Camping solo tips?

[Avacadi]

Hey y'all. Been a long time since I've been on here. Some of you may know me, some may not. Avacadi here. Like avocado but with an a and an i.
Anyhoo... Happy August! As the event approaches, it is looking more likely that I will be going solo for my first time EVER this year. Whoo. Fkin intimidating!
I would normally camp with the same camp that I've been camping with for the past 3 years but after having camped with them my last year I just realize that it's not the camp I want to be a part of. It's okay. I've got an alright set up for now.
I'm wondering if y'all could share some tips with me.
One: KITCHEN!! what kind of kitchen set up should I do and how? The kitchen set up has always baffled me. Gray water?? What do I do with it? I feel like ive never really eaten or cooked much out there but I'd like to be over prepared than under.
Two: I've yet to get a tent or shade structure of any sort. I have been thinking about just setting up some blankets and pillows in my car and calling it a day but my car doesn't have a/c and I may die. Just kidding. I've thought about doing a swamp cooler or sorts but I'm not sure how cool that'll keep me in an oven. What kind of shade structure/tent do you guys recommend and how long will my stakes have to be to survive an intense dust storm like 2018?
PS I've acquired a massive playa rug so I'm open to any suggestions.

Those are my two main concerns right now, though I'm sure more sh*t will freak me out as the days progress

I apologize if these questions seem redundant. Like I said, I've never camped solo before.

The good news is that im bringing food & water & gasoline hahah

Any tips at all are highly valued!

[Popeye]

Fkin intimidating!
Shouldn't be, just a different Burn. I camped alone for 4 years, enjoyed most of it.

One: KITCHEN!! what kind of kitchen set up should I do and how? The kitchen set up has always baffled me. Gray water?? What do I do with it? I feel like ive never really eaten or cooked much out there but I'd like to be over prepared than under.
I used a one burner coleman propane stove, put it next to my cooler and used cooler as a wind block. What you need depends on how much cooking you wnat to do. I made coffee, cooked eggs and had a steak with stuff. Must have had something else but...

Two: I've yet to get a tent or shade structure of any sort. I have been thinking about just setting up some blankets and pillows in my car and calling it a day but my car doesn't have a/c and I may die. Just kidding. I've thought about doing a swamp cooler or sorts but I'm not sure how cool that'll keep me in an oven. What kind of shade structure/tent do you guys recommend and how long will my stakes have to be to survive an intense dust storm like 2018?
PS I've acquired a massive playa rug so I'm open to any suggestions.
Get a tent unless you enjoy sleeping on an angle, sliding into the crack between the back and bottom of the back seat. And are shorter than the distance between your doors. Coleman self inflating sleeping pad for $25.00 and a Wally World sleeping bag for another 25. For one person you will want a 3 or 4 man (or woman) tent. I hear good things about Coleman Blackout but haven't tried one. For shade, probably the easiest is a flat top. Make it just tall enough to clear your tent. That makes it easier to set up. But you know all this.
BTW, What is a playa rug?

Those are my two main concerns right now, though I'm sure more sh*t will freak me out as the days progress

I apologize if these questions seem redundant. Like I said, I've never camped solo before.
Don't apologize. Camping solo is fun and different. You really won't be camping solo just camping with people you haven't met yet. Oh, I remember your name but have no idea who you are.

The good news is that im bringing food & water & gasoline hahah

Any tips at all are highly valued!

[Token]

I’m a big fan of using vehicles as wind break and shade.

But, then again, I have a big-ass American truck, so it’s easy to do a lean-to.

Check out the sun map thread here and see if you can take advantage of that.

What car you got?

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=78496

Edited to add link to sun/wind map.

[spacetime]

Unless you’re prepared to get pretty busy learning how to operate a shade, you may struggle to get one figured out in time.

Token is probably right that using your car as an anchor at least could provide you something for a chair. Possibly full blockage during parts of the day sitting close to it.

But to set up a free standing shade that covers your tent, you need to be pretty familiar with it in advance or it may be destroyed / fly away out there.

If you don’t have a tent, your best bet is a Coleman 2 man, they are really cheap. You must seal the vents with fabric. I suggest ripstop nylon. You can attach it with duct tape or fabric glue.

If you have, time, money and patience to learn, I suggest the Kelty Noah’s tarp and their alloy poles. This is not trivial to set up or maintain but it is very good.

Check out the setup I did with the Coleman and noah’s Tarp here: viewtopic.php?t=70367



I survived the biggest rainstorm in a decade of burns completely dry with that setup.

