Gifting at Burning man Favorites?

[jimstamper]

I do this a lot for the last 5 years. I was wondering what was or is your favorite gift to either receive or give? I am also interested in what was the most useless gift that really was moop?
I got a knit hat from a lady in 2006 or 2007. I love that hat and use it all the time. If you are still out there.. Thank you again and your sister who made it.

How about your experiences. ? I am talking about a flat out gift not trading ok? I will be at the market around the man with my gifting box. JustJim

[FIGJAM]

viewtopic.php?f=280&t=33842

[danibel]

My favorite gift last year was given to me at center camp by a woman that was with a man that my sweetie knew. It was a single LED button light that had a picture of Edward Snowden on one side. You can flip a switch and it stays on or squeeze it and get a blast of light for a moment. It had a dongley thing so I could attach it to my lanyard.

Very useful. Very appropriate. And yes, Edward Snowden lights the way!!!!

[VultureChow]

Are we limiting this to physical, take-home style gifts? Lovely cup from Graidawg. My official playa cup.

Best overall gift was a comment from two passing Rangers who thanked me as I was taking down my art project that same year. Sunday hit me hard and I was thinking that one year was interesting, but probably I didn't fit too well. I felt better after that and have gone on to do and learn things I never dreamed of.

Most awkward gift?

First year someone gave me a vial of ashes. One of the first people I had met and I was still adjusting. I am not a particularly emotional or spiritual person and I didn't feel like we had some deep connection or conversation, and here I was being asked to spread someones ashes.

I left the whole vial in the temple and was glad to be rid of the burden.

[Elliot]

Received: Live music played in my camp by a friend of a bicycle customer, while I worked. (I don't consider it a trade, since anybody can fix a bicycle, but this musician was a real pro, on an exotic instrument.) What a treat it was!

[HappySarah]

Best gift received: a headlamp from my campmate when I was drunk, lost my headlamp and was using a hand flashlight when riding my bike at night. She gave me the headlamp she was wearing and took my flash light even though it was not convenient for her to use it while biking. Another good one was a hair wash from one of the camps that provide such services, and another hair wash from my friend! I also received a beautiful necklace with the Man being the charm of the necklace. I am so in love with this necklace, it makes burners in the streets recognize me as another burner!

Best gift I gave: a gourmet breakfast for a hungry burner who didn’t have real food for days. It was a veggie omelet, bacon, quinoa salad, and zucchini bread (I am all about making gourmet frozen meals and bringing them to the Playa). I also threw a dinner party for my campmates at the last day of the burn and we had bolognaise and pesto sauces with pasta, steak with chimichurri sauce, chicken fajita, veggie stir fry, Italian veggie stew, rice, and quinoa tabbouli.. Another special gift that made me very happy to provide to others, was feet washing, massaging, and a simple pedicure for two of my friends. They had such big smiles after they touched their fresh soft feet!

[trilobyte]

I'm giving this a nudge over to Experiences At Burning Man, since that's a better fit.

[Savannah]

Here are two gift threads I love. They're actually very uplifting and heartening . . . need a lift? Click through.

Gifts given and received....
http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic.php?t=34974

Playa gift ideas
http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic.php?t=25128

Find more by searching Google for gifts eplaya.

[Sham]

My perennial gifts to the citizens of BRC:

Bike locks. I happily stand on the corner and hawk them like sleazy mall kiosk salesman.
Sharpie markers at the Temple.
Flashlight necklaces. Given usually at night.
Laser-cut necklaces with the BM symbol on it.

Best gifts received:

Time spent in a sauna.
Something cold and frozen to eat.
A relaxing place to sit.
A misting tent.
A refreshing drink during the height of the afternoon.
A real, sincere hug.

[Savannah]

Your gifts are so genuinely thoughtful, Sham.

[fernley1]

Best gift received, an ice cream sandwich deep playa on a hot sunny day.

Best gift I gave was pump up spray bottles to my camp mates and neighboring camps. Help them stay cool.

[tatonka]

out in the playa , a small art car pulled up and offered snow cones to anyone , he had 3 pretty ladies with him and they each had 2 flavors of toppings for your cone. I chose strawberrie , was very refreshing out there.

[BBadger]

I thought the coolest gift was when we were riding around on the camp art car and picked up some Iranians from Canada and they asked if they could plug in their electric string instrument and sing for us. That was pretty unique and cool.

Of the swag I like the weighty brass pendants with the camp logo on it one guy creates each year. Just a cool token.

For everything else, it is also appreciated, even just compliments.

[trilobyte]

Some friends of mine gift lip balm. They don't just go buy a giant box of chapstick, they go all out. They found a really nice beeswax balm that they like, believe works way better than store-bought stuff, and they would use themselves, and they get that special ordered. They do it with a custom label both so there's no commercial branding, but also so they can write their own little message on it for their friends and campmates.

I don't normally even like using lip balm, but their awesomeness and thoughtfulness makes me really happy every single time I pull it out of my pack.

[Simon of the Playa]

i dont smoke cigarettes anymore, but i do appreciate how good a gift they make.


if you walk down the esplanade with a carton of marbs and newports on sunday morning after the burn you will be a Goddess or a God as you hand out Fresh American Poison by the stick...

[mgb327]

A lime Otter Pop, out in the middle of nowhere, this guy rides up and hands me a frozen Otter Pop. Priceless.

[tahiti_treat]

The best gift I received last year was a massage in an air-conditioned hexayurt on the hottest day of the week. Bliss.

