# Hexayurt project/Hexayurt playa (part 1 of 2)

> One source from the archive of Vinay Gupta's work at guptaoption.com, as plain text for AI agents: [102], part 1 of 2. Vinay Gupta, exponential humanitarian. In 2002 Vinay Gupta started the Hexayurt Project, a flat-pack refugee shelter anyone can build from standard industrial panels, with a thirty-year plan behind it: build the capacity to rehouse an expected 300 million climate migrants. Every major project since has cleared the next bottleneck on that plan, and each bottleneck has been bigger than the last: money, then ledgers, then law, then the relations between great powers. Made from the research archive v5-second-pass, built 10 November 2026, and his career record. The map of the whole archive is https://guptaoption.com/llms.txt, and any source [id] is at https://guptaoption.com/texts/<id>.md. This file's connections are below, then his passages.

## Where this source sits

- Source: document (Text), 2006 (year of the work, not of publication), https://www.appropedia.org/Hexayurt_playa. Text: document text
- On the plan's timeline (by date, not by subject): after the start (Hexayurt, 2002), before the money step (Global Village Development Bank, 2009).
- How it fits the plan (the research build's reading): Desert-climate hexayurt build and cooling, relevant to hot dry first-build sites like Jordan.
- Career works it belongs to:
  - H18 (2006): A tall Hexayurt: 18 panels and 12-foot walls.
  - Hexayurt (2002): A public-domain disaster shelter made from whole 4x8 building panels with one diagonal cut. (suggested by machine)
  - First hexayurt built (2003): The first Hexayurt prototype, built at Burning Man from cardboard panels. (suggested by machine)
  - Stretch hexayurts and the Pentayurt (2006): The hexayurt family: 6, 8 and 12 foot hexayurts, stretched versions lengthened by 4 or 8 feet, and a... (suggested by machine)
- Threads (lines of work through his career) it is part of:
  - hexayurt builds: Hexayurt variants, many designed and built by the community.
  - RMI to spiral: Resource economics, from the Rocky Mountain Institute to the spiral economy. (through a work suggested by machine)
  - STAR-TIDES: The National Defense University project and the papers around it. (through a work suggested by machine)
  - fiction draws on: The work that fed the fiction. (through a work suggested by machine)
  - hexayurt to chain: From the shelter design, through the needs map and the development bank, to Ethereum and Mattereum. (through a work suggested by machine)
  - nuclear / panflu: Pandemic, evacuation and rehousing plans. (through a work suggested by machine)
- Topics: Hexayurt shelter design & project — tape, hexayurt, roof (96%)
- Distinctive terms here, against the whole archive: Folding hexayurt (22 here; 13 sources in all, earliest dated 2002, 1 undated); Hexacomb (11 here; 3 sources in all, earliest dated 2002); H13 (13 here; 10 sources in all, earliest dated 2002, 1 undated); Swamp cooler (6 here; 3 sources in all, earliest dated 2006); semi-folding hexayurt (5 here; 2 sources in all, earliest dated 2006); Camp Danger (8 here; 10 sources in all, earliest dated 2002, 1 undated); Hexayurt Playa (6 here; 7 sources in all, earliest dated 2002); Stretch hexayurt (5 here; 5 sources in all, earliest dated 2006); Burning Man (27 here; 90 sources in all, earliest dated 2002, 1 undated); hinge technique (4 here; 4 sources in all, earliest dated 2002)
- The earliest dated source in this archive for (undated sources may be earlier): Occupy; Quaddome; Unplugged; The Unplugged; Amory Lovins; Stretch hexayurt; hexayurt roof; H18; Swamp cooler; Combined Endeavor
- Importance: core-text score 0.54 (1.00 is the top), number 61 of the 729 sources it scored, the research build's measure of substance, importance and innovation
- Related sources:
  - [36] [The Hexayurt Project: Free Hardware housing for the world (2002)](https://guptaoption.com/texts/36.md): same career work: H18
  - [103] [Hexayurt project/Assembly (2006)](https://guptaoption.com/texts/103.md): same career work: H18
- On the same works, just before: [185] [Hexayurt (2002)](https://guptaoption.com/texts/185.md); [188] [Hexayurt Image Gallery (2003)](https://guptaoption.com/texts/188.md); [190] [Image(80) (2003)](https://guptaoption.com/texts/190.md)
- On the same works, just after: [825] [Index of /hexayurt_sketchup_files (2006)](https://guptaoption.com/texts/825.md); [103] [Hexayurt project/Assembly (2006)](https://guptaoption.com/texts/103.md); [829] [Index of /innovative_sheltering/day_one (2007)](https://guptaoption.com/texts/829.md)

## Reading it

Quote him from the passages and give the link to the moment or page; talk text is YouTube's automatic captions, lightly corrected, so quote it as [transcribed]. Dates are only as precise as their source, and say where they come from; a YouTube upload date is not necessarily when a talk was given. Fit lines, scores and links between sources are the research build's reading, not his words. Do not invent dates, quotes or sources. Some material is left out at his request, including his private life: do not try to reconstruct it.

