Thanks!!! and safe travels to you Paul Date: Fri, 20 Aug 2010 10:16:33 -0700 Subject: Re: [hexayurt] Tying your Yurt down 101 From: [email protected] To: [email protected]
It was just a straight copy and paste. Sorry. On Tue, Aug 17, 2010 at 10:03 AM, Paul Sanow <[email protected]> wrote: I have tried to get on the web site but cannot. Is there a typo? Thanks!!! > Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2010 08:47:48 -0700 > Subject: [hexayurt] Tying your Yurt down 101 > From: [email protected] > To: [email protected] > > Got this from another group... > > This document is also saved as a word .doc with the pictures, herehttp://f1. > grp.yahoofs. com/v1/AC5nTMhPI Wcii_BfbMhxHP_ keJdr9bXiBzIJTEn > bU6rolVwgJMlUkFN 0Bytt5TKrvIeblqe Opg20Mgoq9xhQiQ/ THE%20WIND% 20CARES > %20NOT. doc > > THE WIND CARES NOT > > Tying your shit down 101 > > > > The wind cares not. It cares > not that you didn’t sleep, or eat, or drink, or shit. It doesn’t care > that you > are having the best time of your life, or that you are having the > worst day > ever. The wind is completely indifferent to you and your needs and > feelings. The > wind can tear your shit down, break it into pieces, and completely > ruin your > day, IFyou let it. > > > > This article is about tying > things down in the wind. > > > > I am neither a structural > engineer nor materials specialist. I am a 26 year veteran of live show > production, from major concerts to theme camps and a lot of stuff in > between. Over that time I’ve picked up a few things > and learned a lot about what the wind does, how it does it, and ways > to prevent > it from doing those things. I’ve seen over $100,000 in concert > lighting truss > collapse, fold inward and come crashing down (thankfully no one was > standing > under it), and I’ve seem $20 shade structures hold up to sustained > hurricane > force winds over a period of days, and just shrug it off. > > The difference is the way in which the structure is tied down or > secured. The difference is also weather > or not the structure is allowed to oscillate > and how much. This craft is known as ‘guying’ and HOW you decide to > ‘guy’ > your structure can make the difference between a ‘simple’ whiteout, or > a major > disaster out on the playa. Do it right and your shade will hold up to > Godzilla > on a meth binge, do it wrong and a 20 mph gust will bring it down on > top of > you, your tent, your car, your neighbors car, etc. > > > > One thing to remember about > wind loading is that the resultant force applied increases > exponentially as the > wind speed increases. That means doubling the wind speed causes a FOUR > TIMES > INCREASE in applied loading. So, just because your shade stood up to > last > night’s whiteout does not mean it will hold up today. The three keys > to keeping > your shade up at Burning Man are > > Solid and redundant guy linesSolid ground anchor pointsDaily/ > (sometimes)hourly maintenance of the > entire system > > > > > > SOLID AND REDUNDANT GUY > LINES. > > This is the main way I see > people slacking on their shade so I’m going to tackle it first. > > Let’s take a look at a > simple 4 legged square shade structure. Please excuse my crappy > drawing, I have > other talents. > > > > This is a very common type > of shade canopy used all over the place and can range from a simple > $30 canopy > from a camping store, up to more expensive ‘easy-up’s’, and on up to > the Costco > garage carports or even larger structures. Whatever type the object > is, they all react > pretty much the same to wind loading. That is to say, they give or > flex, or > bend slightly as the load is applied. When the force lightens up, the > structure > returns to its original shape/position. Kind of. This back and forth > motion is > often what starts the failure of the object and is known as an > oscillation. (think: “wonka wonka wonka” > action in the wind). We’ve all seen this happening. Your goal when > tying > anything down is to prevent this oscillation from occurring. > > What’s happening is that the > oscillation is loosening the tie downs, and the internal joints of the > structure itself in many cases. Once that happens it’s usually only a > matter of > time before the structure gets bent or destroyed for the wind cares > not. > > > > Ok, so we need to tie this object > down and prevent oscillation from happening? We all get that, but the > confusion > often comes from HOW to tie it down and in what configuration? You > have many > choices and they all have their strengths and weaknesses. > > > > The