Frozen cooked and peeled large shrimp (we get the bags from Costco in Reno). Leave out to thaw and a few hours later, they're perfect with zingy cocktail sauce and a cold drink as appetizers at sunset. When we want to impress our neighbors, we haul it out and you will hear mumbled groans of joy betw...

My friend brought this exact tent in 2010. It was just her in the tent. With two people, it would be a tight squeeze with gear in there with you. She did not cover the mesh, just had the rainfly over it and it got dusty. Remember the mantra - playa dust gets in everywhere. I'd make the effort to cov...

I know you guys are talking about large camps, but for a small 2 person camp like ours, we went with the simple version. This might be helpful for newbies. We brought two large shallow BLACK tubs and laid them out in the sun underneath guy lines that helped tie down our shade structure. We attached ...

We too book a hotel room at Harrah's for afterwards (I'm not a big gambler, but I have one of their casino cards and can get comped or $20 rooms fairly frequently). They are pretty used to burners and the staff are always pretty welcoming. We take turns indulging in selfish, incredibly long, and I m...

In 2008, we left minutes after the Man burned, and found ourselves on a fairly empty stretch of Nevada desert at 1:00 am. In the vast darkness, we saw a few lights glittering and beckoning us to make a stop. It was an Indian taco stand. You do not know nirvana until you eat one of these at 1:00 am a...

Cooking everything in advance and reheating them on the playa are great ideas. Here are a few of my easy peasy ideas: Breakfast: pre-cooked bacon, pancakes / waffles, breakfast sausages, pop tarts, hard-boiled eggs. The messiest part is maple syrup, but we tend to sop it up with the pancakes and waf...

Maybe another option, less expensive than leaving for $20 a pop, is just buying the bags of ice at BM for $3 or $4 every day, and using the ice melt to drink from. Will you have a small cooler?

Both times I've gone, I've brought a good amount of clothes / costumes including tutus and tiaras and all that good stuff. Both times I've gone, I've pretty much ended up wearing the same one or two comfy,easy outfits for the week. Year One I had a full length purple polyester giraffe print nightie ...

Yeah, I went to the thrift store and bought a $3 pair of tinted ski googles that fit over my prescription glasses (many of them are designed to do that). A little bit of glitter paint and I was shiny and ready to embrace the dust. They worked perfectly also.

Also, I can't remember exactly when it is on Wednesday, but isn't the amazing, gotta be in it, gotta see it Critical Tits Parade on Wednesday afternoon? Please get there in time to witness or participate!

I was a volunteer last year at the airport and just got the official sign up sheet for the slots for this year. The desk will be manned starting 9 am on Friday, August 26th up until Friday, Sept 2. If you plan to arrive any earlier, I'd suggest you find an alternate method of finding a ride out to t...

If anyone else is looking at timing, both times I've been at BM, we took Monday in Reno as the day to get all our last-minute gear and errands done. I'm a local from Tahoe, but I still stay in a hotel in Reno to indulge in long, hot showers in anticipation of not having one for the next five days an...

To clarify, my strategy is less cooking, more of reheating. You know not to bring raw meats, right? Rotting meat juices in the desert = unhappy Burners and neighbors. My first year I brought a bunch of Tasty Bites and never ate them. So as others said, bring what you know and like. I eat less on the...

I brought one of those propane 1 burner stoves. Awesome and easy - use an emptied out cardboard box as a windbreak (placed on its side). I bring one small fry pan and a kettle. I got smart and decided to just order a bunch of meals from different restaurants the week prior, and froze them: prime rib...

I found one of those thick foamy swimming pool floating mattresses for dirt cheap at a discount store several years ago. I take it wherever I go camping. I stick the mattress inside a thrift store sleeping bag (inside out, so the flannel is on the outside), then wrap THAT with another cheapie thrift...

Geo, so you had 4 short pieces that fit individually into the top connector, not two long pieces that crisscrossed? Thanks.

Thanks, Geo! That's exactly what I was thinking I will do next time. I am not sure what t connectors are, but will ask at the big box hardware store. Do you know what kind of tents are in your photo?

For these tents that use just two poles, I'm wondering if you can strengthen them against the winds if you added pvc pipes and attached them to the original tent poles with zip ties? I'd rebar them close to where the original tent stakes go too. I've had two good tents fail out there against the win...

I worked as a volunteer last year at the airport, so the rideshare there works this way: WHERE IS THE DESK? Flights arrive on the second floor. Head down to the first floor and turn right to where the luggage carousels are located. The AirPlaya desks are located just before the carousels and are sta...

The Sands - you get what you pay for. It's a big high-rise casino.

Motel 6 - you can park right in front of your room (ask for the first floor), it's also cheap, and you can load up on their free ice for coolers.

Motel 6 would work.

2008: Cheapie Wal-mart $30 4-person tent lasted until the very last day when the winds just killed the poles. Taped car windshield reflectors to the mesh and it was pristine inside. So sad because it was great otherwise. 2010: Invested in much bigger, more expensive Alps Mountaineering 6-person tent...

Sorry, but I'd be kinda pissed if you came up to me and said you wanted food for a song or dance because you thought it would be funny, as opposed to realizing the whole Self-Reliance motto here. Pissed as hell. Gifting food should be a gift, not a request. I volunteered last year at the Reno Airpor...

Let me add one more thing that I thoroughly enjoyed on the playa - a frozen bag of giant shrimp from Costco, thawed, and served with spicy cocktail sauce. Decadent, tasty, and a must for any future camping trips. We had this for happy hour several afternoons, again shared with passersby who loved st...

I also find it hard to believe that you couldn't find any answers to your questions in past posts but here goes. 1. What foods and meals have worked out really well for you and your friends? First time - we brought a bunch of Tasty Bites as per recommended highly here. Hated them, ate once and gave ...

1. Dressing "differently." I would not normally wear blinged out bug-eyed sunglasses, a pink tutu 24 hrs a day, or bare my tits in public. But I'm glad I did at Burning Man. 2. Talk to strangers. Normally I'm pretty shy, and being around a ton of people who are much more out-going than me was a litt...

We used one of those Coleman one-burner stoves too. Dead easy to use, inexpensive and so convenient. When it was particularly windy, I would sit it inside a box cut-out to keep the flames from blowing out and the food a little less dusty. All of our meals were pre-cooked so a small frying pan to reh...

Would you still duct tape the EMT to the rebar or slip it over the rebar?

Jumping into thread.... in the past, we drove my car over the edge of a huge tarp and flipped it over the roof. After pounding in three-foot rebar halfway into the ground, we'd slip seven-foot tall PVC pipes over the rebar. The "loose" edge of the tarp would then be secured to the top of the PVC pip...

How big is your camp? Wicking works wonders. There is just two of us at our little camp. The first year we went, our system of water evap sucked and we ended up carrying back 15 jugs of stinky gray water. Our second year, I brought a ton of black towels and cut up burlap I picked up at thrift stores...