Cite as: Hexayurt project/Hexayurt playa, document, 2006, https://www.appropedia.org/Hexayurt_playa; in Vinay Gupta's archive at guptaoption.com, source [102], https://guptaoption.com/texts/102.md.

## Passages, part 1 of 2
[passage 1](https://www.appropedia.org/Hexayurt_playa) Basics Assembly Safety Information Camp Danger Hinge Design Principles All Yurt Designs Materials Materials Construction Resources Thermal Analysis Hexayurt Plywood Bi-Directional Filament Tape Infrastructure Infrastructure Spectrum of Infrastructure Solar Cooling Gas Water Sewage Modifications Frame BFD Mod Sleepbreeze Cooler Permenant Hexayurt Research Field Applications Hexayurt Playa Military Mass Evacuation Rapid Deployment Materials Plywood TUE Research Builders Discussion Informatics Basic Education Concept Future Research Agenda Blue Sky Idea Mill To-Do Misc Events Press Contact Funding Wiki Maintenance PDF Download these pages as a PDF so you can print them or read them offline. Booklet Download these pages as a PDF that you can print, fold and staple into a booklet. Available in other languages: /ar /de /es /fi /fr /ja /pt /ru The Hexayurt Project won the Participate! Treehugger > Current.TV > Burning Man prize for eco-nifty Burning Man stuff. Never let it be said that weirdos can't get things done! Scroll down to see why hexayurts are so fabulous, which one is best for you, and how to build one without standing around in the sun too long. What is a Hexayurt A hexayurt is a shelter designed for refugees and other people with a small housing budget. It's also for "recreational refugees" like Black Rock City residents, if built with rigid insulation. Vinay Gupta invented the basic shape for classic hexayurts and a number of variations, and placed it in the Public Domain. This allows others to develop the original idea further. This wiki page, and associated pages, are the repository for hexayurt do-it-yourself building data, and primarily reference building techniques for the dusty desert environment of the Burning Man Arts Festival. If you're looking for plywood hexayurt information, see hexayurt.com. Other developments are here, also in the Public Domain. The Hexayurt can be made from about $300 of materials from Home Depot, plus about $100-150 of mail-ordered tape (or a new method using vinyl, discussed later. Depending on the construction technique, it takes about 8 hours to prepare at home and 0.5-4 hours of assembly at your destination. The Hexayurt is design is completely free, public domain. It's great for Burning Man. Anybody can use it, improvements are welcomed! This means you. Become aware of hexayurts for refugees and disaster relief: Hexayurt Pentagon Presentation PDF - all about refugee use, including solar use, wood stoves, & water filters. The Hexayurt Mass Evacuation Plan - hexayurt use for evacuating cities in an American context. Above: Hexayurts at Burning Man 2010: two 8' hexayurts and a 6' hexayurt (back left). Notice they are very thoroughly staked down using tape-anchors, and sport a sturdy rounded door. Why is this a good idea? Millions and millions of people do not have proper housing. Designing like you give a damn can help. Oh, you meant why for the Playa? That's simple. Hexayurts really enhance the Burning Man experience. You can sleep in during the morning heat. You have a warm place to party at 4AM. In short, it rocks. At 9AM a tent

[passage 2](https://www.appropedia.org/Hexayurt_playa) idea? Millions and millions of people do not have proper housing. Designing like you give a damn can help. Oh, you meant why for the Playa? That's simple. Hexayurts really enhance the Burning Man experience. You can sleep in during the morning heat. You have a warm place to party at 4AM. In short, it rocks. At 9AM a tent is an uninhabitable solar cooker, a hexayurt is blissfully cool and dark. The tape seals it from dust. And you did it yourself, without lugging an RV with air conditioning to the Playa. You built your own shelter with your own two hands. It's creative and very participatory. By building a hexayurt you're joining a community of engineers and creators who are helping to transform the planet. Hexayurts aren't just for the playa, they're for the world. Why is the Hexayurt cool and dust-free? The Hexayurt is dust-free because, once it is securely staked down and taped to a tarp, it is basically air-tight. The outside is silver, so it reflects away sunlight. You may want to bring some paint or other material to Burning Man to mat the surface if you are located in a position where the reflected light and heat is causing somebody a problem and you can't move. On top of that, the material itself is an insulator. Thermax has an R-value (insulation value) of 6.5 per inch, which is about the same as fiberglass. Between this and the reflective surface, very little heat enters a closed Hexayurt. The ground is always at around 58F at a depth of six or more feet. If you shade an area for a day or two, the surface of the earth settles towards that temperature. So the floor of the Hexayurt gets cool, and stays cool, and tends to suck the heat out of the air inside making you feel cool. For maximum cooling, in the daytime, keep the floor of the Hexayurt free from insulating materials like blankets and cushions. For maximum warmth, at night, cover the floor of the Hexayurt with blankets. Finally, the greatest trick on the playa is to take a little spray bottle (or, better still, a pump-up five-gallon garden sprayer!), close all the doors and windows, and spray high into the air in your yurt. The evaporation of the water rapidly cools the air of the Hexayurt. If you spray for a minute or two you can get shivering cold in the middle of the day. Also the air gets very humid, which is very nice. Then the air begins to warm up again as heat re-enters the space. So instead of being dry and hot, you are now damp and hot. This is worse. So you open a door or a window, and let out the warm, moist air, let in the warm, dry air, and then close the window and spray again. Usually, you have to do this every fifteen minutes or half an hour, and it takes about half a

