[Noisebridge-discuss] Video of dust devil destruction @ TC

Sai Emrys noisebridge at saizai.com
Tue Jul 7 05:00:52 UTC 2009


On Mon, Jul 6, 2009 at 6:24 AM, Martin Bogomolni<martinbogo at gmail.com> wrote:
> Domes have the attractive feature that they enclose a large volume of
> space for very little material.   Yurts when built with care, don't
> cover nearly as much space but are very good for housing since they
> incorporate ventilation through convection and are well insulated.

FWIW: I found psychesonics' yurt to be probably the most comfortable
structure in the camp. It was very noticeably cooler than other tents.
Not as much floorspace as e.g. the NB dome,  but pretty decent, and
tall enough to stand up easily. (At least for short people like me
:-P)

The makers thereof claimed its survival of direct hit by dust devil
had something to do with its use of isosceles triangles; I know
nothing about architecture or the like, so I've no way of evaluating
that claim, but I bet somebody on this list can.

The tech talks dome that collapsed around me was very securely pinned
down AFAICT (shitty soil for that btw - dust on top of bedrock, ugh),
and the tarp tied down by bricks. I saw those bricks float a foot or
more off the ground during the hit (quite scary - I thought I was
about to get clocked by the dome edge, or have a beam bent into me),
and the dome structure just plain crumpled inwards. I'm not sure what
could've been better done about it other than some provision for
breakaway or wind-permeable tarps; e.g. perhaps using some knot that
will release under sufficient tension? Again, not my area, so I'm just
guessing here.

But yeah, a guide from burners would probably be a good idea. OTOH,
weren't several of the setup people burners? I thought they were
already operating on some experience / skill in this sort of
hostile-environment construction.

- Sai



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