HexaYurts

[misterdj]

We have a two room Yurt. (maybe three rooms this year.) and the back room is totally sealed and air conditioned. It is literally dust free and acts as the bedroom. We undress in the front room before entering the bedroom. The front stays pretty cool with the residual from the bedroom AC, plus we don't carpet the front room other than the tarp, and the playa floor actually has a cooling effect too.

Air Conditioning? Way to embrace the desert.If they're homemade, I can support that. Sorry, just in asshole mode tonight.

It's easier to embrace on the playa when you can sleep in until noon or take a nap at 3 in the afternoon. I probably shouldn't mention the instant hot water shower.

Hey, more power to you for having an A/C. The one thing that is crucial during BM is sleep. And being able to sleep comfortably when you need it, will go a long way.

[International Incident]

Hey,
So... Given the box truck issues I'm thinking of going pickup truck and hexayurt. I've attempted to price the materials but am going nuts between the options. Could someone please post what they think their budget is or either a 6ft std or a 6ft stretch. I got to about $300 as the min for a 6ft - but may have missed some details.

Sorry for this, if I could pop into a big store and price the materials I would - (the Internet options don't always line up )

Thanks!

[lucky420]

Home Depot has the 4x8 panels here in Reno for $21 each
Good buy guys has tape (online order) for $30 a roll you'll need 5 because you have to pretape all edges.

12 panels = $252
5 rolls tape= $150
Shipping/tape $ 25

Total est. $427

[clocksnmirrors]

Hey,
So... Given the box truck issues I'm thinking of going pickup truck and hexayurt. I've attempted to price the materials but am going nuts between the options. Could someone please post what they think their budget is or either a 6ft std or a 6ft stretch. I got to about $300 as the min for a 6ft - but may have missed some details.

Sorry for this, if I could pop into a big store and price the materials I would - (the Internet options don't always line up )

Thanks!

last year i did an 8' five-sided hexayurt (which i guess would technically be a pentayurt)

I think i totalled around $575. but i went a bit nuts putting 2 windows on each side and building a full height door. also my home depot didn't sell 1" Rmax and i didn't trust 3/4" so i purchased 1/2" and 3/4" and bound them together with foil tape on all sides. sturdy as hell but a bit pricey

also i built a rack from plywood and posts and loaded the hexayurt on top of the truck. this made for horrible wind drag and my milage was awful. just sayin

all in all well worth it. i loved the experience of sleeping in my little house that i made with my own two hands.

[International Incident]

Thanks Lucky and Clocks.

Much appreciated!

The tape seems very pricey. But I guess it serves a pretty important purpose.

[clocksnmirrors]

make sure you don't forget to add rebar stakes and rope to your shopping list

24" 1" rebar = $1.75 each x 10

100' rope = $12 x 3 (i ended up using the rope for guy lines as well as transportation

[Nipple]

The tape seems very pricey. But I guess it serves a pretty important purpose.

I know people who cheap out and go with duct tape. They, so far, have not run into problems. I can't get behind going cheap on the tape though. I'd rather get the expensive Bi-Fi, and cover it with metal tape. The other option being cheaper, but you run into a very possible housing shortage. Nuts to that! Buy right.

[Redward]

I browsed this thread looking for an answer but I was not satisfied. How reusable are hexayurts? Made from 1" insulation foam, R-max or similar, 6 inch bi-fi tape and foil tape protection. Is this something I could store and use year after year, or is it very likely this structure is barely going to survive 1 week on the playa?

[clocksnmirrors]

they are pretty solid as long as you're careful with the assembly and disassembly. bring lots of box cutters so you have sharp blades to cut the tape apart

and for god's sake wrap it in a tarp securely for the ride to and from. if you take care of it, it will take care of you

[lucky420]

i reuse mine from year to year. Last summer before BM we went to Symbiosis up at Pyramid lake. The wind there waqs crazy and the ground different from the playa (loose soil) we didnt do the best job of building it. So some of the walls got a lil wonky. We replaced panels, didnt need to but just wanted to.

Your panels will last years as long as you store them right. We store ours stacked like a deck of cards with shrink wrap around them to keep them tightly together.

You will need to replace the 6 inch bi filament tape every year. I dont foil wrap my bi fil tape, it's not necessary. When you first get your panels you will need to tape all the exposed edges real good. I've found that my pretaped edges have generally stayed taped and rarely have to retape the exposed edges from yearto year. Although sometimes the dust does get under these and loosens them. It is then pretty easy to strip that tape off and retape.

[JeepBear]

I browsed this thread looking for an answer but I was not satisfied. How reusable are hexayurts? Made from 1" insulation foam, R-max or similar, 6 inch bi-fi tape and foil tape protection. Is this something I could store and use year after year, or is it very likely this structure is barely going to survive 1 week on the playa?

I would recommend you READ the thread rather than browsing or skimming it. This thread is one of the single best internet resources that exist for building hexayurts for playa use.

My 6' stretch yurts are going on their 3rd burn season (3-5 uses each by now.) Other than minor repairs and replacing the tape every year or two, I have had no issues yet. They will last for years as long as you take your time building, taping the edges well and anchoring them securely for each use. At the end of each season I wrap them up in a tarp and stick them in storage for another 6 months.

[Savannah]

The yurt owner I'm best acquainted with has just finished year three in his hexayurt.

Staking it down properly seems to be really important, because if the wind finds something to catch on, it'll pull on it, and weaken it.

[GreyCoyote]

As others have said, hexayurts are completely reusable. They need an occasional retaping, but thats it. The only other thing you might do is take a buffer with some carnabura wax to the foil panels. Makes them shine and reject heat better, but this might fall into the category of overkill.