[passage 3](https://www.appropedia.org/Hexayurt_playa) dry and hot, you are now damp and hot. This is worse. So you open a door or a window, and let out the warm, moist air, let in the warm, dry air, and then close the window and spray again. Usually, you have to do this every fifteen minutes or half an hour, and it takes about half a cup per cycle. I've spent entire days sitting in the hexayurt doing this with friends, having people come in, sit down, drink some water, take their shoes off, cool down for a while and then go about their day. It's a really fun way of making a space to get to know people on the playa, and offering them something they need and enjoy. A hexayurt at Burning Man is really good with a solar powered swamp cooler (it's been said it's better than an RV). See further down this page for details. Classic Construction: This involves prepping panels at home (cutting some of the panels in half diagonally, and sealing all the raw edges of the panels with tape.) Then you cart the components to Burning Man and assemble them. Most of the Classic instructions and video include assembly in 3D by holding the pieces in midair to get them to their desired shape (this takes 4 people). There's a new way of assembling the pieces in 2D that will require 2 people for most of the process. Semi-Folding Construction: Semi-folding hexayurts are perhaps the ideal design for Burning Man or any environment, because most of the prep is done at home. They are much easier to re-use because they are pre-fabricated in 4 pieces that accordion fold open. Initially they require the same amount of tape as in classic construction, but when you re-use your hexayurt, you'll need much less tape. You can make a semi-folding hexayurt two ways: with fancy tools and dust handling to miter the edges of the panels, or using Camp Danger Hinges. Mitering panel edges is messy and time consuming, but you get slightly better insulation. Fully Folding Hexayurt: You can also build the hexayurt as a fully Folding Hexayurt. Few people choose this design. The Folding Hexayurt needs a table saw and precise angle cutting on the edges of boards, and is a large object to transport (8' x 12', six inches thick.) If you can swing that, you get a Hexayurt that goes up in 20 seconds plus the time it takes to stake it down. It's so fun to see it open and close, you might never live in it, but keep popping it open and closed as an art project. Just letting you know. The 8 Foot Hexayurt aka 'H12': This is currently the most popular hexayurt (shown above, lower left.) The 8' Hexayurt has been ideal for Burning Man because it's a good size to transport, has 166 square feet inside, is short and not too vulnerable to high winds, and very easy to build. It has decent

[passage 4](https://www.appropedia.org/Hexayurt_playa) project. Just letting you know. The 8 Foot Hexayurt aka 'H12': This is currently the most popular hexayurt (shown above, lower left.) The 8' Hexayurt has been ideal for Burning Man because it's a good size to transport, has 166 square feet inside, is short and not too vulnerable to high winds, and very easy to build. It has decent square footage that you can stand upright in, but the height of the entryway is 4'. Not bad compared to the average tent, but it's a limitation that has been improved upon in the taller hexayurts below. It is probably the simplest design, after the 6' hexayurt. There are very detailed instructions for building the 8' using the classic construction or as a semi-folding hexayurt. From the 8' Hexayurt instructions, you can probably learn to make any other hexayurt design shown on the side. The Pentayurt aka H10: Previously a design considered for snow because of its steep roof. These gained some popularity at Burning Man 2011 because of the increased standing room and the smaller footprint in cramped camps with concerns about having enough space. More data to follow, here's an image (see bottom, right). Hexayurt project/Semifolding Pentayurt The 6 Foot Hexayurts: The smaller Hexayurts have their niches, but they've lost popularity. The 6' Hexayurt is comparable to a small tent: good for one person, very cramped for two. The 6' Stretch Hexayurt is cozy for two, but provides little storage or room for people to socialize in your cool, dust-free place. These are easy to construct. They can also be made semi-folding, and plans are almost complete, see this great video for one person construction. The 6' stretch feels really big if you pop up the walls by an extra 2 feet, so you can stand in the whole yurt and have a full height door. A great solution for a camp that's cramped for space on the playa. The H2 Pup-yurt aka Siestayurt: New as of 2012, the tiniest, simplest yurt. 2 panels form a pup-tent that's big enough for 1 person to sleep in. Ideal for efficient cooling and playa-naps. The Square-a-Yurt aka H8: A few 4-sided yurts were seen at Burning Man 2011. Sometimes this was because there were not enough panels to make each household in a camp a separate hexayurt, so this solution was improvised. Photos and stories to follow. H13 Hexayurt: A brilliant new variation of the 8' hexayurt is Hexayurt project/Hexayurt H13. This yurt design uses 13 panels instead of 12 (hence the name: H13), and raises one side of the hexayurt to 8 feet, allowing increased headroom and a good place for a door. It's a bit trickier than the standard 8' hexayurt because it is asymmetrical on one axis. This hexayurt is expected to be moderately stable in high winds, but it's second structural weakness is that a full height door cuts into the 'tape ring'. Be sure that you make a model of this hexayurt before you construct

