3/4" is plenty strong enough, but if you have the money then the 1" will certainly be stronger. But, strong enough is strong enough. My camp built a 28 foot diameter 2v with 1" EMT. It was huge! With about 8.5 and 9.5 foot struts. They were really strong and the triangles were so big we didn't need to worry about making a door. :-)

Joining halves into a whole struts is the real problem -- I've never done it. The struts under compression would be no problem. But the struts under tension would be an issue -- they would want to pull apart whatever you did to join them. Perhaps water pipe would fit inside and you could use steel pins or bolts to keep them from coming apart... but, what a pain to manufacture and assemble... If you really want a 1v you could perhaps bundle the struts up tight with bungie cords and carry them on top of your vehicle.

If you have no choice but to use shorter struts, then I suggest you build an "optimal 2v" dome. The struts are all short (all less than 5 feet) and you end up with a 16' diameter dome with an 8' ceiling. You'll have 65 struts in the end, and it will weigh a couple hundred lbs I think. The 2v dome is easy to cover with a few strong Costco Tarps. The dome itself is strong enough that I guarantee it will be safe and sound regardless of what the playa throws at it. Yes, you need to buy 35 sticks of EMT at about $3.50 each for the 2v instead of 25 sticks for the 1v, which makes the 2v cost about $125, but consider that you can use it year after year after year. And, the 2v is a more convenient shape when done, and the fact that there are more struts actually makes it easier to hang things on the inside.

And, for just a bit more money and effort, you can put a *deck* on top of your 2v: www.timefold.com/domedeck

There is nothing quite like having lunch on top of your dome, looking out over the city as it is being built... I don't recommend making a deck on a 1v, but the 2v can handle 4 people or 600 lbs just fine (as long as the weight is distributed around the deck).

Hi Ash,

You wrote:

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I've had my heart set on a 1v dome for about a year now... was just recently considering building a bendy. It seems that covering the 1v would be sooo much easier, too! I would love to build one with 10' struts. Do ya think 1" EMT would hold at 10'? And if so, is there a good way to connect two 5' lengths into 10' struts?
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I have no experience with bendy domes, but I have seen many trashed by the playa winds.

You have gotten some good advice on EMT, but I just wanted to let you know PVC is still an option.

Please note that I am speaking here from =personal experience= with PVC and not saying one way of doing things is better than any other.

You were talking about 10’ struts—BAD idea for EMT, they will bend and not bend back. PVC—no problem.

Your 10 foot struts system would work just fine using the vertex/hub fastening technique I describe in my post on PVC 2v octahedral domes—nylon straps with cam buckles through holes drilled at the ends of the PVC perpendicular to the long axis of the PVC tubes. The post is here, or just look on the topics list of this tribe: geodesicdomes.tribe.net/thread...6ed87df

For transport I had a pickup truck with a lumber rack that would carry outrageous amounts of PVC.

Just another option for you to consider…

Hi, coming a bit late to the discussion, but....I built just such a dome like structure my first year at burning man, (2004) . I did a time lapse of the process, it is kinda big, so if you want it, send me your email and i will mail it directly.

I was fascinated by "gridshell" buildings. I saw one while visiting in england several years ago.

www.wealddown.co.uk/Building...shell.htm

in essence, they used wooden slats and deformed them into a dome like shape. I figureed I could do the same process in reverse and with PVC. I would "pop" a dome into place.
Here is what I did...
I layed out a grid of 1" pvc., about 24 inches apart., straight onto the playa. (30 foot x 30 foot grid ) At each intersection I very loosely ziptied the intersecting pipes together so they could still slide around.
Once attached, I then took a 12 foot pole and placed it vertically in the center of the grid. I slid it over some rebar pounded into teh ground...

I then attached rope and pulley to the top of the pole and down to middle of my pvc grid. Next I gathered about 10 people to help. At my signal, they all were supposed to push in on the sides of the grid whilst I lifted with the pulley.
It did indeed "pop" into a dome-"ish" shape. We then pounded rebar around the perimeter and slid the ends of the PVC over the rebar so that the dome was locked into place.
Next step was to add diagonals around the sides and to tighten down the zip ties.
I threw a parachute over the top and that was it...My camp took delight in calling it "Kevin's" erection....
It was not a very symetrical dome, somewhat organic. I came to really enjoy it. It was strong. Survived the windstorms without fail. I took smug satisfaction that the shelter systems dome across the street kept getting flattened while mine continued to survive....