[Fiver]

Yea, my yurt survived the playa just fine. I had it wrapped in tarp and sandwiched between plywood for the trip out and back. When I got home I spread it all out and washed it down with a hose, wiping dust as best I could. Then re-taped the seams that were damaged during takedown. Patched any dents I had with foil tape and then put it in my garage on it side (not flat) for the winter. The panels are in great shape again and are ready for another year out there. So take care of your yurt and it will last you just fine for many years.
This year my friends borrowed a yurt from some mates who couldn't come out in 2012. Their yurt was on it's 5th or 6th burn. It was pretty beat up but did it's job. A little mis-handling here and there adds up. I expect to get 4 years minimum (pending any accidents) out of mine. I have a feeling the roof will outlast the walls, but you can just buy new panels should a section get destroyed.

Might bump mine up to a 6 or 8 foot wall this year, which means I'll have to replace my door panel, but we'll see.
My yurt setup last year with AC, and small solar charged (or genny charged if needed) battery bank for the fridge inside.
http://i.imgur.com/fRotDCT.jpg

Edit: A/C is the bomb out there in a yurt. If you can swing it, go for it.

[ekieszko]

Just checking in, building my first hexayurt this year and hauling it from Northern California. Nice to see the discussion of hauling here, too. Any good suggestions for cheap 'n' easy shade outside the yurt?

[ekieszko]

Nice set-up, Hondovious - what size yurt is that?

Here are some pics of my yurt from last year. We really decked out the inside since we were on playa for 12 days this year. A metro shelf with carribeaners makes a great closet mixed with some storage bins to keep out dust. We hung our playa coats off the side. We also had a chest freezer full of frozen gallons of water and moved a couple into the big cooler every day, worked great to keep it cold then we had ice water for drinking and for the swamp cooler. A smaller metro rack was our kitchen/pantry. Add a tall queen size inflatable bed, some camping chairs, and a hot blonde and you are set for a magical week.

[maladroit]

I would live in that year-round!

[MacGlenver]

I would live in that year-round!

The yurt or the blonde? Either way, seconded.

[maladroit]

Pssh, the yurt of course. I'm no Buffalo Bill.

[MacGlenver]

Pssh, the yurt of course. I'm no Buffalo Bill.

[Hondovious]

Nice set-up, Hondovious - what size yurt is that?

It is an H15. Standard hexayurt with 2' added to each wall for height. I added the 2' sections permanently, but if you are concerned about room transporting it you can always add them on playa. We bring out an art car on a trailer so we have the room, the package is 6'x8' instead of 4'x8'.

Good luck. They are well worth the time and effort.

[SquirrelHead]

Nice set-up, Hondovious - what size yurt is that?

It is an H15. Standard hexayurt with 2' added to each wall for height. I added the 2' sections permanently, but if you are concerned about room transporting it you can always add them on playa. We bring out an art car on a trailer so we have the room, the package is 6'x8' instead of 4'x8'.

Good luck. They are well worth the time and effort.

Thanks for the information, this helps me with my plans.

[regentswift]

I had a question when building my hexayurt, "What is the width and length of the finished Hexayurt?", so I wrote a quick program to calculate this:

http://roadkillhaiku.x10.mx/bm/

It calculates the shortest dimension of the hexagon, not the longest (which would be double the length of your walls).

It's not fancy or pretty, but it's functional. Hope others find it useful.

[fractalSpawn]

Last year was my first burn, and I instantly fell in love with what I called "foil dog houses". Our tent was always dusty, and way too hot. This year I'm going with a quarter sized quad-dome (aka: 'nearodesic' dome) (12'x12'x6').

I'm currently experimenting with alternatives to the whole "re-tape once or twice a year" thing. Also, having BFT go out of stock at the last minute is also a bit annoying. I've had some successful experimentation with 4 guage vinyl and contact cement. Two products that are readily available year-round. It's still only testing, but looks really promising for having something that folds up small for transport/storage, and only needs minimal taping for final assembly. I pretty much expect to continue this path for 2013, so if you want to see how it worked out, you'll have to find me on the playa.

You can follow my progress at https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic ... INqYRqkekI if this is something you're interested in. I'd also love some feedback and other engineering use cases.

[brotherbear]

im a hexa noob and I heard that hexayurt tape gets crusty after a few weeks on the playa. will i run into any tape related problems if i make it a couple months before bm and store it in my garage?

[Hondovious]

im a hexa noob and I heard that hexayurt tape gets crusty after a few weeks on the playa. will i run into any tape related problems if i make it a couple months before bm and store it in my garage?

You will be fine, that is how we all do it. Tape all of the edges, and most of of us pre-tape the walls into two panel sections so you only have 3 instead of 6. Makes it much easier to put up. Also look into the Camp Danger method for pre-taping the roof.

[Sassi3]

Is thre any way to build sleeping pods on to the classic Hexayurt design?
Looking to make one with two sleeping pods to each fit two people. I was thinking of the stretch design, but from what I have read they have not been tested on the playa and I worry that the center section of that design might collapse in a high wind situation as I does not seem that there is any support in the "stretch" section.

Any thoughts or experience with the above?

Thanks,
Sassi

[Ratty]

You could do it if you built 2, low to the ground, triangular shaped protrusions. Just big enough for a double sleeping bag.

[Sassi3]

Ratty,
I made a scale replica of the Hexayurt with that triangular configuration but it won't fit two people in there. Would have been so easy.
Sassi

[gypsypitcrew]

After 7 Burns, I have an itch to try the insulated panel yurt structure. There's only 2 of us and we travel light, so we don't need a whole lot of space. Has anyone got any input on a square yurt made with 6 panels? While it would be short, it seems as though it would be easier to set up than the cone-roofed, 6-sided variety.

Any thoughts?