[Monkeystyle]

viewtopic.php?f=280&t=33842

FIGJAM, you would be like a guardian angel lol

[MyDearFriend]

Elorrum gave me a tiny keychain flashlight, the size of my thumbnail, a really cool little thing on a carabiner-type clip to hang from my belt or schwag-chain and what's more she had removed the white LED bulb and put in one that changes colors. She'd made it into a really cool lil blinky thing. I wore it everywhere. Until the battery died.

And then, more than a year later, I was crooning sadly over that dear little dead thing when finally I woke the fuck up and it dawned on me that if she could take it apart to change the bulb, I could do the same to change the battery...



Yeah I was a bit slow there, but, that second gift was the best.

I wear that thing every day now, and yes, it still works...

[Canoe]

The best gift I received last year was a massage in an air-conditioned hexayurt on the hottest day of the week. Bliss.

Nice!
I've been so stiff there I'd have been happy to have been knocked down in the heat and run over by a heard of fat bikes.

[Elorrum]

I've been so stiff there I'd have been happy to have been knocked down in the heat and run over by a heard of fat bikes.

sig worthy. great great.

[pink]

My favorite gift was the warm welcome Lascivious gave me when I visited Retrofrolic it's first year. That was the gift of a camp that is truly family that comes together when we all go home.

[*Kat*]

I read. A lot. And a lot.
So in the weeks before Burning Man 2013, I had picked up What is the What by Dave Eggers at a book crossing hotspot. And I was intrigued. And I really really wanted to read more written by him. But coming from Germany my capacity to haul back books is somewhat... limited. I really had to keep myself from spontaneously ordering books.
A little while later I found myself out on the playa with my boyfriend in Center Camp. I picked up one of the books laying around. It was called A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius. And I was immediately immersed in it. And read. And read. It wasn't til I was home again that I realized that it was written by the same author. That was really mind-blowing. And really creepy.

Thanks to the person who put it there!


Somehow the best gift I've gotten are always connected to a really cool story/experience. Like the stone mason who brought his workshop to the playa in '10 or '11. You could make your own pendant and we ended up talking a lot about crafts (while working). And the guys who helped us fix the electricity problem on our golf cart in '12. We thought our Burn was ruined cause the golf cart died and we couldn't get around on the playa anymore - and boom! somebody gives us a solar panel that fixed it all.

[BBadger]

I've been so stiff there I'd have been happy to have been knocked down in the heat and run over by a heard of fat bikes.

That must've really aroused you!

On another note, bring some magnesium supplements to help your muscle stiffness. It totally helped my stiff legs soften up after hours of riding and walking and working.

[robbidobbs]

My favorite gifty because it continues to be a daily part of my life: a white plastic watch given to me by the beautiful and talented Ratty.
I love schwag and enjoy the habit of gifting generally. I bring a shitload of it every year! Sometimes the best gift is yourself. Sometimes its someone jumping in my car and gifting me 4 hours of their life on Poop Patrol. Or just talking to people about picking up moop, drinking water, or treating the potties with respect. It's all gifting if you're not a burden.
Stay regular,
RobbiDobbs
Chief Poopervisor of the Pottie Project

[FossaFerox]

This year I gave out about 200 LED lights on the corner of 9 and E on Friday night and Burn night. There were so many "illuminationally challenged" people out the second weekend this year that it felt good to make even a small dent in the darkness, especially with the MV accident fresh on my mind. I found that if you offer people "extra" lights they seem pretty happy to take it, with no obvious hint that they've done something wrong/silly/dangerous by walking around unlit. Budget permitting I plan on bringing even more next year. Giving them out was a lot of fun, and took surprisingly little time. Plus, it isn't just a gift to them, it's a gift to everyone who could then see them and not crash into them.

I have something more elaborate planned for friends/eplayans/campmates next year (anyone stalking me on this forum can probably guess what it is), but simple more practical stuff like that still makes me happier when I think about it.

[Lonesomebri]

Man, this feral sandwich girl and her younger, pre-teen side kick came screaming down the street, "Cheese and Meat !!!". She handed me a chees and salami sandwich on cut bread, crisp from the lack of humidity as if toasted slightly, and with only mustard as a condiment, as god intended. So fricken good. I asked the nipple pierced feral sandwich girl if the sidekick was in training, and was corrected, "No, we're full fledged partners." They finished with the sandwiches they had, grabbed one of our newbie campmates, and headed back towards Silicon Village to make more. One of my favorite gifts, but it's a long list.

[BootKickingStrumpet]

The tail end of a Italian pizza delivered by some beautiful stranger from the Eridu Society along with a dog tag from them; the also beautiful people that gave me random slices of pomegranate and water melon, and camp mates that spritzed me with lavender infused water from a rose sprayer.

[theCryptofishist]

Here that, Trilo? Was that you or Pani? Or some other camp mate?

[mega]

Man, this feral sandwich girl and her younger, pre-teen side kick came screaming down the street, "Cheese and Meat !!!". She handed me a chees and salami sandwich on cut bread, crisp from the lack of humidity as if toasted slightly, and with only mustard as a condiment, as god intended. So fricken good. I asked the nipple pierced feral sandwich girl if the sidekick was in training, and was corrected, "No, we're full fledged partners." They finished with the sandwiches they had, grabbed one of our newbie campmates, and headed back towards Silicon Village to make more. One of my favorite gifts, but it's a long list.

The feral sandwich girl is sitting right next to me, and she wants you to know that this made her day! We were both virgins this year, and the sandwiches may have to happen every year.