2007 Burning Man Preparation

I just finished my starplate shelter for the first time this weekend and I’m feeling good at how it will handle the playa.

It meets my two main criteria which was,

1) It needed to be able to be transported by a full size car or mini-van.
2) It needed to be able to be built and disassembled by 1 person using a minimal amount of tools.

The only “tool” that I’m going to need to bring is an A-frame ladder to attach the tarp roof to the structure, but you can probably get away with a 4’ step ladder. (I’m 5’10”, YMMV.)

Total cost for all of the materials was about $325 which is a little cheaper than the smallest yurt over at www.shelter-systems.com but much more than a EZ up shade(about $125 or so) or a Costco carport ($189 the last time I looked). I really don’t trust an EZ up shade holding together well during a windstorm and in my opinion the carport is going to take up too much room in my vehicle for just one person and I’ll need a second person to put it up properly if I don’t want to clam shell it. And last, I wanted something that looked cool. There, I said it.

Here’s a list of places that I got the materials from.

Starplates:
tinyurl.com/35noyc

Grip Clips Pro (For attaching tarp to roof)
tinyurl.com/9ykn7

Aluminet and clip on grommets for bottom half for the ball bungees:
tinyurl.com/yq7pov

Lumber, hardware, ball bungees – Local Home Depot, they also cut the 12’ long 2x4s in half to 6’ lengths and amazon.com

If you’re interested in putting together something similar to this please let me know and I’d be happy to answer in detail and questions you have.

22 photos | 1,093 views

items are from between 01 Mar 2007 & 12 Sep 2007.