Avoid swamp coolers, they are more trouble than they are worth unless you know exactly how to power, operate and maintain it. I suggest focusing entirely on acquiring a tent with sealed vents and a car-anchored shade or quickly becoming an expert in a playa-safe freestanding shade.

Practice and familiarity with your setup is key. Good luck!

[some seeing eye]

You are in a great situation - experienced and with burner friends!
I would suggest asking your burners friends and other friends what you can borrow.
I have an appetite for buying things I can use year around for other purposes.

A Costco carport with your tent, rug, camping chairs, and kitchen is a pretty deluxe setup, and you can open and close the front if you want or have visitors. Throw some hippie tapestries or colorful fabric yardage around the inside and you are styling.

The current method for kitchen grey water is to funnel it into your empty water containers, like the 2-3g suitcases. You can also get non-food grade containers on Craigslist to transport your grey water out. There are many body washing water threads.

If you can set up a sleeping cot, use an eye mask, and ear protection, that can be nice to have in a breezy living room for day napping under a good shade structure.

The carport is a great rain structure too.

[spacetime]

I assumed a much more minimal setup, but yes a carport would be nice. Does that fit in a sedan?

[Luigi]

If you can use the car as an anchor point for a flat top, it works well. I always have had a roof rack on my vans that serves as the tie in for the flat top, and also shades the car. As token says, the car can be a wind break. If you can some how put a wind stop on the wind side of the car below the body, it really helps keeping playa from blowing under the car into your tent/living shade area.

As far as cooking, we use a jet boil for just about everything. Simple is good. I nice ground cloth on the lee side of the car - like a white painter tarp - anchor the corners with the wheels.

Grey water is a pain - like sse says, we haul it out.

You have a good idea what is what, the challenge may be finding an open spot.

[Chowski]

Grey water is simple: don’t create it. Bring only shelf stable food (cans of soup, Jerkey, crackers, cans of fruit, tuna, etc.). No fresh food means no dirty cooler water and no cooking water waste, and a five gallon bucket with a lid for your grey water (toothpaste spit, hot beer, soup dregs, etc.). For showering, stand on a towel and spray your body with a garden sprayer. Soap up and rinse. Hang the towel to dry - no grey water. Have one cooler you refresh with ice to cool drinks and a jar of pickles and fruit cups. Clean ice melt can be drained slowly into the street by walking it around as it drains.

[Token]

Chowski is wise! +1 on all he said!

Keep it simple.

[some seeing eye]

Good ideas above.
I would suggest thinking "inner kitchen" ("inner belly") custom to each individual burner.

First, I lose my appetite and eat less on the playa. Others eat more or same.

Second, consider the social to solo eating experience.

I have cooked a French toast breakfast in a very large village with an open kitchen. I've cooked a Thai curry meal in a camp of a bit above 100 that had 2 meals a day. I've put a lot of energy into a camp of seafarers. I would not give up the social experience of planning, wrangling fellow campmates and making it happen, volunteer cooking, all successfully.

If you are newly soloing, suggest unwinding past group camp meal feels from just eating. Or you could have a solo camp kitchen that invited people you meet to a social meal.

[FIGJAM]

Or freeze individual portions of precooked meals in zip locks or vacuum seal.

Keep your ice in a BIG zip lock for drinking later.

Boiling water or your dash board to heat your meals.

Eat em outta the bag.

Won't stay frozen without dry ice, but I don't think anything will go bad if it's stays iced.

Done, and no clean up or grey water.

[Avacadi]

THANK YOU! ALL OF YOU, SO MUCH.

What do y'all mean by anchoring a shade structure to your vehicle?? I really am getting down to the wire here about the whole shade situation. Thought about going to Reno really quick and grabbing a hexayurt for the convenience factor but shit they are pricey for something you can build yourself if you had the time.

I've just decided to pack most of my food in ziploc bags so I don't create any gray water. And yeah, the garden mister idea is prime. So into that.

Love yall thanks so much. See ya out there!

[Avacadi]

THANK YOU! ALL OF YOU, SO MUCH.

What do y'all mean by anchoring a shade structure to your vehicle?? I really am getting down to the wire here about the whole shade situation. Thought about going to Reno really quick and grabbing a hexayurt for the convenience factor but shit they are pricey for something you can build yourself if you had the time.

I've just decided to pack most of my food in ziploc bags so I don't create any gray water. And yeah, the garden mister idea is prime. So into that.

Love yall thanks so much. See ya out there!

