yurts-msg

yurts-msg – 10/21/03

Round Mongol tents also called gers. Referances. Construction hints.

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Stefan at florilegium.org

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From: Blackwolf

Re: Burning Tents!!

Date: 22 Jan 92

One advantage yurts have over standard tents .... large "smoke" openings in the roof and skirting on the sides that can be partially raised to provide adequate ventilation .... hot air rises through roof, creates low pressure that pulls steady supply of air through "vents" in sides ... sets up a convection flow that carries stale air (including carbon monoxide) out and pulls fresh air in.

As for safety ... the yurt is a "sacred" space - the hearth is at the center and as such all who enter are aware of it (all of us mongol types know basic yurt protocol). when one enters such "sacred space", one does not casually fling ones cloak around .... consider, it was death penalty for any one who stepped on the "threshold" of a yurt (the dividing line between the sacred inner circle and the external consensus reality world). if the person who suggested this design (and having experience in yurts and amerind tepees in winter, it is an excellent design) is sensible, he'll have an extinguisher out of sight and near to hand - as all SCAdian tent dwellers should.

Basic point here is not to legislate out all possibility of danger ... it is to teach respect and understanding of these areas ... in this case how to live with fire - a skill that is sadly lacking. anyone who feels they need to have their hands held to that level really needs to get out of the woods and back into their apartments. it's amazing what stressing personal responsibility and common sense will get you verses trying to push responsibility off on others (concept has ramifications in many areas of SCAdian life as well as munucdane life ....).

From: corun at access.digex.net (Corun MacAnndra)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: tent space - period pavillions

Date: 25 May 1993 09:59:40 -0400

Organization: Express Access Online Communications, Greenbelt, MD USA

doconnor at sedona.intel.com (Dennis O'Connor) writes:

>corun at access.digex.net (Corun MacAnndra) writes:

>] I don't know what the size of the average European style pavilion or

>] tent is, but I bring a yurt (which is the Russian word for it, the

>] Mongolian being ger). My yurt is 15 feet in diameter, stands six feet

>] at the wall and eight at the roof ring, and has no center support poles.

>My newly-completed gher (known to Europeans as a "yurt", which really

>means "area of land where you live") is 16' in diameter, and stands

>5' tall at the walls. The roof peaks at 10', and has a 3' diameter

>smoke-hole with a flap to cover it, built around a Mongol-style

>wheel like your. Currently it does have a center-pole attached to the

>"wheel" by a spider of ropes and turnbuckles: I've first built an

>"easy-up" frame for it, which uses (horrors) tether lines, and as

>time goes by I'll also build a more authentic wooden framework for it.

>Corun, I have to advise you: I've never seen a real gher that had walls

>more than 5' high. Most seem to be abuou 4'6" or so. The advantages

>of a low wall are less fabric, less surface area exposed to the wind,

>less volume to try to heat in the winter, and your enemies have to

>duck coming in the door, making them easy to kill :-). But if you

>happen to have a taller gher than I've seen : I'm sure the height

>of gher walls varied some in the time of the Empire :-).

Thank you for the advice. My yurt is based on an actual one I was

allowed to climb around in that was brought to the Smithsonian by

the Russians several years ago for the exhibit Nomads of the Eurasian

Steppe. The only difference is that the roof poles on this one were

bent at one end so as to come down vertically to the khana (which was

around six feet already), adding another 18 inches or so to the height

of the wall. The roof ring was 57 inches inside diameter and rose to

about 12 feet or so. The whole yurt was still only 15 feet in diameter,

and the top and bottom pieces of the door frame were 7 inches wide,

allowing for the same need to stoop to get in the door (very effective

form of defense). Yes, there are subtle differences between the

various tribes that inhabit the steppe. I met some Tuvans recently,

and showed them a Mongol hat. They pointed out a difference in theirs

to the Mongol one that was very subtle to me, but glaring to them.

The four flaps that go around the hat on the Mongol one are of the

same size, but on the Tuavns hat, the front and back ones are smaller

than the side ones.

>The 5' walls on our gher work well, since the outer areas of the

>floor of the gher are usually taken up by sitting things (storage

>boxes, coolers, et cetera) disguised by throws, aproximately

>according to traditional Mongol interior design, except the king-size

>air matress. There's plenty of standing room.

On the yurt I researched, a pole was place horizontally across the

khana, acting as a closet pole for hanging things from. This is what

I do in my yurt.

>] Of course, not everyone wants to live as a Mongol. ;-)

>They just don't know any better. :-)

We can fix that. ;-)

I recall you saying in another message that you've only been to Pennsic

once. I hope this changes and we get a chance to compare yurt notes.

In service,

Corun

==============================================================================

Corun MacAnndra | Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening.

