Burning Man Table of Contents

Max Icon's PVC Adventure

Courtesy of Max Icon

[The Civilized Explorer crew is happy to report that Max Icon has superseded this page with an entire Web site devoted to hacking PVC. Kindly update you bookmarks to http://www.maxicon.com/Burning_Man/PVC_Structures/pvc_on_the_playa.htm]

Here's a long post with most of the distilled learnings of my succesful PVC adventure last year...

max (building this weekend!) icon

I used shade cloth and PVC for an open-base quonset hut last year, as well as for flagpoles, arches, etc. You can see it at http://www.slip.net/~maxicon/camp3.jpg.

Here's what I used:

THE FRAME

10' lengths of 1" schedule 40 pvc (the longest I could fit on the car), with T or X connectors in the middle to make 20' lengths. These make (for the trig-challenged) a half-circle about 6'4" tall, or big enough for most of us (not counting certain Gregs) to stand under. I used 3 hoops like this; the middle one had a 4 way joint, the outer ones had T's. 5' sections connected the hoops, allowing me to draw the cloth tight without bending the hoops over. This design is infinitely expandable in 5' sections...

I had pre-drilled holes, brought nuts'n'bolts, and PVC glue, and the center joints popped anyhow. The day was saved by laying about 1' of spare PVC across the joints and duct-taping in in place. That gave me really strong joints that were easily cut apart at the end, and I think that this will be my main joining method this year. Be sure to bring several more pieces than you need, both for emergencies and to give to your neighbors.

The 1" schedule 40 was plenty strong enough, as this structure gets its strength from the tension when it's bent. A traditional structure (straight members for frames/centerpole) would need heavier, thicker PVC, which turns into a transport problem if you don't have a big truck. I used schedule 120 thinwall stuff for the beta, which collapsed pitifully.

THE SKIN

I decided on Sarlon shade cloth, as it's tough, light, easy to cut, and reusable in the garden later. Tiewraps held it together beautifully, and allowed some adjustments as the sun moved, though I didn't bother after the first day. Burlap is cheaper, and just as effective (not to mention burnable, which may be good or bad), but not nearly as tough; the tiewraps pull out easier under stress if you don't grab enough threads. If I remember right, I got the 6' by 15' shade cloth, cut it in half, and used two 6' by 7.5' pieces. The 6' went in the 5' section direction, and allowed me to overlap with tiewraps. Extremely strong and durable. The 7.5' went in the 20' direction, and allowed me to slide it around if I wanted to. The Sarlon comes in several colors, including a fine pale violet.

With the long way oriented E-W, we had maximum shade all day, though we had to move chairs and coolers through the day to keep them in the shade since it was only 10' long. There were only 2 of us, and it was plenty.

THE DETAILS

It wasn't a perfect semicircle, but was straighter at the back and sloped at the front to give a more open view (we were right on the main circle). The high skin protected nicely against the hot midday sun and still let the breeze through.

I got the shade cloth at Home Defect, which was much cheaper than Orchard Supply. I may try something else this year (along with the leftovers from last year), as I want to cover my entire tent so I can sleep after the sun comes up. Maybe burlap or parachute cloth for this, plus a smaller tent...

OTHER STUFF

I did bring some 1/2" pipes as well, which did nicely as the frame for the shrine of Our Lady of Diminished Expectations. It only supported color transfer film, so no structural strength was required. The 1/2" was too flexible for flagpoles, but 1" was fine. I also used 2' lengths of 1" for tiki torches by duct-taping the torches into the pvc, then taping that onto a piece of rebar. Solid support, difficult for drunks to steal (and a few tried), and easy to cut loose later. Also, 1/2" was a tight fit on the rebar, and was a pain sometimes.

18" rebar was perfect for stakes for everything, though NEVER TURN YOUR BACK ON IT! I still have a scar from last year; dang nigh ruined the whole deal on the first day. My favorite rebar tool is a big frigging hammer called a "drilling hammer"; like a little sledge hammer, and not too expensive.

My last bit of advice (hah! wishful thinking) is to build it before you go in your backyard, local park, whatever, 'cuz the hardware stores are in short supply on the playa. Me'n'the kidz (both mine and neighbors) had a great time building this stuff, and we use it through the year for birthday parties, sprinkler/mister supports, castles, etc.

Courtesy of Max Icon

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