| Shelter - function, requirements, types |
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Shelter
should protect you from the weather: sun, radiant heat, wind, dust
and maybe even rain. Shelter also provides privacy, security and
storage for your belongings.
Shelter creates functional space
for your playa activities: food preparation and storage, dining, socializing,
sleeping, clothes changing, and showering.
It's easy to 'get carried away'
with ideas for building shelter. Remember that you *do* have some
constraints about how large and how complex a shelter you can
build.
To some extent, the size of your
shelter is limited by your ability to transport the pieces to the
playa. A fairly large shelter can be made with lightweight,
easy-to-transport parts, but be careful not to overload your vehicle. |
| Keep your
shelter simple. Don't overestimate your level of interest
in 'shelter building'. The playa has many distractions: you may
not want to spend days erecting a large, complex structure. You
want to have time to play, eh? Plan
your shelter so that it does not exceed the time, effort, and
skills of the humans who will build it.
You've heard the warnings about the
weather. They are *not* exaggerated. Anchor your shelter well.
Here is 'the word' from the official Burning Man site:
http://www.burningman.com/preparation/event_survival/securing.html
Playa shelters come in a myriad of
sizes and shapes. From 'ready-to-go' commercial shade structures
and canopies to homemade domes, yurts, fabric tension structures, and endless tarp-and-poles
arrangements, the playa has it all. Whether
you buy a commercially made shelter or build your own 'from
scratch', set it up once at home!
A trial run is essential. If there are parts missing or problems
with your structure, it will be difficult to fix it on the playa. |
There are many, many
web sites about how to build playa shelters. Check out the links on the Desert
Camping Links page. |
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On a funny note, if
you do a Google search on 'desert shelter', you will turn up two
main types of links:
-
Links to sites
that explain how to build a shelter for Burning Man
-
Links to sites
that explain how to survive in the desert after you are forced
to camp there by accident such as a plane crash or shipwreck!
Apparently most people
don't camp in the desert 'on purpose'! What can we learn from
this? Most people are missing the experience of a lifetime!
<<< Gunnar built this nice bucky ball
dome. The southern side is covered with reflective fabric. Believe
it or not, his vehicle is parked *inside* the dome! |
| Be sure
to read the information about anchoring
your structure |
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