakes were made by a long time Burner, brilliant welded steel > artist and very good friend in the Northwest. He lives on a very > modest income and designed these stakes for my purposes, but because I > was so happy with them, he now makes and sells them for $4.00 each. > That's more expensive than the ones linked in this thread, but they > are also much better, and he does high quality welding and he is a > hell of a good guy. He puts the quality of his work ahead of his > profits. If anyone is interested, let me know and I can put you in > contact with him. > > On Sep 14, 5:46 pm, Rhid <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I rolled the tarp in on itself till snug up against the walls of the > > hexayurt then taped it in place... it makes a water tight seal.. > > > Icarus wrote: > > > How is everyone anchoring their tarps to the playa? Regular tent pegs? -- 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.
