BRC Hardware
Burningman 2001

"It's all about the gear."

Camp Ideas

Building a Camp

First, let's look at materials. Unless you live in Reno or have a fleet of monster truck and limitless money, how you build your camp is probably going to depend on what sort of materials you can make use of.

Wood

Wood seems to be the best all round material to build durable camps out of. All the main BM structures are build of wood. There are limitless numbers of structures you can build with it and almost limitless number of methods to build your structure. It is probably the most commonly used building material in the world and there is no limit to the amount of plans, ideas, tools, fasteners, afixers, and trinkets for building stuff out of wood. The main trouble is that it is bulky, heavy, and can cost. The final redeeming value of a wood structure is that if you really don't want to you can probably arrange to burn it afterwards or throw it into the communal burn pits when all is said and done. However, another good thing about wood is that it is very reusable. With some thought put in while putting it together and it can be taken down easily and still be in shape to be used again for different structures years afterwards.

Metal

The main use for metal in building camps is metal tubing. It can be used to to make domes, tents, or car port type structures and then covered with another material. Over all it may be lighter and less bulky than building the similar structure out of wood. The main trouble with metal is that it is harder to work with and requires some preparation beforehand. There are several methods of connecting the pieces of metal, from simple nuts and bolts through drilled holes, to systems like Klee Clamps. Either way, it's probably going to take some thought before hand and require the structure be planned out and built well in advance of actually be carted to BM. Bending pipe correctly requires some special tools and has a hard time being undone. It however, is very durable, and unless you're welding the shit, can be taken down and used again and again.

PVC Pipes

PVC pipes are popular because they are very light and relatively cheap. One of the most common structures on the playa will be the PVC pipe and parachute dome. However, one of the most common structures to be killed by the expected wind storms will also be the PVC pipe and parachute domes. PVC used in such domes is already under stress from being bent and can easily shatter when hit by high winds, especially when covered by a parachute which is built for the exact purpose of catching wind. Once PVC breaks or shatters, there's no fixing it. The best you can do is cut off the broken parts and try and use the now shorter two pieces. If you want to build something out of PVC, keep your pole lengths short as possible, bring extra PVC just in case you have to replace a broken piece, and add guide lines. If you have one of those PVC and parachute domes, we suggest guidelines at the top and middle of the dome on every pole at least and don't cover it with something that catches wind as well as a parachute. If using PVC as poles for a tent, think about reinforcing it with guidelines and other materials. The thinnest piece of rebar dropped down into or tapped to a PVC pole can give it some rigidity and durability in the winds. The good thing about PVC is that is is decently easy to work with. It can be set over metal stakes set in the ground to keep it steady. It can be drilled and bolted or tied together, or you can simply tape the pieces together without too much worry. Once again, while working with PVC, we cannot stress the use of guide lines enough. At least one at the top and one in the middle on each pole and preferably multiple lines going in different directions on the side that hit by the winds (usually on the southwest).

Covering Materials

Once you've got your structure built, even if just a few poles sticking out of the ground, you're going to want o cover it with something to provide shade. Two of the most common materials, parachutes and cammo netting, both of which can be found cheap at surplus stores and provide a large area of coverage, have their draw backs. Parachutes catch wind. That's what they're built to do, and in BM's high sustained winds, that may be bad. Be prepared to cut holes in your parachute or add more guild lines. Cammo netting is good for letting wind through but it doesn't quite do a good job with sun. The holes in most cammo netting tend to quite large and thus if you sit or fall asleep underneath one, you could end up with half a dozen silver dollar sized sunburns on your body.

Prebuilt Tents

When using prebuilt camping tents at Burningman, the first thing you want to do is throw away those crappy tent stakes it came with and go buy some sturdy stakes at least 12" long. The wind can and will blow your tent across the playa if it is not secured firmly down. Next, don't be afraid to add more guide lines than they supplied with the tent. In the typical dome tent, if you have no other wind block, add guild lines of rope or another material that doesn't give much (i.e. not paracord) to the top and middle of the tent poles. Perhaps extras on the side facing the wind (SW). If you can't affix the lines to the middle of the pole or tent, just tie the line and tape it down with duct tape. We've had plenty of people come in with broken fiberglass tent poles because of the winds and there's very little you can do to fix those even if not broken all the way.