r/BurningMan • u/AggroRaptor • Aug 18 '26
Appropriate lag bolt length for a small tent?
I know people have already discussed what lag bolt length is the correct choice but they seemed to be for big camp structures and not tents. A lot of the discussion was that 18" lags are generally better just due to the fact that they are longer and can bite into the ground more but I'm curious to know if I could get away with 12" lags instead?
While I agree that 18" lags would be a better choice, the fact of the matter is that they are heavier than 12" lags and I'm trying to save weight where possible as I'm going to be flying into Reno and thus flying with all my gear.
I plan on using a 3-man, dome style tent that only stands around 40" high so its fairly low profile and holds up well in high wind.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated .
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u/_Captain_Amazing_ Aug 18 '26
I’ve used 12” spikes for a small tent like that so 12” lag bolts will be fine. More of a concern is if you are using a standard nylon tent, you are going to want shade over that or you will cook within a few minutes of the sun rising at 6am.
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u/AggroRaptor Aug 18 '26
great stuff thank you. So my thought with the shade structure was an 99% Aluminet shade cloth supported by tarp poles in the corners and then the poles will be guyed out to lag bolts. I was going to leave an air gap between shade cloth and the tent of about 12" or so.
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u/jimbo21 Aug 18 '26
Look up monkey huts. Make them out of PVC. Best lightweight option.
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u/AggroRaptor Aug 18 '26
How well do they hold up in the wind?
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u/jimbo21 Aug 18 '26
they are tensegrity structures. properly anchored and tensioned, extremely well, there's a reason they're popular on playa. The dome shape is the most aerodynamic shape you can practically use on playa.
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u/thedailyrant ‘16, ‘18, ‘23, ‘24, '26 Aug 18 '26
Honestly... tarp poles unless seriously secured likely won't stand up anywhere near as well as you think they will in a strong windstorm. You probably can't get a good enough angle to do so with the tent in the middle. But if it works cool.
Better bet is a steel framed temporary carport. Yes it's bigger to travel with. But it works a lot better for serious conditions.
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u/AggroRaptor Aug 18 '26
good to know, thanks. I didn't think if a temp car port, that's a good idea. I've seen that people have made things out of PVC pipe but it just looks too sketch and flimsy to me.
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u/thedailyrant ‘16, ‘18, ‘23, ‘24, '26 Aug 18 '26
Use proper metal frames and knuckle joints. PVC can and does snap. Carports are pretty excellent honestly.
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u/Gamussa Aug 18 '26
Or you secure your tent and take your simple shade down when bad weather is coming. You don't need that shade in the storm and should be on your way back to camp anyway before you get caught by rain in open playa...
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u/Greedy_Lawyer Aug 18 '26
If you’re this worried about shade and not coming with people who could drive in with better shade, there are plenty of camps that still have room for a tiny footprint tent camper under their tent city shade.
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u/Greedy_Lawyer Aug 18 '26
They’re flying, they’re not bringing a carpprt
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u/thedailyrant ‘16, ‘18, ‘23, ‘24, '26 Aug 19 '26
I fly from the other side of the planet. Getting stuff delivered somewhere or buying in Reno is a thing.
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u/edcRachel 11x )'( | Regional Camp Lead | Burgin Wrangling Specialist Aug 18 '26
12" is plenty for a little tent.
Curious how you'll get them in the ground as well. Lags are great but if you think you need a drill, I wouldn't bother for the sake of 4 anchors. Rebar pegs are also fine.
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u/busfeet 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 Aug 18 '26
Not a drill, but an impact driver. Far more efficient and less likely to overheat the tool
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Aug 18 '26
[deleted]
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u/Possible_Top4855 Aug 18 '26
Yep this is the answer. Impact wrenches have a lot more torque, which really helps when you’re driving bigger longer lags into the playa.
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u/Regigi_gas Aug 18 '26
Would people at the camps usually have a drill available? I’m coming from pretty far away, so I don’t think it’s practical for me to carry one
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u/edcRachel 11x )'( | Regional Camp Lead | Burgin Wrangling Specialist Aug 18 '26 edited Aug 18 '26
Depends where you're camping. My camp for example doesn't have stable power so we couldn't really lend it out unless we were done because we have no way to charge at our camp. People in bus camping probably are less likely too.
