Radical self reliance is super fucking important.
If you can't survive comfortably with what you bring with you, don't expect to survive. And I don't mean that in the "Oh man, that was a rough trip I'm glad it's over!" sense, I mean a ranger very well might find your lifeless body in deep playa.
Don't get me wrong. By and large the people there are awesome, but this is not a magical dream world. We are talking about one of the harshest environments on the planet. The food, water, shelter, and other basic supplies on the playa were brought by other people JUST LIKE YOU and they almost certainly didn't bring them for your benefit.
People bring gifts to make random strangers smile, not so they can take care of you and fund your burn with their sweat and savings. Someone might give you a cool hat. No one is going to be giving you seven pairs of clean socks. Someone might give you an icy. No one is giving you 10 gallons of water (not early in the week, anyway). Get the picture?
While the playa provides magical experiences and occasionally spectacular instances of serendipity, it also provides dehydration, sun burn, wind burn, chemical burns, BURN burns, difficulty breathing, a host of skin disorders, incessant noise 24/7, and 68,000 strangers you probably don't want to entrust your life to when it comes down to it.
It's VERY doable, but you need to actually do it. Don't just half ass the prep work and assume everything will work out; the stakes are simply far too high.
Read the survival guide. Read the first timer's guide. Read the forums here. Use Google to answer any simple questions you may have and bring any tougher questions right on back to these forums. There are some absurdly sweet and talented people on this forum who can help you figure out your food, water, shelter, shade, lighting, wardrobe, and transportation logistics, but they've probably already posted the info at least twice so they aren't going to spoon feed you easy answers. If we did, we'd never have the time or energy to respond to the people asking tougher, less basic questions.
Sorry for being an asshole, but when I see a virgin burner throw out that "playa provides" nonsense I feel that a reality check is in order. I do this because I want you to have a great time, not spend the entire week in medical with an IV drip in your arm.
IrishEyes:
Most theme camps provide shade for their members to pitch a tent under but the theme camps are operated independently so the type and quantity are totally variable. If you're in a basic 2 or 3 season tent with the vents blocked (zippered, sewn, taped, etc) which you should be to keep the dust out, good shade will keep the tent tolerable until about 10 AM. Without shade your tent will be a sweat lodge by about 8 AM. There's also the option of adding a bucket cooler. With about 30 seconds of work you should be able to find what I'm talking about on the forums here.
Obviously RVs and more advanced structures are more comfortable, but they're also more expensive and relatively hard to come by. Personally I found that my tent pitched under a silver tarp was all I needed. I could never sleep in past 9 or 9:30 anyway partially because of the noise (despite my ear plugs) and partially because my brain just knew there was so much to go out and see.
I am really looking forward to having a unique experience and opening my mind to everyone and everything at BRC. I have done quite a lot of reading (I still have a lot more to do) and I am just trying to figure out if there is any shade within the theme camps if I was to stay in a tent? I am trying to decide if an RV is essential or if I could survive the heat in a tent for a week. That kind of heat is a far cry from what I am used to! Also as I am planning on travelling alone, I would appreciate any feedback from people who have used the Burner Express from either Reno or San Fran (as I can get a flight to either) and who were travelling alone with all their water/food/bags etc. I have some concerns as to how I will be able to manage to handle everything! 
