A mesh dome like aluminet is wondeful with a breaze.

However in the dust storm it was a joke.. Between dust storms we augmented the lower row with hospital blakets which helped trmendously..

LESSON LEARNED - a good cover lets the wind through at the top but is more solid at the bottom putting a stop to the dust.. Next year I'm going to use a combo of cardboard and reflectix on the bottom row and second to top row (5/8th freq 3) ...

ive used the same dome and cover for the past three years and this year by far was the worst weather. for the cover i used a sears shade canopy and cut it up and sewed it together. whats nice about it, is that i sewed the mesh sides under neath so when i wake up, i flip up the sides and clamp them up and its still covered overhead and if there's a breeze it's all good in the hood.

i use spring clamps to keep the cover secure on the dome. (ive posted pics in the pic section)

next year im gonna take 60" wide white spandex and strecht it over the dome a few times, not covering the entire dome. im doing this for two reasons. to make the existing cover more secure and im gonna put rope lights underneath to ad a bit of a lighting effect.

I posted info about my dome deck in another thread, but I learned that the nosefish domedeck as designed can handle at least 815lbs. I still recommend signs suggesting a weight limit of 600 lbs or 4 people. I think that by making the top 5 struts (the top pentagon) with 1" conduit instead of 3/4" conduit the deck is better supported and less likely to fail.

I learned that aluminet is hardly worth the extra cost compared to regular wind cloth -- the aluiminet gets covered in dust quickly and is thereafter about as effective as wind cloth, but perhaps not as strong.

I rediscovered that I absolutely love geodesic domes! Our camp had four of them and they go up and come down fast.

This was the third year for my dome (and me), and easily the best. It is interesting to see how the dome is adapting as it learns BMan. The first year, it was basically shade, with the sleeping tent set up inside. The second year, it grew side curtains, a rug, more lights, and a lot of chairs.

This year, it grew a front porch, a set of living room furniture, and much larger front door. The porch made a great meet and greet area, and the larger door invited people in better than the tiny triangle from 06. It may seem silly for three people to take seating for nine, but we now have six more good friends, and the coolest neighborhood ever.

This year, out of laziness, I hadn't staked the dome down when the wind came up. I was standing in it when it suddenly jumped one foot to the north. Nailed it down fast. I think next year, I may extend the aluminet over the porch back over the dome to make it cooler.

Check my pics; I have images of the dome from all three years.

I learned that BM needs to have domes with flame effects.