And how does SOD hold up under the sun?

[Mr.?]

If I don’t do a water slide I’m doing this one. Bring in fresh grass! I would get about 400 square feet of nice fresh sod, and put it under a tent. It would be like grass and put up a wind block as shade. I’ve priced out over head misters, (www.rapidcool.net) and can cool the water using dry ice to make it freezing cold. I would play relaxing music during the day and have fans running.
I’m not for sure of the cost to rent a 40x40 foot tent, but I like the idea of sod. Has anyone seen sod to the play before, and how did it hold up? I plan to have mine in shade and have a plastic underneath to avoid it leaving MOOP. Kind of like a moist cool opium den. I have this and many more ideas!

[Kinetic IV]

Fresh grass has already been done out there several times. I'm not sure if the technical aspects of bringing it to the playa...and hauling it back out again have been discussed though on the board. It's definitely something worth searching the old posts for.

Speaking of old posts I really wish we had the old eplaya back, there's some great info in there that quite a few of us miss.

[geekster]

Not only has it been done for several years, its potentially very moopy. How about:

A theme camp done as a playa installation where the entire thing burns on Saturday night after man fall.

A lake of fire surrounding your camp.

Having a really comfy outdoor area heated with patio heaters, bunch of burn barrels, lots of playatech furniture (no cusions, don't want the hippies thinking they are in center camp), couple of picnic tables, free hot drinks (tea, coffee, chocolate) as a cool nighttime gathering area for people to sit a spell and warm up before heading down the road.

Having the above transportable on the back of a flatbed truck that goes out on the deep playa and sets up to include sound system playing 70's and 80's shit that I like. A really nice place to sit, warm up and get a cup of coffee way out in the middle of fucking nowhere.

[kilngod]

Aah, howzabout a grass slide? Even astroturf could work. Vehicle is an ice block. What would it take to build a 50-yard plywood ramp and cover it w/ astroturf? Supply yer own ice blocks. I'm game if you are. Rug burns could be fierce.

Best fun - well, pretty damn good fun -- I had in HS was ice blocking at night on a golf course in La Canada (near LA) with very long and steep grass hills. The fun part was when the cops chased us (about 20 people) in their helicopter. (They didn't get us all.) Try it some time. The secret to a good ride is cutting the block in half and putting a small towel on it to sit on.

[kilngod]

Aah, howzabout a grass slide? Even astroturf could work. Vehicle is an ice block. What would it take to build a 50-yard plywood ramp and cover it w/ astroturf? Supply yer own ice blocks. I'm game if you are. Rug burns could be fierce.

Best fun - well, pretty damn good fun -- I had in HS was ice blocking at night on a golf course in La Canada (near LA) with very long and steep grass hills. The fun part was when the cops chased us (about 20 people) in their helicopter. (They didn't get us all.) Try it some time. The secret to a good ride is cutting the block in half and putting a small towel on it to sit on.

[kilngod]

Aah, howzabout a grass slide? Even astroturf could work. Vehicle is an ice block. What would it take to build a 50-yard plywood ramp and cover it w/ astroturf? Supply yer own ice blocks. I'm game if you are. Rug burns could be fierce.

Best fun - well, pretty damn good fun -- I had in HS was ice blocking at night on a golf course in La Canada (near LA) with very long and steep grass hills. The fun part was when the cops chased us (about 20 people) in their helicopter. (They didn't get us all.) Try it some time. The secret to a good ride is cutting the block in half and putting a small towel on it to sit on.

[kilngod]

Sorry about that

[Isotopia]

Sod actually isn't as moopy as one might expect. A good start would be to lay down a series of blue tarps or something similar for moisture retention. Though evaporation of moisture from the sod is to be expected wicking can also take place from beneath. Having the tarp as a barrier goes a long way towards preventing that. Keep the grass watered but not saturated and it shouldn't be much of a problem. Having said that it might be a good idea to have a small barrier of sorts surrounding your area so's to catch any grass/moop.

[safetythird]

Best fun - well, pretty damn good fun -- I had in HS was ice blocking at night on a golf course in La Canada (near LA) with very long and steep grass hills. The fun part was when the cops chased us (about 20 people) in their helicopter. (They didn't get us all.) Try it some time. The secret to a good ride is cutting the block in half and putting a small towel on it to sit on.

We used to do this at the Burbank golf course, except we used cardboard and whole blocks. You can get crazy speed on a dewy night.

Definitely mucho fun.

S3

[kilngod]

We evolved from the full blocks for 2 reasons -- it was a lot easier to carry the blocks back up the hill, and the blocks didn't bounce so much if you fell off, especially if you tried to ride down in some multi-person configuration (pyramids, trains etc.). You get quite the bruise from receiving a hit in the chest (or head) with a flying 10-lb. block of ice.

I wuz thinking that if Swingers Lounge could build the zip line, it should be possible to make an ice blocking slope about the same length, tho it'd take a lot of plywood 'n' 2x4s, and turf.

Anything's possible at Burningman.

[Mr.?]

What kind of blocks of ice?

[kilngod]

The kind you get at Antactica would work fine. Cut em in half and get 2 for the price of one. If you can build a slide with astroturf (or sod?) you get a water slide without most of the water. Astroturf would be a scream, but man o man the rug burn you'd get if you fell off at speed.

If you built a slide with sod, you'd have to get someone to mow it. Didn't I see a gardner out on the playa this year? [/img]

[geekster]

What about the material they use for "dry" ski jumps in the off season? Any idea what that might be? There's always the giant air-hockey solution too. A cusion of air.

[retropsycho]

[from 2005 Theme Camp Announce list #8]
"Live plants die on the playa. Ask anyone that has brought them. They always make a mess. In our history no one has ever brought in plants, trees or palm fronds without creating a M.O.O.P. (Mater Out of Place) disaster. Every sight that has used them in any quantity has cost the clean up crew days and days of work post event.
There have been a couple of camps that have successfully brought out sod, but they have been few and far between."

[from 2005 Theme Camp Announce list #9]
"SUCCESSFUL SOD
Ron with Shady Asylum has generously offered to help out with tips on how to lay and remove sod leaving no trace on the playa. He has a track record (with Blue House) of success. Feel free to ask him any questions by contacting him at corwin@televar.com."