DIY Geodesic Dome From DIYready

DIY Geodesic Dome From DIYready

Over the last few months, I have been working with a few friends of mine and helping them get their new website off the ground.

They are finally up and running and they have some fantastic information to share with you.

What is DIYready?

At DIYready.com,we we s

Projects made with recycled materials, things made to help you be prepared in a crisis and stuff you can make with ingredients you already have at home will be just a few types of projects DIYready will cover.

We will show you the best ways to make, as well as the ways not to make, some super practical stuff you can have on hand to help you be prepared. We are just starting to add great content, and we would love for you to check it out.  Below is just a sneak peak at what you can expect from DIYready, created especially for Survival Life subscribers.

Ever heard of a geodesic dome?  Even if you haven't I can almost guarantee that you've seen one.

DIY Geodesic Dome

A geodesic dome is a structure that, due to its unique design, is one of the strongest, lightest shelters you can build, out of materials you can find readily available. It is portable and relatively inexpensive.

(I bet you never looked at a jungle gym and thought, “man that would make a great shelter!”)

You can assemble and disassemble one in less than 3 hours. You can use a geodesic dome as a living space, a greenhouse, or as a storage space or garage.

Geodesic domes are highly wind resistant, earthquake resistant, tornado and hurricane resistant. You can make one with parts and supplies you can find at any local hardware store for around $300.

Want to learn more about geodesic domes? Check out our video that explains what a geodesic dome is and a little bit more about DIYready.com here.

Want to build your own geodesic dome? Click below for the free step by step instructions on exactly how to do it.

Get started now

Want to see how one is made and learn how to make one of your own? Check out DIYready.com

We have step by step instructions and plans, plus a video showing you exactly how to build your own geodesic dome.

We encourage and welcome your feedback on DIYready.

We would love to hear what you think, and welcome any  suggestions you may have for future projects.

P.S. Here are just a few of the projects that we have in the works:

How to make an airsoft machine gun from a soda bottle

How to build a workbench from recycled wood pallets,

super cool stuff you can make with duct tape,

and some of the best roasted pumpkin seeds you will ever try.

Did you know you could make 10 different kinds of household cleaner from ingredients you most likely have at home right now?

Be sure to keep checking back at DIYready.com for more exciting projects to come!

Want more DIY projects? Check out these cool tutorials:

DIY Super Shelter

DIY Paracord Hammock Chair

DIY Survival Candles: The Olive Oil Lamp

7 Responses to :
DIY Geodesic Dome From DIYready

  1. Chuck says:

    I was in the Marine Corps when it was experimenting with geodesic domes (invented by Buckminster Fuller.)
    True story: Young Marine lieutenant checks into aviation squadron. He is not a pilot. They are not sure where to assign him. He is given charge of a work detail whose duty is to clean up the base. One task is to clean weeds and trash out of a drainage ditch that runs through camp. He procures a quantity of 120 avgas, arranges for a crash truck and a couple of Marines to stand by with fire extinguishers. A couple of Marines are instructed to walk along the ditch pouring the avgas all along the ditch. Our stalwart young hero ignites a couple of sheets of newsprint and tosses it into the ditch. Ah yes, you can see it coming! A sheet of flame roars into the air. Various witnesses describe its height with signifiant variances in height ranging from twenty feet to one hundred feet into the air. The crash truck catches fire. The two Marines with the fire extinguishers, who happened to be standing right beside the ditch, drop the fire extinguishers and beat a hasty retreat. A geodesic dome, one of only a limited few in camp, located not far from the ditch catches fire and is enveloped in flame in a second or two. Fortunately, the material used to cover it was so volatile it burns up so quickly that the contents were only soiled with ash. Final result: no lives lost nor anyone injured; Limited damage to the crash truck; cover for the geodesic dome totally gone. One young Marine officer’s career off to a very bad start. Not court-martialed, but also not given a position of any significance with that unit. I think he remained O.I.C. trash detail for the rest of his fourteen month tour. It’s really funny now, almost sixty years later. At the time, it was extremely scary for those involved. Of course, the gas being lighter than water flowed downstream and it all ignited almost simultaneously, so the sheet of flame was several hundred feet long because the avgas had flowed downstream as the Marines poured it into the fifty or so feet that had to be cleared out. It did clean out the ditch. I don’t believe the Marines continued with their experiment with geodesic domes. I don’t know how much the incident mentioned influenced the decision to drop them.

  2. Chuck says:

    One further comment. If you do build a geodesic dome, make darn sure the cover is treated with fire retardant or is made of fire resistant material, otherwise you may witness a really spectacular sight. Because of their shape they do burn quite nicely.

    1. karl says:

      Thank you for the story and comments about the need for fire retardant sheathing. It’s easy to forget about “little” details like that and end up with a bad situation later.

  3. erwin lange says:

    Someone at our cottage/lake built a geodesic dome. Cement footings,
    2X6 and 2×8 wooden floor, the dome on top of that:
    collapsed under the weight of the snow the following winter!
    All the traditional bldgs survived for many years after that.
    I frankly doubt that any usefulsized dome could withstand the presssure of a tornado.

    1. Don says:

      A geodesic dome should have withstood the snow load. It is a proven design. Faulty construction is the probable explanation. The geometry is very important. If angles are off, or not secured well, then the load is not evenly distributed to the footings. A dome is essentially an arch that covers all 360 degrees of a circle. Arches are still standing from the time of the Roman Empire. Arches are still used in the construction of bridges. A Geodesic Dome provides a large open space with no internal posts or supports.

  4. wayne says:

    A couple notes about the first video – things not mentioned. In the drilling segment there appears to be a support piece at the deep end of the drill jig to support the end of the flattened tube, that would probably be 3/16″ thick and maybe 1 1/2″ long. Also when bending the tube the video did not mention that the bends should both be toward the same side of the tube.

  5. John Vance says:

    Thanks for the posting. I’m excited about building my own geodesic dome. However, I’m confused about the parts needed. The one list for supplies needed states I would need 85 ten foot lengths of conduit. However, this gives me a maximum of 255 lengths of approximately 3 feet. Yet, within the plans I find I need 30 “A’s”,”B’s”, “E’s” and “F’s” and 60 “C’s” and 70 “D’s” and on the PDF Map assembly it lists all lengths at 30 each. Which is the correct number?

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