Shade structures are perhaps the most important and powerful way of improving temperature conditions in a tent on playa or elsewhere. The value of a shade structure to someone who is trying to sleep can not be overstated.
The Traditional Way
A lot of people buy and build complex and expensive shade structures. Typically these are made using five-way joints with feet and ten foot sections of one inch emt conduit (or here). These are typically covered with tarps and ratcheted down.
Parts List
- 13 x 10′ 1″ EMT Conduit ($10.40 ea at Home Depot)
- 6 x feet ($43.89 for six on Amazon)
- 6 x 5-way joints ($25.19 ea on Amazon)
- 6 x ratchet straps ($25.99 on Amazon)
- 10′ x 20′ tarp ($26.76 on Amazon)
10′ by 20′ Total Cost: $382.98
Another Approach
At the burn this year, my friend Giorgio suggested putting up a flat top using rebar instead of feet and aluminet instead of tarp. This would mean far fewer parts, no need to ratchet strap it down since it won’t catch wind, and much easier to transport. I used paracord to tie down the aluminet which worked perfectly.
I simply pounded rebar into the ground, leaving about a foot above ground. I tied paracord to the eye bolt and dropped it through the aluminet’s grommet and then into the end of the emt conduit. This is fine since the cord is not bearing any load. It’s basically just there to keep the eye bolt from falling out if the aluminet flaps a bit. The wind blows straight through the aluminet so the force on the paracord is minimal. The other end of the conduit goes onto the rebar. The paracord is tied off on some lag bolts (This is overkill. There is probably a more elegant and less complex solution here). Below is a picture of this set up in my back yard as part of my chem honors project.
Parts List
- 4 x 2′ rebar ($2.55 at Home Depot)
- 4x 10″ lag bolts ($2.37 at Home Depot)
- 4 x 10′ 1″ EMT Conduit ($10.40 ea at Home Depot)
- 10′ x 20′ 70% Aluminet ($75 on Amazon)
- 4 x 8″ eye bolts ($2.88 on Amazon)
- About 50′ of paracord ($10.49 on Amazon)
10′ by 20′ Total Cost: $158.29
Less Than Half The Price
Wow so this design is less than half the price of the traditional model and comes with far less to haul in to camp. I will definitely use this design from now on! Here’s what it looks like in my back yard…