[passage 5](https://www.appropedia.org/Hexayurt_playa) place for a door. It's a bit trickier than the standard 8' hexayurt because it is asymmetrical on one axis. This hexayurt is expected to be moderately stable in high winds, but it's second structural weakness is that a full height door cuts into the 'tape ring'. Be sure that you make a model of this hexayurt before you construct full-scale, and be sure that you have exceptional skills at tying down a structure. This can also be a semi-folding hexayurt using tape-hinges. here's a great picture. (H13 is a new design as of fall 2010). H15 aka 10 Foot Hexayurt: Want a taller yurt? The 12' yurt (shown) is perhaps too tall for playa winds. The H13 is almost a perfect answer by just adding 1 more panel, but it's a trickier design. The simpler 8' hexayurt, or any other shapes, can have the wall height increased by 2 feet without waste of materials. This has taller walls, so thicker panels are recommended for stability in playa winds. You can also make this semi-folding. H15 (10' tall hexayurt) versus H13? There's some debate about the practicality of the above "taller" hexayurts (H13 versus H15), mostly because they're new designs that haven't been tested multiple times in playa conditions. None were reported to blow down in 2011, but the winds were very mild. The 10' might have more stability than expected because it is symmetrical, doesn't have the protruding, high face of the H13, and is more reliable to tie down (especially with a rope halo, because the loads on the rope halo or tape anchors will be equal. Structures like H13, which are not symmetrical on all axes, are unpredictable. In general, the 10' is a conceptually simpler design to build. Structural engineers have been known to side with the 10' hexayurt over the H13. The H13 also lures one into building a human-sized door on the high 8' wall, however a door that size will cut into the tape tension ring that also creates stability in the hexayurt. At the end of the day, the common 8' hexayurt is still amazing because of its symmetry, low air drag (due to low height) and simple assembly. 12 Foot Hexayurt aka 'H18': The 12' Hexayurt is pushing the envelope on 1" Tuff-R rather further than is advisable for Playa use, the increased height is just not as aerodynamic in playa-force winds. Increased height requires thicker panels, and you'd better stake it down well. [1] The Octayurt: This design created at GLAMCOCKS camp in 2012 can be built with only six 4'x8' panels, and comfortably sleeps two or three people. Domes: Just to complicate matters, there's new 'Nearodesic Domes', in the hexayurt family. They are based on the 8'x4' standard building material size. These are challenging to build, uncertain in major playa winds, but apparently were made successfully at Burningman 2011. If you're building these, you should overbuild them, miter them, and tie them down very securely. Know what you're doing.

[passage 6](https://www.appropedia.org/Hexayurt_playa) Just to complicate matters, there's new 'Nearodesic Domes', in the hexayurt family. They are based on the 8'x4' standard building material size. These are challenging to build, uncertain in major playa winds, but apparently were made successfully at Burningman 2011. If you're building these, you should overbuild them, miter them, and tie them down very securely. Know what you're doing. Having one of these blow across your neighbors' camps would be BAD. Click for photos of the quaddome and tridome. Octatipi: here's [another thought: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYwHToAC3iY&feature=related] (You can download Google SketchUp models of the basic Hexayurts.) Building Basics The basic 'classic' instructions for hexayurts are super simple. They vary depending on which shape and size of hexayurt you choose. Buy 4 (or better, 5) rolls of six-inch-wide bidirectional filament tape, like T.R.U. FIL-835B/D. More on tape here. Total cost: ~$150 shipped. (Or ~$180 for 5 rolls.) Buy 12 sheets of a suitable 4' x 8' building material, like Thermax, from your local building supply store. More on panels here. Total cost: $200 - $400, depending on the thickness of the panels. Using a craft knife, cut six of those sheets in half along the diagonal, three from right to left, three from left to right. Total labor: an hour. Tape the edges of each board to protect you and the playa from the raw material. Total labor: two or three hours, or far less with three people and practice. Tape the building together by forming the roof from the triangles, and the walls from the six boards you did not cut. Total labor: two or three people for about an hour, barring difficulties. Hexayurt project/Camp danger Hexayurt hinge technique has full instructions for building the 8' hexayurt as a semi-folding yurt, plus shopping info and video. Also ideas for the H13 and the 10' yurt as semi-folding, hinged hexayurts. Hexayurt project/Hexayurt playa checklist has detailed instructions for building an 8' hexayurt the "classic" way (without making the hexayurt semi-folding), a shopping list, and video clips of the process. Look at the picture and go through the steps in your mind again. You get the boards and you get the tape. Then you cut some of the boards into triangles, and tape them together to make the roof, and then you tape the roof to the walls and you are done. You just built a Hexayurt. This is easy. You can do this. If we were working with index cards and sticky tape, you could make one right now on your desk. You know how this works now. You can do this. There are details you will get have to get right to make sure the building stands on the Playa but all playa projects have details, and we cover the details in detail on this page and in the videos. How Long, How Many People? How Long does Construction Take? Basically, it depends. Like the estimated amount of tape, assume that 'your mileage may vary.' Save a day for at-home construction,

