What rope should I use for the rope halo and tie downs?

[William Eden]

I have seen a lot of discussion about the rope halo approach, and even what knots to use, but virtually no guidance on what kind of rope would actually be best for this purpose.

I'm considering going with paracord, though I've also seen some indications it might not hold up as well at Burning Man. I definitely need something that can hold a yurt down during a dust storm...

Since I'm transporting the yurt on top of my car, I will have ratchet straps available for use, and some people swear by these. But even if I use those for the tie-downs, I still need something to construct the rope halo itself.

For the record, I am using a standard H12 hexayurt. The door is basically a hatch that opens vertically, so I was considering only using 4 tie down points to avoid blocking the door. If this would be inadvisable, let me know.

Thanks everyone for your help!

[Jay Batson]

I'm anxious to see the answer.  I've packed paracord, and have made that bet.  I can pick up an alternative in RNO pre-playa, but would need to do that this Friday....

[Gabriel Olson]

Yes, someone wise please answer!  I've got an H18 thats 6' on the sides 10' in the center, and I have 100' Parachord, but it sure does seem thin...like it would chafe and cut into the foam...but what do i know.  

[Percival du Chat Gris]

Greetings,

With something as thin as paracord, you probably want to make your halo wider.  Braiding works.  There are other techniques that weave the cord nicely into heavier rope.  You might need a touch more cord than 100' though, to get something strong and stable.  I'd hate to think you got everything locked down, and then, the wind decapitated your hexayurt using your own halo.  *grin*  Another thing you can do with something as thin as paracord, as you are taping your hexayurt together is to tie 6 appropriate length strings together, and run them down the grooves of the middle of your sides and use that as the tie-downs (see also tape-anchors).  It might work on the corners, but I'd like to test that first.

Percy  

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[William Eden]

Okay, I looked into this a bit more, and I think I will do a four-braid weave of paracord. I'm trying to figure out exactly how large to make the loop, which is complicated by the fact that paracord is very elastic. It seems to me like I should take 2 60' sections, weave them into a roughly 30 ft braid, tie that to itself using other knot suggestions out there, and then attach my ratchet straps to that rope line.

Any thoughts on that approach? I'm a bit nervous about the elasticity of the paracord, it seems like I should try to stretch it very taut when I'm ratcheting it down.

I'm still not sure about 4 or 6 attachment points. I don't want to make the door harder to open, though at the same time I really really don't want it to blow away. :P

[Spiral Syzygy]

I know this is a bit off topic from the rope halo, but I just made tape anchors and used ratchet straps to rebar. You can cinch it down through out the week with just a click or two of the ratchets. Rope stretches through out the event. Also, the ratchet straps I used were bright orange and easy to see. You can put them quit close to the corners of the yurt and pull them almost directly down to the ground for a low-profile, and secure tie down.

[Jay Batson]

I ended up hitting Lowes in RNO & buying a 25' 1/2 braided nylon rope for $8 that I'll tie into a circle, & run paracord anchors.

BTW - there are two types of paracord: one fairly stretchy & one not. The latter is thinner & dense. It's cheap in 50' lengths, and is what I'll use for my _6_ anchor ropes.

-------------------------
Jay Batson
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