Monkey Hut Burning Man 

I built and stayed in my own Monkey Hut for my first four Burns in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2022. They are surprisingly robust structures and provide good protection to whatever you put inside. Two 10' PVC poles joined in the center will give good headroom if the feet are placed about 12' apart. So, the floor tarp needs to be 12' wide and the roof tarp needs to be 20' wide. Length is usually something divisible by 5 so you can use 10' poles as ridge poles (I called them spines) cut in half between the ribs. The one modification I made on mine was to extend the ridge pole (spine) beyond the end hoop and bring it to the playa as another rib. I made connector joints from 1 1/2" PVC which were just over 3' in length (cut a 10' pipe in thirds. Don't waste things), so each side or end pole was inserted about 18" These connectors were NOT fixed. I passed a pin with washers and a cotter pin through two 3' sections of 1 1/2" PVC in the center, so they could spin and flex. Note: the 1" pipes will not fit tightly into a 1 1/2" pipe. Adding a single wrap of Duct tape will give you a reasonable fit that can be easily inserted and removed. YMMV. Adding an additional rib which extended from both otherwise open ends of the Monkey Hut did two important things. First, it provided some resistance to the entire structure laying over or leaning along it's length. Secondly, I used shade cloth on one half of the opening which prevented the eternal playa wind from blowing through and turning your Hut into a wind tunnel. It also provided a bit of an alcove for bikes at the entrance the same way a hiking tent often has a protected space for boots. While I pounded stakes into the ground to locate the feet, I'd probably use lag screws now. They are easier to insert and remove. Some protection will need to be provided around the sharp edges of the Hex head to prevent that from cracking the PVC. Also, be prepared to tie the whole thing down to playa by passing Mule Tape or similar over the roof tarp from side to side and end to end in a crisscross pattern. These should be tied to separate lags bolted into the ground. One last lesson learned: the poles will take on a curve after a week on Playa, so while they arrive straight, they will leave looking like bananas. It complicates storage and transportation a bit, but I used the same poles for 4 years in a row. Be brave. Be old school. Be Radically Self Sufficient. Be a Burner. Build your Burn, don't buy it.

Mods would include updating the 10’ schedule 40 PVC (ribs) from the old 3/4" up to the replacement 1" size which is recommended in the "how to" instructions (URLs in description). Last year I used 3/4" because it was what was available cheap from the used construction materials store. However, the structure started to become unstable under the strong playa winds. Because I mixed up the sizes that didn't tightly connect to the "X" , "T" and center spine PVC connectors it weakened everything. Next time I'll make sure I use the right sizes so there's a snug fit between all the PVC pipes and connectors. I may run the old 3/4" on the outside with the inside the 1" just to add extra strength. - I'd gladly help you at Burning Man assuming that I am going to be able to purchase a ticket for 2015. So far no luck.

Very nice!

Great video!

what size of tarp did you guys use? i'm going to be building one for Utah's regional burn. THANKS

Great stuff. I'm planning on a monkey hut over a geodesic dome (it just has too many parts), what are the strengthening mods you're thinking about?

Won't stop scorpions...I am out...