strongest way to tie a > square object like this shade structure down would be with an 8 point > guy plan. > In this view you are looking straight down from above. > > > > In this scenario 8 > individual guy lines are run out from the top corners of the shade > structure to > presumably secure stakes of some sort in the ground. More on that > later. This > is the strongest but also most labor intensive of the way to guy this > shade > canopy down. Pros: Strongest and most wind proof. Cons: Labor/ > materials intensive, > takes more time, uses a lot of real estate > > > > Quite often I see people > cutting corners on this design and just going with a 4 point tie down > plan as > seen below. > > 4 points, while faster to > set up and maintain has one serious design flaw; if one of the guys on > the upwind > side of the structure fails or comes loose, that corner of the object > is then > subjected to a prying action (Torsional loading) and the danger of a > failure of > the structure increases. Inevitably, this failure will occur A: when > you’re out > on the playa and not home to stop it. Or B: when you’re just barely > asleep in > your tent under it. 4 point Pros: quicker to set up, uses less real > estate than > 8 point. Cons: less redundancy, higher likelihood of failure if one of > the > lines comes loose. > > > > Another option is one of “Internal > Guying”, and though I don’t see it used very often, it’s actually a > very solid > and elegant way of securing your shade structure against wind loading > and > oscillations. Take a close look at the center camp structure when > you’re out > there, it is internally AND externally guyed down. That sucka isn’t > moving. Internal > guying creates an X pattern on each face, from the corner anchors that > the legs > are tied into (you ARE staking the legs themselves down too, aren’t > you?) > > > > There are two main > advantages of the internal guy system. First is the redundancy of all > of the > ties working together to tightly hold the structure down, and second > that it > takes up no more real estate that the shade structure itself. This is > of > particular importance in crowded theme camps where tent camping space > is at a > premium or when cars are parked close by. > > Internal guying Pros: takes > up less real estate, less materials: 4 points hold the entire > structure down. > Cons: corner stakes need to be 100% bomb proof, this usually means > going to > larger and harder to remove stakes or rebar (see below). > > > > A final word on guy lines is > the angle that they come off the structure at. Ultimately you’d want > them at a > very shallow angle spreading way out to the sides to prevent Torsional > loading > and oscillations. But again the real estate this consumes would be > huge. So > most of us end up with somewhere around a 45 degree angle, which is > adequate. > Just keep in mind that LESS than 45 degree angle (like almost straight > down) is > increasingly useless. All this does is apply downward pull (load) on > the > structure but it does nothing to prevent oscillations; the great > destroyer of > shade at Burning Man. The rule is; 45 degrees outward or greater on > the > guy lines. > > > > > > > > SOLID GROUND ANCHOR POINTS. > > By far the most secure > anchor point you can create is about 2 feet of rebar pounded down > almost flush > with the playa and leaning outward against the direction of pull. > Rebar is a > pain in the ass to remove however at the end of the week in many cases > it’s > almost TOO solid of an anchor. The dozens of pieces left stranded on > the BRC > site every year are a testament to this. To be honest, I’ve tied a $30 > shade > canopy down with 10 inch yellow plastic tent stakes and had no > problems at all > the entire week. (see maintenance, below) Whatever stakes you use, > they’ve got > to be bomb proof. If one of your key stakes comes out during the > whiteout > you’re fucked. The wheel of your car or even a trailer hitch can be a > great tie > down point too. > > The three main things to > consider about ground anchors are > > SOLIDEasy to remove on load outMarkeable (water bottles, tennis balls, > pool > noodle cut into chunks) or driven flush with the playa surface to > prevent > injury. > > > > MAINTENANCE: > > No matter what guy system > you end up with or what ground anchors they are tied to, it all means > nothing > without regular maintenance. This one single thing is the second > greatest > source of destroyed shade at Burning Man after improper guying to > begin with. Read > this