[Token]

THANK YOU! ALL OF YOU, SO MUCH.

What do y'all mean by anchoring a shade structure to your vehicle?? I really am getting down to the wire here about the whole shade situation. Thought about going to Reno really quick and grabbing a hexayurt for the convenience factor but shit they are pricey for something you can build yourself if you had the time.

I've just decided to pack most of my food in ziploc bags so I don't create any gray water. And yeah, the garden mister idea is prime. So into that.

Love yall thanks so much. See ya out there!

What car you got? That will help steer the discussion.

[Avacadi]

99 Isuzu Rodeo. She's a champ

[Token]

The options are endless!!!

That is a solid vehicle for all kinds of shade solutions. Especially if the roof rack is still solid and strong.

[Avacadi]

The options are endless!!!

That is a solid vehicle for all kinds of shade solutions. Especially if the roof rack is still solid and strong.

Love you for saying that... I have no ideas. Like a sail structure from the roof rack to the ground!? Like whaaaaaaattTttTtt

[Avacadi]

And yes the roof rack is solid.

[Avacadi]

Creativity doesn't plague me. I've been thinking about anchoring a sail from the rack to the ground and calling it a day. But I was going for more of an "enclosed" structure just for the security of an IF dustpocalyose. Which in that case, it's always best to be safe rather than sorry. Plus I'm one of those people that overestimates and over prepares ~*shrug*~

[some seeing eye]

I would not recommend anchoring a shade structure made to a vehicle roof rack.

Here is the reason. The force of wind on a tarp or shade cloth goes up as the square of the wind speed. 10mph is 100x, 100mph is 10,000x.

I would suggest wrapping a sturdy piece of nylon climbing webbing around the two tires nearest your structure or looping the webbing through the wheel. That keeps the vibrating-in-the-wind webbing (and it will) from eroding any paint.

[Token]

My first choice would be a carport.

You got space to bring one.

It’s proven and easy to build but you may need to make friends out there and get some community effort going as a solo camper. Should be fine.

Lots of threads here on how to secure it all.

[Token]

Second choice would be a 10’ length of rigid conduit. 1” size would be fine. U-clamp to roof-rack as an anchor point for a 10 X 20 foot tarp.

Make sure it is “rigid conduit” - this is thicker than the regular bendable conduit everyone uses.

Then get some regular 1” conduit and a pipe cutter.

Pipe cutter is under $20 and looks like this:



Cut some of the thin-wall conduit to size so it’s ~ as tall as your SUV, maybe a bit taller.

Use those cut pieces to prop up the tarp every 5 or so feet, wherever the grommets are, to make a porch like structure off your SUV.

[Token]

I would not recommend anchoring a shade structure made to a vehicle roof rack.

Here is the reason. The force of wind on a tarp or shade cloth goes up as the square of the wind speed. 10mph is 100x, 100mph is 10,000x.

I would suggest wrapping a sturdy piece of nylon climbing webbing around the two tires nearest your structure or looping the webbing through the wheel. That keeps the vibrating-in-the-wind webbing (and it will) from eroding any paint.

Although wind load pressure and force are correlated to the square of the wind velocity, the modifying coefficients for the typical sloping or flat-top structures usually built on Playa make it far less dramatic than indicated in your example.

Yes, some get unlucky and are hit with the perfect gust out there that creates those dramatic conditions. We have plenty pictures of crumpled domes and flying shades. But it’s not all that common.

Besides, it keeps BM potentially lethal

[Avacadi]

Cheers for all the info y'all appreciate cha

[Avacadi]

What about a big ass teepee tent. Dumb idea or...?

[Popeye]

What about a big ass teepee tent. Dumb idea or...?

No floor could be a PITA, as could the long poles. If there is a vent at the top it would set up a convection current to help cool it.

[Avacadi]

What about a big ass teepee tent. Dumb idea or...?

No floor could be a PITA, as could the long poles. If there is a vent at the top it would set up a convection current to help cool it.

Bathtub teepee & I have rugs so that wouldn't be a problem. More concerned about being a PITA with how much space itmay take up. And also like wind conditions with a teepee? Not sure how that goes. I've seen ppl out there with them and have read an eplaya thread about one. But it wasn't quite as umm.... "Extra" as the one I ordered. oops lol

[Avacadi]

Fu*k it. I'll figure it out. Who's going to the meet and greet!? Maybe y'all can cackle at my set up

[Canoe]

There's simple tent & tarp
viewtopic.php?f=277&t=101553&p=1189721#p1189721