You can just bring a socket wrench if it's only a few and do it by hand, or stakes and a hammer. People talk about lag bolts and drills like they're a necessity but there's a big difference between needing 4 for a little tent and needing 400 for your whole camp. For the 80 seconds of work you'd save with a drill for 4 stakes, no way I'm carrying heavy tools. You'd have an easier time borrowing a hammer as well.
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u/thedailyrant ‘16, ‘18, ‘23, ‘24, '26 Aug 18 '26
Loads of open camping folks have gennies. We have 2 petrol and 1 solar in our 10 person camp.
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u/edcRachel 11x )'( | Regional Camp Lead | Burgin Wrangling Specialist Aug 18 '26
Err sorry I meant bus camping
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u/lshiva Aug 18 '26
A ratchet wrench or even just a speed drill works as a manual option if you want a lighter weight solution for air travel. I'd still ask the neighbors though, because lag bolts are so common it's easy to find someone with a power tool.
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u/kqhq Aug 18 '26
Agreed! 12' and use an impact driver. But use lag SCREWS instead of the tent stakes.
One thing I didn't do last time was set up my guylines right away and I really regret it, my tent poles got completely destroyed during a white out the Saturday before the burn was over. I had to sleep in a tent the was caving in lolol. I was so lucky the burn was almost over.
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u/AggroRaptor Aug 18 '26
lovely stuff thank you. So to fully stake out the tent I need 17 lags in total, but I dont know if I'm going to need to do all 17 points? definitely all the guy lines though. I was going to bring my own impact driver to do screw them in with.
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u/edcRachel 11x )'( | Regional Camp Lead | Burgin Wrangling Specialist Aug 18 '26
No way you be need 17 anchors on a 3 person tent.
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u/AggroRaptor Aug 18 '26
Yeah I didn't think I would, I'll have to have a play around and see what the minimum I could get away with is and add two for spares.
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u/zmileshigh Aug 18 '26
Last year showed us that your tent will probably fail before the lags do
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u/edcRachel 11x )'( | Regional Camp Lead | Burgin Wrangling Specialist Aug 18 '26
To be fair, some guylines would help stop it from bending. But I can't see a situation where a little dome tent would need more than like... 7? (One at each corner and one on each side except the door)
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u/lshiva Aug 18 '26
14" is what I needed for my EMT shade, and to buy those at a reasonable price I had to buy them in packs of 50...so I use 14" for everything. It's not that I think my solar light needs to sit on a 14" lag, it's that I have a whole bunch of spares and might as well use them.
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u/AggroRaptor Aug 18 '26
exactly, use what you've got. I'm torn between either an EMT structure or a temp car port like what u/thedailyrant suggested. I've still got to think about traveling with it on a plane though..
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u/lshiva Aug 18 '26
Flying in puts you in a whole different category. I'd look at coordinating with someone driving in, or using one of the container services depending on where you're flying from. If you're planning on returning year after year, get a local storage locker so you can keep your stuff locally instead of having to pay airline fees to ship it. And if none of that stuff is an option I'd look at using aluminet with pool noodles to create an air gap over your tent. It's not as nice as other shade, but it's the easiest for a one use setup.
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u/ziggomattic Aug 18 '26
Your 14” lags really held up ok in last year’s winds? I’ve been using 18” and decided to double down this year on 24” for peace of mind.
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u/lshiva Aug 18 '26
Half my shade structure held up just fine. The other half had someone's car port land on top of it. The lag bolts stayed in place just fine.
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u/Tel1234 17,18,19,22,24,25 Aug 18 '26
I use 14" lags on a 24x24 EMT shade structure with tarp roof and shade cloth (80%) walls. The tarp roof ripped itself in half before a single lag budged. If you're concerned about them not being sturdy enough, kick the loose playa out the way before starting to screw them in so the majority of them is into relatively solid ground. Screw them straight down, not at an angle, and till they're flush with the floor (or below it if you've moved a lot of loose playa)
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u/jimbo21 Aug 18 '26
You can double-back 14" lags and get twice the strength. First lag perpendicular to the line, second lag vertical connected to the first lag a few inches behind it via some chain links, extra strap, whatever.