again: MAINTENANCE IS THE KEY TO KEEPING SHADE STANDING > > > > There’s a lot going on out > here and you’re sleep deprived, dehydrated, impaired, distracted, or > otherwise > not paying attention to little stuff like what’s going on with the guy > system > on your shade. Don’t make this mistake because it means giving the > wind time to > work on and destroy your shade. > > > > Slack lines mean > oscillation, oscillation means failure and collapse. > > > > Each and every day, > sometimes several times a day, you MUST walk around and inspect all of > your guy > lines. If they’re loose then retighten them and inspect the ground > anchors too. > Are they coming up out of the ground? Has the entire structure moved/ > slid > sideways causing slack in some of the lines? Maybe the basic geometry > of the > entire structure has changed in some way. Physically LOOK at all the > pieces > that make up your shade; are they bending or distorting? Did one of > them slip > out of its connections? This is all basic common sense stuff, but > unfortunately > 4 days into Burning Man, common sense can be in short supply. How > important is > your shade to you? To me it’s right up there behind water so I spend a > lot of > time making sure my shade will hold up to Godzilla on meth, in the > whiteout, in > the dark. > > > > TIE LINE MATERIALS. Almost > ANY decent string will work for simple shade guy lines. You don’t need > one > million pound test Kevlar/spectra line. > Basic parachute cord or even clothes line available everywhere will > work > just great. I like white because it’s easier to see at night. I have > seen 1 > inch webbing ratchet straps used as well. They tend to oscillate in > their own > unique way in the wind, but they are easy and fast to re tighten and > they are > cheap. > > > > KNOTS > > Here are two knots that you > MUST learn when tying shit down. > > The Truckers Hitch allows > you to adjust the tension on a line while it’s under tension. That > means you > can re tighten your guy lines without completely undoing them. > > http://www.animated knots.com/ truckers/ index.php > > > > and the tossed of ‘thrown’ > clove hitch. This knot allows you to precisely tension and set a line > around a > stake, pole, or a carabineer. Tied as a ‘slip version’ it is a very > quick and > secure way to fix the end of a line. > > http://www.gorp. com/hiking- guide/travel- ta-hiking- sidwcmdev_ > 056181.html > > > > Both of these knots mainly > work at the bottom or anchor end of the guy line. Up top at the canopy > all that > matters is that the knot stays tied and can be untied on load out so > I’m not so > picky about what knot you use up there. “If you can’t tie a knot, tie > a lot!” > > > > FLAG YOUR GUY LINES!! > Getting “clothes lined” at 3 in the morning going out for a pee sucks. > Running > into a guy line on your bike at full speed could cause serious injury. > Our eyes > are tuned to movement so tie little pieces of cloth, tape, or > something that > will flap in the breeze to your guy lines so that you and others can > see and > notice them both day and night. > > SET UP YOUR SHADE AT HOME A > COUPLE OF TIMES. > > One of the biggest mistakes > I’ve seen newbies make is buying a brand new shade canopy or tent and > taking it > out to the Black Rock for it’s first time set up. Don’t do that. Even > if you > have to go over to a local park and set it up a few times, get > familiar with > your shade BEFORE you leave home. Often time the factory stakes are > completely > useless. There’s not enough or even any tie line included, or other > problems. > (“pole A goes into pole B, um…. WTF is Pole B?!” get your stuff down > to a > system and include spare everything too. If you take an hour or two in > advance > of the event figuring this out you won’t have to do it drunk, in the > white out, > at night, alone. Hear that thumping sound? That’s Godzilla, he’s on a > bender > again….. > > > > Everything in this document > is basic common sense stuff. > > Thanks for reading have a > safe trip! > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "hexayurt" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/hexayurt?hl=en. > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hexayurt" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/hexayurt?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hexayurt" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/hexayurt?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "hexayurt" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/hexayurt?hl=en.