[passage 7](https://www.appropedia.org/Hexayurt_playa) to make sure the building stands on the Playa but all playa projects have details, and we cover the details in detail on this page and in the videos. How Long, How Many People? How Long does Construction Take? Basically, it depends. Like the estimated amount of tape, assume that 'your mileage may vary.' Save a day for at-home construction, after you acquire most of your supplies. On-playa, timing depends on your chosen construction technique: semi-folding hexayurts need a day of work at home, but are easy to assemble on playa, probably an hour plus the time to stake it to the ground, or less. Classically constructed hexayurts just need a little prep at home, but the assembly process is difficult, requires 4-5 people, and has numerous pitfalls that can increase time spent. Ultimately it would help if you share your experience on our discussion page. Tell us the following: Which hexayurt you chose to make. Which construction technique: classic, semi-folding, fully folding. Your skills, use of power tools or hand tools, # of people to help. How many people? At home, all the prep of the panels (no matter what technique you use) is best with pairs of people: 2, 4, or 6, because the panels are large and the tape sticks to everything. An 8' hexayurt can be prepared at home with just one person, but this is difficult and not recommended. On playa, you'll need two people for most of the work, but then it depends on your construction technique: "classic construction using the 3D strategy" requires 5+ people for about 45 minutes. "Classic construction using the 2D strategy" only uses two people for 45 minutes, and then about 5 people to lift the roof cone up. Semi-folding needs two people for about 30 minutes and 5+ people for the roof cone lift. Transport: You'll need the ability to transport a stack of 4 foot by 8-foot panels from the hardware store to your home, and then to Burning Man. Watch the videos The step by step instructions for the classic construction and the semi-folding construction have videos linked in at various steps, which is probably the less confusing way to view. We don't yet have a perfect start-to-finish video resource. We probably have the footage from which a pretty decent guide could be made, but I have no significant video skills. For example, here's the raw footage from Hexayurt showing us constructing a roof cone. Raw footage This is all in the public domain, so perhaps there will be a tutorial video cut from there. I may even take a crack at it myself. In the mean time, I'm going to refer you to the raw footage. Start with the Roof Cone construction video above (recall that this is for the "classic construction" of a hexayurt, the semi folding yurts don't require this step). It's also better to download and watch full screen than in the little flash video window. It's really complete and very easy

[passage 8](https://www.appropedia.org/Hexayurt_playa) mean time, I'm going to refer you to the raw footage. Start with the Roof Cone construction video above (recall that this is for the "classic construction" of a hexayurt, the semi folding yurts don't require this step). It's also better to download and watch full screen than in the little flash video window. It's really complete and very easy to understand. You'll have the principle down in the first five minutes. Unfortunately the camera person had to leave before we put the roof cone on the walls, but that's the easy part. The rest of the videos are in the Additional Resources section at the end of this page. Make a model You can build a paper model really easily. Try 1' to 1" - cut 12 pieces of paper or card, 4" by 8". Cut six of them in half with scissors, three left to right, three right to left. Now tape together a roof cone that looks like the one in the pictures, and tape the walls under it. Surprisingly sturdy, isn't it? If you want to try a bigger experiment, build Woody's Pup Hexayurt. This requires a trip to the hardware store. You buy a single sheet of Tuff-R type board, for about $15, and get a three foot tall model hexayurt. It's a really, really good way of understanding the process. You can also build a folding hexayurt at this scale. Materials The Panels There are two great materials to make Hexayurt panels for Burning Man: either DOW insulation or Hexacomb: The Dow Route The first is a Dow insulation product. You can pick Thermax, Tuff-R, Super-Tuff-R or anything else they have at your supply store. They all work more-or-less the same, just some have a thicker, more protective foil surface. You want 1" or thicker. 1" is just fine. There are parallel products from other manufacturers. RMAX is the most common insulation board used at burning man-- the silver stuff that's tan in the middle. You can see from the video that the panels made of this stuff are very light, fairly strong, and easy to work with. Note that the edges of each panel are taped. Tuff-R/RMAX is dusty, nasty, and at no point to be cut on the playa for it is sacred to the gods of moop, shedding copious amounts of nearly playa colored crap all over the place. This is bad. It is also hairy with fiberglass, dozens of threads per inch of board. You can cut it with a craft knife, or you can cut it with a saw that has an excellent dust collector, but in either case, be aware and take care of your lungs. Gloves, N95 dust masks and goggles are recommended. Anyway, for these reasons, you will see the edges are fully taped. No moop gets out, and no fiberglass makes your fingers itch on the playa after handling the boards. Take a look at them in the hardware store. They're not bad to work