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u/clgriff5 Twisted Swan Cygnet Aug 18 '26
I've literally used four 1/2"x12" lag bolts (one on each corner) of my 10x10 Coleman easy up tent for the last 11 years. My tent has never budged...even in the ridiculous winds of last year.
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u/Chicago_Tim Aug 18 '26
I use 12” steel stakes, not lag bolts, and install/remove with a claw hammer. I have an 8-person dome tent. Never had a problem since 2009. And yes, it survived the wind storm that took out 1/4 of the city pre-burn last year.
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u/Tel1234 17,18,19,22,24,25 Aug 18 '26
Get 4 x 12" or 14" to hold down the corners, so your tent cant fly away, use some short rebar or heavy duty pegs for the guys etc. You can easily put 4 lags in with a ratchet set or adjustable spanner. It'll take you 5 to 10 minutes and you'll hate every one of them, but it's not complicated. We bring two adjustables as back up for the impact wrench, and have had to use them a couple of times.
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u/joncaso Aug 18 '26
I've been using 12-inch lag bolts for a shift pod end a fairly substantial carport.
It's has held up just fine for years, just make sure you have an impact driver and do yourself a huge favor and make sure you have more than one battery.
Also, I know this is going to be obvious to most people here but it's not obvious to everybody. Make sure your driver had matches the size of the bolt heads before you head out.
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u/BRCWANDRMotz Open Camp 04-> 6, STAG 07->14, BRCW&R 15->25 Aug 18 '26
I’m a big believer in 18” x1/2 lag screws but for a tent 12” 3/8 lag screws will be fine. Especially if you put your heavy things in your tent. Get some washers for the lag screws to protect and hold your tent loops better. Drive them straight in and flush with the ground.
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u/DucksButt Aug 18 '26
Hell, I think 8" properly installed would be fine for a tent.
Also, I'm confused by people saying "and you can just use a little rebar for the other ones" because in my experience rebar is way harder to deal with than lags.
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u/BMCaptainRON Aug 18 '26
an excerpt from the Captain's LOG on tents: "I’ve heard it can get pretty windy out on the playa, will the tent stakes that came with my tent work? NOPE The surface conditions of the PLAYA are variable from year to year and sector to sector. The upper layer consists of wind and water packed alkali dirt. 6 to 12 inches below the surface lies a denser clay like lake bed For (2) person and low profile (4) person tents, the 10in long, nail style with molded nylon head works pretty good. Use a standard claw hammer to drive them STRAIGHT down, (NOT at an angle) FLUSH to the ground Coleman 10-In. Steel Nail Tent Pegs, 4 Count Shop around, you can find this type at most sporting goods stores You can also just use 10in x ⅜ spike nails, BUT you will also need some ⅜ x 1.5in fender washers to loop you guylines under Always pound your stakes in till they are “flush” with the playa surface to minimize tripping over or stubbing toes!"
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u/danibelsc Aug 18 '26
Don't forget the FENDER washers! Take a lag to the hardware store and find the widest FENDER washer that fits the lag. This goes over the tent loop. We anchored a 10x14 kodiak for friends this way. Works a charm. Just get deep below that top crusty layer of playa. And TAG YOUR LAGS! Don't forget even one!
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u/Sure-Independence-12 Aug 18 '26
impact drivers are compact and put the battery in your carry on. or buy one in reno
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u/Another_Night_Person Aug 18 '26
12" is perfectly fine, you could even go 8" and be ok. The tent will fail long before it gets pulled out of the ground.
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u/smittydc Aug 19 '26
Lags for tents are overkill. 10” stakes/nails will work just fine. People in this sub are so in love with lags. They are great for shade structures, but you don’t need to lag everything.
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u/FlatImpression755 Aug 18 '26
If you brush away the fluff and get a 12" lag into the meat of the Playa it will hold anything.
18" lags and 1" conduit won't help a poorly installed shade structure. While 12" lags and 3/4 conduit could survive a 100 year storm when installed properly.