October 10, 2010, same bat place, likely noon to 2 am

Fry bread, pulled pork, and potato salad for $5 at the Wadsworth store washed down with some good ole Coca Cola to prep me for the drive home Monday night.

I generally make a point of chatting up LEOs (I work for ESD, like Savannah above) and BLM agents in particular seem to be friendly and engaging. I also interacted with them at our dispatch center and I had an overall positive experience this year. There are a few that are "enthusiastic" for sure. I...

I have that on my list of things to forget this year, too.

Last year, for me, it was a toothbrush (my traveling companion had an extra) and my sanity/ability to self regulate work (Emergency Services Department) and play.

You can also remove the poles/stakes from the tent bag and pack them underneath and put other stuff in the tent bag and carry it on with you.

I am surprised that there is not an entire category for injuries related to The Wedge.

You can use rebar and PVC by hammering the rebar into the ground, putting the PVC ONTO the rebar. For shade, rather than a tarp, get some actual shade cloth either from a place like Shelter Systems or from your friendly garden store. What I do is zip-tie the shade cloth to the top of the PVC (puttin...

US citizens can get a "passport card" that is good for Canada and Mexico and the Caribbean. I don't know if Canada has something similar. Also, in the US, you can bribe, I mean, pay extra to get an expedited passport though it usually requires having plane tickets. A friend found out that driving ac...

Regarding braids in long hair, in the desert, for a week: be mindful that the hair can still break (particularly at the top of your head) so wearing a bandana or kerchief (or head scarf for that matter) is helpful. The first year I went, I did tiny braids for the week that were super easy to care fo...

I was talking on the phone with someone earlier today who was driving up 447 toward Gerlach for a good 25 minutes and it seemed pretty solid--we were both on AT & T and on iPhones--though there was one drop in the call.

Do follow the speed limits. The 25 zones are brief, then you get the 70 on the reservation land. If a jack rabbit crosses your path, don't swerve. Really. Just clean up the mess later. Don't overtake. Really. Especially in a truck. You will get there. Two years back, we saw a 20 foot Ryder on its si...

I am really a multi-piscine type of guy and as much as love the BASS, I want to give my other fish camps a shout out!

That first inhalation of clove cigarette smoke mixed with a tinge of playa dust.

Time alone at the temple.

Birthday reflections (my birthday always falls during burn week-40 this year).

The statistics (I believe) come from a combination of dispatch records and paper records kept by ESD and Rangers at their respective stations to cover walk-ins, people who use the MURS 511 system to reach the dispatcher, as well as reports of incidents where a resource is dispatched. From my persona...

The 18' I bought for last year was rock steady though some of the poles flexed more than others--anyone need a ginormous PVC boomarang?--and it was easy to set up though I recommend a trial run or two at home before bringing out to the playa. The 18' in theory is a more stable construction than the ...

1. The Playa is, for lack of a better term, brittle--it's dry, it will hold a pole/rebar/stake though the more movement said items are subject to, the more they may tend to expand the size of the initial hole through flexing. This may make the inserted items less stable as well as kicking up loose p...

Petroleum distillate (i.e., bike chain lubricant) is a great substitute for saline especially when you randomly pick it up off the playa and shoot it up your nose. Giving your shoes to the dude without shoes is a great way to truly experience Burning Man through the rituals of playa foot and "Ooops,...

From the preparation portion of this site:

http://www.burningman.com/preparation/e ... water.html

I've used Simply Water the past few years.

Hopefully it will actually, you know, be useful this year. Whatever happened last year was a mess and was not very useful.

[quote="DrPeffer"]I've used the REI base camp 6 two years running now, and it has performed brilliantly, even through the two 'big' dust storms last year. Properly-staked, it's excellent.[/quote] In the end, that's what she is getting as it seems a good middle ground between the Hobitat and the Spri...

At the BMHQ volunteer day there was an example of a wind powered evap device, a vertical cylinder supporting a double helix of two tubes at an angle, the tubes just dipping into the eva pool. As the double helix spun in the wind (they used a fan to demo), it carried water to the top of the cylinder....

Heh, phil, that's why I picked that shot! Yeah, that's the thing. I have a small camping tent bought with quality in mind and the dome will be new this year (which claims about 30 minute setup) and my gf would like some place to sleep in which she can also stand. The question is how often it will ge...

Regarding the yurt versus Springbar, I am trying out a yurt for common space, 18' diameter, 9' high at the center, playa proven, but twice as spendy as the Springbar though more space for the same weight. The balance I am hoping to strike is some savings (I appreciate Anti M's Big 5 suggestion) vers...

Thanks for all of the feedback!

Last year I opted for a Target special which did not fare well, partially due to human error partially due to cheap construction.

This year I have shade covered with a shelter systems dome and my camp mate has been looking at tents we (or at least she) can stand up in.

Has anyone used these on the playa? If so, how did they fare?

4 man: http://www.rei.com/product/745758

6 man: http://www.rei.com/product/745759

Reviews are very mixed.

It was a wonderful celebration. I know pictures were taken--I'd love to see them. Are you even back on that side of the pond yet? Probably still recovering, I imagine.

Thanks for adopting a Yank for the week, I hope to see you all next year.

My understanding is that cars licensed by DMV are by nature public and you should not be denied space or kicked off as you were. Let DMV know and perhaps these cars from these camps will not be licensed in the future.

What about FRS/GMRS radios using interference eliminator codes? In theory, there are 2200 combinations on a 22 channel set like a Motorola T7400. I figure most people are lazy and use the default for each channel.