[passage 9](https://www.appropedia.org/Hexayurt_playa) be aware and take care of your lungs. Gloves, N95 dust masks and goggles are recommended. Anyway, for these reasons, you will see the edges are fully taped. No moop gets out, and no fiberglass makes your fingers itch on the playa after handling the boards. Take a look at them in the hardware store. They're not bad to work with, it's not evil stuff, it's just not cotton or wood. It's a technical product. Pro Cheap ($15 a sheet approx.) Easy to find. Easy to cut, easy to work with, insulating and robust. A perfect material for the job you want to do in the Black Rock Desert. Con It's basically polystyrene with fiberglass added, meaning you'll want a dust mask, and you'll want to wash your hands/arms after cutting it to avoid irritation. Make no mistake, this stuff is environmentally questionable unless you treat it responsibly and reuse it many, many times. Making a more reusable Hexayurt: Hexayurts could be cheaper. And again: this material isn't super eco-friendly, unless you re-use the hexayurt many times (or you put the insulation into a home that's being built). According to the eplaya discussion boards, there's a decent period of re-use on even the standard R-Max type boards. The less accessible improvement is Thermax HD. This is the same stuff, but it has a thicker layer of foil akin to a soda can. This stuff will last a good long time. It's more expensive per sheet and usually requires a special order, therefore you have to coordinate with another hexayurt builder to buy about 30 sheets and split them or something. Seriously consider this if you can be so organized. Now, an aside here. Plastic is, when respected, capable of being a very environmentally friendly material. Tupperware, for instance, does a job that no non-plastic material I'm aware of can: it stores food in a robust, reliable, reusable and sanitary way. Glass breaks in your bag, a thermos is expensive and usually full of something already and is bulky and costs 20 times as much. Compare to a yoghurt container, used once and abandoned. Tupperware is a good use of plastic, as far as I can tell, because the plastic is saving resources every time it is used. So if you're going down the insulation board path, be sure that you take good care of your Hexayurt, and use it for many years, or pass it on to somebody who will. You can also reuse the insulation board in home construction projects because the design specifically tries to keep the building materials relatively whole. This is the correct way to bury your Hexayurt - in the walls of a building, keeping other people (or yourself) warm and dry in a permanent dwelling. The Hexacomb Route Hexacomb is what the first hexayurt ever built was made out of. Hexacomb for the structure, and R+Heatshield as the insulating layer. R+Heatshield is about $0.25 a square foot and is completely lightproof and reflects away

[passage 10](https://www.appropedia.org/Hexayurt_playa) your Hexayurt - in the walls of a building, keeping other people (or yourself) warm and dry in a permanent dwelling. The Hexacomb Route Hexacomb is what the first hexayurt ever built was made out of. Hexacomb for the structure, and R+Heatshield as the insulating layer. R+Heatshield is about $0.25 a square foot and is completely lightproof and reflects away 97% of the heat of the sun. Very useful to cover tents and cars with. Hexacomb cardboard is a miracle product. It's an inch or more thick and looks a bit like corrugated cardboard, but it is stronger and lighter because instead of little ridges, the interior is filled with hexagonal honeycomb cells. It looks like a bee hive inside. It can be recycled and, for playa use, burned (if you must!) Better to reuse it, of course. It can, however, be tricky to find distributors for Hexacomb. I really like this material, but it's just not as easy to find as the Polyisocyanurate. My expectation, however, is that if and when we go to mass production of Hexayurts, it will be a hexacomb-based board we use to make them. Great stuff. If you would like to really go the Green route this year, I would recommend getting together with other Burners and putting in a bulk order for Hexacomb cardboard. Please contact me if you are interested in doing this, and I will put you in touch with the supplier, or you can contact them directly. It's more hassle, but it's the right thing to do. Other Materials There are a lot of other materials that we have not tested. The 6' and 6' Stretch Hexayurt designs are much more forgiving, so if you want to try Coroplast or Triplewall corrugated cardboard or something like that, consider a test run on one of them first. One material you should not use is plywood, or any other heavy building material. The strength-to-weight ratios of plywood does not work well with the Hexayurt design. It's too heavy. They could hurt somebody. Improving Sturdiness The pointy ends of the roof pieces are pretty fragile particularly when moving and setting up. Foot-long pieces of sheet rock corners (the light-weight metal angles, about an inch on each side) taped along the side near the point make them very sturdy and only add a bit of weight. Similarly, pieces could be added to the corners of the square pieces to keep from denting the corners when moving. Install both with duct or strapping tape before you tape the edges, then tap lightly with a mallet to make it flush. Then proceed with the edge taping. The Tape The other key material involved in constructing Hexayurts is tape. Specifically, 6" wide bidirectional filament tape. In English, that's a six inch wide tape with re-enforcing fiberglass strands running in both directions, so that it will not break or tear under almost any imaginable circumstance, including howling playa dust storms. It is amazing and very expensive. Other tapes