Dark Horde by birth | How difficult to tell what time it is when you're

Moritu by choice | locked in a tiny room with flourescent lights.

From: mjc at telerama.lm.com

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: YURTS!!!!!

Date: 12 Apr 1995 10:38:49 -0400

Organization: Telerama Public Access Internet, Pittsburgh, PA USA

Todric (from the Dark Horde) gave me a set of yurt plans for the

asking. Sir Ogami sells a set for $5 that explains what's going on a

little better. [NOTE - Sir Ogami is no longer selling such plans -

5/12/01 - Stefan] (The former assume a little more knowledge on the part

of the reader, as I recall.) I still had to have someone who knows

something about carpentry explain a little of it to me, even working

from Ogami's plans, but I've never really done wood before so I wasn't

surprised.

One thing I found when we built ours last year was that, at least here

in Pittsburgh, wood prices are weird. The yurt requires something

like 70 8' lathes -- boards an inch and a half (inch and a quarter?)

wide and a quarter inch thick. These cost a fortune. It was actually

cheaper to buy 2x4 and a table saw, cut the 2x4s lengthwise (each one

yielded 8-10 lathes depending on how careful we were being), and then

throw the table saw away. (We didn't actually do this; we used a

friend's radial arm saw. But it would have been cheaper to buy the

tool for a single use than to buy the lathes.) Sure, it took extra

time to do this, but we're talking a price difference of a few hundred

dollars. And besides, drilling the lathes was easier; we just drilled

the 2x4s before cutting them down, guaranteeing that the holes mostly

lined up in the right places. (We used a drill press to make sure the

drill was vertical at all times.)

There seem to be at least as many ways to build a yurt as there are

yurts; a tour of Horde camp can be enlightening.

Ellisif

From: todric1 at aol.com (TODRIC1)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: YURTS!!!!!

Date: 20 Apr 1995 00:06:08 -0400

Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)

My ears have been burning. It would seem that I have finally found my way

here. (Nya-ha-ha!). For whatever use it is, the following: I recommend the

"drill & rip the 2X4s" method. The original specification of lath moulding

was for the prototype (what did I know then?). An excellent example of an

aluminum yurt showedup last year, who knows what's next? Pultruded

fibreglass? Spun carbon-fibre?

There are several approaches to constructing the roof-ring, but the

traditional method depends on which tribe's tradition you want to follow,

and how much you are forced to accomodate modern materials and tools. I

really think that steam-bending provides the strongest ring, but

lamination or fabrication from sections works okay if you plan from the

start to make it stronger than you think it needs to be.

It is true that to really know yurts, you must build one and spend some

time living in it. They are dynamic, like the rest of the universe.

If requested, I will post the name & # of a friend who will custom build

you a yurt suitable for permanent or temporary habitation.

P.S. Thanks to all who expressed their condolences on the death of my

Mother. Father is out of hospital and recuperating from the accident.

Wow! Look at the connect time! Gotta go!

TTFN, Todric

From: sevant at infinet.com (C. Baum)

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

Subject: Re: YURTS!!!!!

Date: 23 Apr 1995 20:00:25 GMT

Organization: InfiNet

My lords and ladies all who share an interest in Mongolian Gers Greetings:

I have read with enthusiasm of the growing interest in Mongolian Gers. I

offer the following information on the topic of Gers from the perspective of

someone who has built two 18' Gers, and who is a paid member of the

Mongol-American Cultural Association, Inc., and a member of the Great

Dark Horde established in 1972 by Svea Wartooth (m.k.a. John Bailey), his

fencing student Yang the Nauseating (m.k.a. Robert Asprin, author of the

MYTH series and Phule's series, editor of The Thieves' World Books with

Lynn Abbey), Mr. Bailey's first wife [Mary] (deceased), and Aleeia of

the Two Swords (m.k.a. Jacquline Sapulski) another fencing student of Svea's.

Included herein will be the most complete and current contact information

for a variety of sources of information on Mongolian Gers, culture,

traditions and arts past and present available to me. I offer this

information to promote greater understanding based on independantly

verifiable facts. I strongly encourage interested parties to contact any

of these sources to get the truth for yourself. Remeber that ignorance

is the only real enemy of mankind. Also feel free to email me directly

with questions and comments.

"Due to special efforts of MACA board of directors member, Caghanbaatar,

an internet news forum "Soc.culture.mongolian" has come into existence"

quoted from Issue 3, August 1994 of the MONGOL TOLBO, national newsletter

of MACA, Inc. General Mongolian discussion group.

