[Vanhackspace] Toorcamp needs coordination

[dan anderson]

Alex: ribbed structures shouldn't need rigid pipe. It needs to be
strong enough to withstand being bent into a semicircle without being
stressed; lengthwise compression shouldn't be a problem since it's
cylindrical. Guywires out from the top of each end of the structure,
fixed ends of the ribs, and ropes connecting the ribs to each other at
the top are all you need.

Hmm, while I'm rambling:

http://www.toad.com/gnu/clifs-shade-structure.html (among a few
others) is useful for semicylindrical shade structs.
http://www.skymind.com/~ocrow/dome/ (among many others) is useful if
you want to build a geodesic dome.

I have built and used both. If you decide to make a geodesic dome,
colour-coding (with a felt or with electrical tape) the bars by length
makes life a LOT easier. For the semicylindrical shade structs, to be
most effective you need to either rebar down into the ground or else
maintain tension with ropes across the bottom; the former is a lot
easier, but make sure you candy-cane the rebar so nobody impales a
foot.

There are lots of other options, but I can highly recommend either of
these. Both scale well, both are very quick to set up with a team of
4-5 people (and quite slow with 2, impossible with 1). Biggest
drawback of the tension struct is that the pipes are long; if you're
not expecting very strong winds, you can half, quarter, whatever the
pipes and use connectors with small bolt through-holes. Biggest
drawback of the domes is that there's a lot of pieces which must be
more rigid than pvc (I've helped with domes made of metal and wood).

-D


2009/6/16 Alexandre Harvey <alex at pixelfactor.ca>:
> I was sort of planing to make a simple shelter, i have a 15x20 white tarp,
> and use 3 20ft rips to support it. Need to hit a plumbing store to get the
> pvc pipe cheap. Thinking of 3/4" should be rigid enough.
>
> Any ideas are welcome, I have never really built one of these before.
>
> I can also provide a cooler, I have a 72l one that folds flat for transport.
>
> Alex
>
> On Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 1:54 PM, Dustin Sacks <dustin at sillysoft.net> wrote:
>>
>> I think we could fit that into the trunk (it's a honda accord), if the
>> long parts aren't too wide, possibly poking through the backseat.
>>
>> What's your plan for the pvc shelter? I'm interested in helping to build a
>> camp structure.
>>
>> I will be bringing:
>> my little tent
>> 1 camping chair
>> 2 tarps
>>
>> maybe:
>> a cooler
>> i have an extra 3-man tent if anybody wants to borrow it, except part of
>> the door zipper is broken, i want to mod a flap over the broken part.
>>
>> Probably stop somewhere en route in the USA to pick up food supplies.
>> Hopefully collaborate with people on some meals.
>>
>> - dustin / dooq
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Jun 12, 2009 at 3:23 PM, Alexandre Harvey <alex at pixelfactor.ca>
>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Dustin, those dates would work for me.
>>>
>>> I will be trying to see about making a large pvc/tarp shelter that will
>>> pack down to around 4.5' long. Think that will squeeze into your trunk?