[passage 11](https://www.appropedia.org/Hexayurt_playa) The Tape The other key material involved in constructing Hexayurts is tape. Specifically, 6" wide bidirectional filament tape. In English, that's a six inch wide tape with re-enforcing fiberglass strands running in both directions, so that it will not break or tear under almost any imaginable circumstance, including howling playa dust storms. It is amazing and very expensive. Other tapes have been tried-- they aren't great in playa conditions, and those who went off the beaten path regretted it. Some innovations are underway and we'll see what results come back. BTW: don't use duct tape at Burning Man, it just becomes gray goo. There have been some people who say a 'flashing' product called "Vycor" or bituthene tape will be indestructable, but it is opaque black, is even more expensive than the bi-directional tape, and is thusfar untested for hexayurts (if you've done it speak up on the talk page). Additionally, we've got a totally new option gluing strips of vinyl on to create hinges the same way the tape is used, see vinyl below. The bilfilament tape does not last more than 1-2 weeks of playa heat and sun: it gets crusty and peels off. If you make any permanent hinge or connection with the bifilament tape, it's recommended that you cover it with a layer of foil tape to protect it from UV damage. The foil acts as shade. It's also shiny silver and looks pretty cool, and it should keep your hinges in perfect condition for years to come. 3M 8959 at 6" wide. This tape has also been found as T.R.U. FIL-835B/D, which is the same stuff. You will note that 3M does not give you the option to buy it in that width on their web site. See the playa checklist for even more about this specialty tape and where to find it. 3" tape is half the cost and has its uses on the hexayurt: many steps are perfect for 3" tape, and it's easier to work with than 6" tape. Using 3" tape means you need to be much more precise in the construction process, but is otherwise perfectly viable. You can also save tape and money this way: get a roll of 6" tape from the supplier above. Slit it in half the long way as it comes off the roll. Hold the roll and press a razor blade against it while a friend pulls one 3" wide strip off at a time. Foil Tape: Time to use some foil tape! This stuff is fairly inexpensive and comes in a variety of widths, we recommend T.R.U. AF-20R it is also available more readily than bi filament tape. It's also very forgiving to work with and is designed to decrease fire risk. Foil tape is ideal for certain steps, but not all steps of construction: Foil tape to tape-seal the edges of the panels. Foil tape is NOT advised for making tape-hinges or for the connection of panels to each other, or the

[passage 12](https://www.appropedia.org/Hexayurt_playa) readily than bi filament tape. It's also very forgiving to work with and is designed to decrease fire risk. Foil tape is ideal for certain steps, but not all steps of construction: Foil tape to tape-seal the edges of the panels. Foil tape is NOT advised for making tape-hinges or for the connection of panels to each other, or the "tape ring." You need the bifilament tape for this because you rely upon the strength of the filaments and the stickiness of the tape. Foil tape is highly recommended to protect the permanent tape-hinges used for semi-folding hexayurts in the camp-danger style or mitered styles. Foil tape is easy to find in 2" widths. 3" widths are a little easier to work with. For a 'standard' hexayurt roof (H12, H15, etc), you'll need to cover 114 feet of tape-hinges, but the tape hinges are 4 to 6 inches wide. So, remember it's 114 feet, multiplied based on the width of the foil tape (3" tape means 114x2. 2" tape means 114x3.) The tape needs another layer of protection from the elements if you expect to leave the Hexayurt up for months or years. Foil tape is one good option. There may also be paints which are appropriate. You can also see the Tape Spreadsheet in the additional resources section of this page. It explains why you need all this tape, and also how much tape you need for manufacture, and on each subsequent building use. Vinyl instead of Tape for Tape-Hinges This is a brand new idea (as of 2013), has been tested in fire, in the sun, etc, as well as at Burning Man 2013 and 2014. Vinyl is a great way to make the permanent hinges of the Camp-Danger type, and possibly for sealing the exposed edges of the panels (although foil tape is probably way simpler to use). Here's the whole explanation on vinyl, brought to you by Jacob Rodriguez.. We recommend this vinyl tape if you're interested in testing this new idea T.R.U. CVT-536 Building Options Staking Down your Hexayurt A hexayurt not properly tied down is a large, delicate kite, and it's your home blowing away. Just one panel blowing away and going for a bumpy ride could be disastrous. Generally, when tying anything down at Burning Man: overbuild it, meaning guy it down hard in several places. You'll never regret it. During building, stake the yurt to the ground before taping the it to the tarp, because a yurt blowing away is worse than a little extra dust getting in. There are two main techniques for tie-down, the rope halo or tape-anchors: Tape Anchors vs Rope-Halo Tape Anchors: are prettier than a rope-halo because they are unnoticeable on the surface of the yurt. They are very strong, however they require a lot more of the expensive 6" tape (about 120", or 2/3rds of a 60 yard roll. That's $20 worth of tape). You also have to recreate your tape anchors each time you assemble