First a point of clarification. According to Sanj Altan, current President

of MACA, Inc., 50 Louis St., New Brunswick, NJ 08901, and a Mongolian

native who emegrated to the US at the age of 5 during the Second World

War when Mongolia was invaded and subjugated by the then Communist USSR,

"yurt" is the Russian word for the Mongolia nomads home called Ger by the

Mongol natives.

Mr. Altan has further explained to me that native Mongolians,

and the Mongolian-American emegrees, find the word "yurt" to be offensive

to them as it reminds them of the decades of oppression under the

Communist invaders. As a courtesy to the real Mongolian peoples, I will

refer to their wonderful portable architechture by their term "Ger"

throughout this posting. I would further like to encourage the use of

the name "Ger" to be used by everyone following this discussion as a

token of courtesy and respect for these fine people.

Furthermore, I am happy to report that Sanj has remarked to me on more

than one occasion his delight to learn that there is a growing interest

among Americans in the history, culture, traditions and arts of his

beloved native lands. He welcomes anyone interested in Mongolian culture

past and present to become paid members of MACA, Inc.

Regular membership in MACA is $50 annually which includes a subscription

to the national "Mongol Tolbo" newsletter. The annual subscription

rate for the "Mongol Tolbo" newsletter is also available seperately

for $20 annually. Full time students and retirees are elegable for a

membership for $20 annually.

For a membership application or subscription order form please contact

MACA, Inc. at the address listed previously. If you like you may even

mention my name in your letter of inquiry if you address your letter to

Mr. Altan directly, indicating me as the source of this information.

On the subject of Ger information:

For Ger enthusiats everywhere I am pleased to announce the "Mongol

Renaissance" exhibition which will be touring the US for 12 months,

opening in July 1995 at the Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, and

continuing for display at the Denver Art Museum and the National

Georgraphic's Explorer's Hall in Washington, DC. Current plans call for

a multimedia installation to be part of the exhibition along with a ger

being built for the show by the Ministry of Culture in Ulan Bator. A CD

ROM of the multimedia piece may also be produced for sale with the

exhibition catalog. Design and production for this work is currently

being donated by Dynamic Diagrams, for the Asian Art Museum of San

Francisco, the organizers of the show.

Mr. Paul Kahn, author of the excellent book "The Secret History of the

Mongols", an adaptation based on Francis Cleaves' translation, is the

project developer for the "Multimedia Ger Project" being featured in the

above mentioned "Mongol Renaissance" exhibition. Mr. Kahn's project

consists of four parts:

Part One: History

Part Two: Felt

Part Three: Making a Ger

Part Four: Living in a Ger

Mr. Kahn may be reached for further information as follows:

Paul Kahn

Dynamic Diagrams

12 Bassett St.

Providence RI 02903

Ph: 401.331.2014

Email: Paul_Kahn at brown.edu

My first interest in Gers came from living in the first Ger built by

Eadred Aelthylstan of the Great Dark Horde, at Pennsic in 1990. In turn

Eadred and I wish to give full credit to Todric Koenig, originally of the

Great Dark Horde and one of the founders of the Moritu (along with Rowan

Starbear, Bjorn and Cip/Baron Thomas Damien Blackmoor, established in

September, 1985, at the special khuralitai held at the University of

Wisconsin, in Madison, WI) for being responsible for inspiring Eadred

to build a ger of his own.

Eadred caught "ger fever" after Todric was gracious enough to invite

Eadred to be a guest in Todric's ger in Moritu camp at Pennsic. During that

first and many subsequent visits by Eadred to Todric's ger at the war, he

discussed the various technical challenges and options available to a

new ger builder. Todric's encouragement of Eadred's first effort and his

boundless enthusiasm for the elegant architechture of gers in general were

invaulable. While elegant in their simplicity, building a ger is a

little tricky, especially at first. Tonos or roof rings are an art all

by themselves, as you may well discover when you build your first ger.

In traditional Mongolian ger design there are several historically

documentable conventions that have progressed unchaged to this very day.

Palgi and Toch Toch Gyamcho (PH: 908-297-1140, leave a message) brought

their hand-crafted geniune Mongolian ger with them from Mongolia. The

brothers Gyamcho erect their ger, complete with all hand-crafted

Mongolian furnishings of traditional design, in traditional color

combinations, arranged in the traditional order of alignment, each year

at the annual Chinggis Qan(their spelling) Ceremony, hosted each fall by

MACA, Inc.

All aspects of the choices of and use of color, both inside and out, are

very important to the Mongols. Both the brothers Gyamcho and Sanj have

told me that the only "proper" color for a ger covering is white. Designs

painted on the white outer covering of a ger are also significant to

them. Oiyn or roof poles, the tono, and if used, the tono supports are

traditionally painted a bright scarlet red accented with black, silver,

gold and blue or green. To native Mongols their ger is more than merely

their home. It is their place of worship and therefore, to them, these

color conventions have religious as well as cultural significance.