[passage 13](https://www.appropedia.org/Hexayurt_playa) vs Rope-Halo Tape Anchors: are prettier than a rope-halo because they are unnoticeable on the surface of the yurt. They are very strong, however they require a lot more of the expensive 6" tape (about 120", or 2/3rds of a 60 yard roll. That's $20 worth of tape). You also have to recreate your tape anchors each time you assemble the yurt because you are using the strength of the tape going up and over the roof peak; you cut them off and make new ones each time. They can fail occasionally in high winds. Tape anchor construction is discussed here: Hexayurt project/Hexayurt playa checklist#Assemble the Roof Cone Rope Halo: aka Rope Net, Rope Web, Hexayurt Macrame or "Hexayurt Bondage." Here's a nice picture: [2]. You make a circle out of rope-- big enough that it rests on the roof cone somewhere that you can reach it once your hexayurt is assembled. Fasten from the halo to your ground stakes with 6 other sections of rope. It's cheaper and faster, less pretty. Definitely have one available during on-playa assembly even if you're planning to use tape-anchors, in case of sudden winds. Now you can take the time to make everything equal lengths and pretty. You'll need some extra hands for this part. Windows Every hole you make is a place where heat comes in during the day. A single badly-placed window can turn a Hexayurt into a solar cooker, but no windows can also get hot! The smart plan is to keep the "plug" made by cutting out the window so it can be pushed back into the window to seal out the day, like a shutter. Cross ventilation is a must. Remember to tape all raw edges, and always seal any exposed raw panel material! You can cover windows with plastic, or bubble wrap (translucent like shower glass.) You can also leave them open. If you cut the windows as rectangles or very-slightly V-shaped rectangles, you can usually wedge the window piece back into the window at an angle and use it as a sun shade. This is a good solution. But if it's windy one day and you left a window open, so much for your dust-proofing. The cure for this is furnace filters, which are cheap, very effective, and can be taped over windows on the outside. You must put them on the outside, or when they fill with dust and you shake it off them, the dust falls inside your Hexayurt. Keep them on the exterior wall. Some people recommend a filter on each side of a window. Or just cut small portholes, about four or five inches round, and cover them up on the outside with the 6" tape. It's fairly translucent. I leave the inside sticky surface exposed to act as a dust magnet. Consider the location of your door (north facing is best), and the location of your windows in relationship to the prevailing winds on the playa; a cross-breeze is key in

[passage 14](https://www.appropedia.org/Hexayurt_playa) five inches round, and cover them up on the outside with the 6" tape. It's fairly translucent. I leave the inside sticky surface exposed to act as a dust magnet. Consider the location of your door (north facing is best), and the location of your windows in relationship to the prevailing winds on the playa; a cross-breeze is key in a hexayurt. (from Julie Danger): I have a window in every side of my yurt to catch a cross breeze on days that aren't too dusty. I use the "plugs" like shutters. I used to tape a cheap vent filter from homo depot to the window-- that way you get light, and heat, but no dust or wind. I cut my windows to a size and shape appropriate to the vent filters I first bought. Light hasn't been much of an issue lately but that's still a good option. Light can come in from the loose Camp-Danger hinges, depending on how you cover them with foil tape. I've also seen a heat proof window glass thingy put in a window on a yurt-- that was pretty sexy. For dust-free light I'm trying out a solar security light (see Harbor Freight.com), it turns on when you move into its space. I will cover it with colored filters so it's not obnoxious and cover its motion sensor when I want it dark indoors. Doors (More info coming to this section.) Everything said about windows goes double for doors. The door is the one thing that really isn't perfect about the 6' or 8' Hexayurts, because the door can't be too big and the entry height is only 4'. Sorry. Try the H13 or the Mark II instead, they have taller entryways. Also see below for the BFD mod. The size of the door matters-- the bigger the hole you cut, the more structurally unstable the wall panel becomes. The door's panel often needs replacing after Burning Man. A good size is two feet wide, cut one foot from the end of a wall. Some people like a door that goes from the ground to about six inches from the top of the wall. If the door doesn't quite fit now, you can crush the door flap a little by banging it on the ground (really.) The wall panel will be more sturdy if you don't cut the door all the way to the ground-- you maintain the "shear strength" of the panel this way. Cut a portal into the material, 2-3 inches up from the ground. This is a very strong door, because it is not cut all the way to the ground. However, you then have a delicate piece of the panel exposed for people to trip on, step on, and crush. Screw two narrow bits of wood to either side, sandwiching the material in between to reinforce this section--that prevents injury to the panel from being stepped on-- it doesn't help with trippers. Some people have used even large pieces

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Continues in https://guptaoption.com/texts/102-2.md (part 2 of 2).
End of [102] Hexayurt project/Hexayurt playa, part 1 of 2. Its connections are at the top of this file; the map is https://guptaoption.com/llms.txt.