There are also traditional conventions in the materials used to construct

and fasten the hana (wall sections) in gers. Wood strips, fastened at

each cross-point with oiled leather thong, is the only acceptable

material used by the Mongols in constructing the hana, from their earliest

recorded history to the present.

In discussions I have participated in with Mongols knowledgeable in ger

building whom I have met through MACA, the topic of alternative materials

in ger construction has been discussed at length. And I might add, with

great passion on the part of the Mongols. Bottom line in these

discussions is that gers are made of wood and leather, cloth and felt.

The habit of "round-eyes" to substitute metal or synthethic materials as

fastenings for the hana, or using metal or synthetic materials in other

parts of "true ger" construction is simply unacceptable to some of them.

One very old native ger builder I met at the Chinggis Qan Ceremony held

at Cook College in New Brunswick, NJ, in 1992, tried to explain things to

me this way. The venerable gentleman told me that Americans, like their

culture are very young. He went on to explain that being so young,

Americans were filled with the enthusiasm and folly of youth. He told me

that it had been his experience that when Americans were introduced to

gers their first reaction was to try and "improve" a design that had

already been "proved" over 800 years of continuous refinement through

actual use by hundreds of generations of Mongols. To this gentleman some

of the sillest "improvements" Americans applied to gers included making

the outermost coverings in outlandish colors and using "unnatural" or

"lifeless" materials in their construction.

To them it seems that a ger is more than merely a physical object.

I do not have the words to convey the reverance with which they describe

their gers. The joy and pride that shines forth like fire in their eyes

when they try to explain to a well-meaning but admittedly ignorant (in

the literal dictionary definition of that word) round-eye like myself,

of the "life" of their gers is something which can only be experienced,

not explained. But for the true native Mongols who have spoken with me

at length on this aspect of the nature of their gers this "life" is both

real, and for them, intuitively understood. Even the number of slats in

the hana is based on sacred numerology. Thirteen or eleven slats, as

counted from top to bottom are the "natural" numbers of slats in proper

hana.

These discussions have inspired me to continue to change my ger designs

to more closely incorporate as many of these traditions in each new

generation of ger I design and build. If I make enough of them, I may

even get it "right" someday. Who knows, stranger things have happened.

Fortunately the SCA is not renowned for authenticity in recreating period

items. After all Creativity is the SCA's middle name. This liberty of

perspective leaves a great deal of room for individual interpretation in

constructing all sorts of things. Including gers. In my travels I have

seen and visited gers ranging in colors like green with black tops, to

red, to blue, to orange, even one that is white on the bottom and pink on

top that always makes me think of a strawberry sundae. The one

consistancy I have found among all the gers I have visited is a universal

love for gers by all who have gone to the effort to build one of their

very own.

There is a great deal of flexibility in several aspects of ger building.

Especially in choice of materials. As the Mongolian ger design was

originated and perfected to work in what is a basically dry ecosystem

encompasing vast temperature differences, variable insulation concerns

were more important than waterproofing. In the US, on the other hand,

weather conditions like rain (especially at Pennsic >;-}) become a factor

in ger design. Therefore, consideration of waterproofing the ger

covering is important.

The exact degree of slope for the roof also varies. I try to get mine to

approximately 22 degrees of slope. But I have seen shallower and steeper

pitches. If it stays up when you put it up that is sure a good sign.

I have seen hana that form true squares when stretched in place and

others that form diamonds. It is truly a "forgiving" design within

reason.

One place to start for basic designs and construction methods is in the

book written by Mr. Charney, whose title I believe is "How to Build a

Yurt". I am sure of the author, but my copy is on loan and I admit I

don't remember the exact title. But that is close. So go to your local

library, contact some of the sources listed herein, and visit gers

whenever and whereever you get the chance. I have not yet met a ger

builder who didn't like to show off his efforts and discuss in some

detail the little tricks and triumphs of his own adventure in "home-making".

I can only hope that the effort I have presented here will encourage you

to take the plunge. Fair warning, once you have had the pleasure of

looking at beautiful moonlit and star-filled sky through the "heaven's

gate" of your own ger, you many never go back to tents again.

Offered in service to the society and to my household, I remain

Sevant

Newsgroups: rec.org.sca

From: bd906 at freenet.buffalo.edu (S. David Lee)

Subject: Re: YURTS!!!!!

Organization: Buffalo Free-Net

Date: Wed, 3 May 1995 05:00:00 GMT

Yurts are not difficult to build. I made mine, all by

myself, in a weekend, and I didn't have a clue. You can order

the canvas pre-made to the correct dimensions, which means that

you *don't* need an industrial sewing machinfe. All that you need