RV Rental Prices for 2015? Yurt?!

[mr chips]

Just curious... are RV rental prices crazier this year?

This is my (our) first burn. Super excited. My partner and I looking into RV rentals, and the prices seem to be DOUBLE what I expected, after reading up on previous year's prices. It's looking like 5K is the mean now, not including gas and possibly insurance. Some places tack on a 1K "burning man surcharge." That's cra-zay. And no, I don't want to try to fool anyone in thinking I'm not renting for Burning Man, because the time frame and dust remnants would be all a renter needs to be a jerk and withhold a security deposit.

I live in San Francisco, so I'm all-too-familiar with supply and demand economics (rent in this city, is f'd)... and this feels eerily similar.

Anyone have a spot in their yurt that they're willing to rent/share with a quiet, nice, 40-something couple? Ha!

[watchyourfeet]

Why not just build your own yurt? Or camp in a tent? Renting an RV is absolutely NOT essential. Hexayurts and similar structures are easy to build, cheap, and very comfortable. Or you could camp in a tent with a monkey hut over it. I guess I don't see why the two options are rent an RV or bum a spot in someone else's yurt.

[Captain Goddammit]

If I were renting out RVs, I'd charge more than $1000 extra Burning Man fee. People and the playa trash them.
Now, if you didn't choose to live in San Francisco, you could BUY a decent RV for less than the cost of one rental, and probably have room to park it.
If you choose to live where everything is expensive and you get no room, I guess you have to pay!

[FIGJAM]

Rent a box truck.

[skippy3k]

I think I've done it all different ways, except for maybe sleeping on the ground out in the open. This year we are going RV-less again and doing hexayurts, and frankly, I'm looking forward to getting away from the hassles and cost of an RV. The only benefit I found was the refrigerator and a bathroom. But driving the thing all the way from Colorado and back was no fun at all.

I say if an RV comes easy to you, go for it. Otherwise, embrace alternative forms of camping...you won't miss out on much and in fact, probably get you closer to the people.

[trilobyte]

A long time veteran burner friend of mine who prefers camping in RV's has always maintained that when it comes to booking a rental, if you wait until tickets have gone on sale you're screwed. While I don't do the RV rental experience myself, I have booked other types of event-related rentals and for the most part timing is everything. Rental rates can vary, sometimes wildly, based on the available supply. The more people that book early, the higher the early booking prices get.... and they eventually get into the stratosphere. Aside from simple availability, rates can be impacted by the effects of previous years.

There are lots of other variables, from travel dates to different cities you're renting from, and you do need to make sure to check the fine print - don't be surprised to learn about the exorbitant cleaning fees. Regardless of the fees though, please do your best to get a rental cleaned as best you can before returning.

Yurts aren't the only other type of shade and shelter on the playa, take a look around the boards to check out your options. Good luck!

[maladroit]

If I wanted to use an RV and had a place to store it, I'd just buy an old one. Over the years it'll be far less expense and hassle than renting one. If you only have to clean the RV enough to prevent corrosion and can keep it maintained well enough not to break down, it seems like the easiest option. Hexayurts are bulky and hard to transport, it's best to have a box truck or trailer to haul them.

In order of ass-pain (for setup/maintenance/transport, not comfort):

1. Tent
2. Tent under monkeyhut
3. Own a box trailer
4. Own a box truck
5. Own an RV
6. Hexayurt
7. Rent a box trailer
8. Rent a box truck
9. Rent an RV

[mr chips]

Thanks for the replies, keep 'em coming. Though I could do without the advice of where to live, thank you very much :-p. Based on all the nightmare stories I had read about getting tickets over the past few years, I didn't even consider renting an RV before getting tickets. If I were a seasoned burner with burning friends, I probably would have gone about it differently, I'm just starting my learning process. I realize I'll have to pay, I just don't want to pay extra, if you know what I mean?

I can't store anything large where I live, so it's hard to imagine going the "yurt" route unless we were collaborating with another group somehow. Seems like yurters (I made that up just now), build their own private area, but may connect or camp with others to created shared spaces?

Anyway... an RV is probably the way we'll go this time, until we have more experience.

[Captain Goddammit]

Unless you've got money to burn, you could set yourself up very comfortable and posh for a lot less than RV rental. Plus, you'd own your gear instead of losing all of it every time.
For $5k, you could have a bad-ass Soul Pad tent, a Honda generator, a shower with water heater, all sorts of stuff.
I like RVs, but unless flushing that kind of money down the toilet is with your comfort zone, I'd spend it on my own stuff.

[some seeing eye]

It's your first year, so it is impossible to understand how the dust gets into everything. If you multiply the hours of cleaning even a well protected RV + steam cleaning and exterior washing, you may conclude the cleaning charges are not that outrageous and understand why some rental cos may refuse to rent for the event.

[Sham]

Imagine a nice large tent that accommodates 10 people. ($175). Camping stove and cooking supplies. ($200) Sleeping bags and air mattresses. ($100) Shade structure. ($100)
Having a bathroom in an RV is not as practical as it sounds. First, you will be out in the city when you have to relieve yourself. You can keep a handy pee bottle in your large tent.
The $5000+++ you'd be spending on an RV would go a very long way to make things very comfortable while still driving your own car.

[danibel]

Jeezus. For $5000 you could buy a kodiak tent and use it for at least 5 years and have $4500 to spare! I can't believe anyone would pay $5000 for an RV rental. Holy crap.

I rented a cargo van my first two years, I think for $500-700. I don't remember now. The cleaning was such a bitch that I bought a used one for about $3000 for my third year. I built a bed platform in the back that bins slide underneath and it fits everything I and my partner need for the burn, comfortably, and completely enclosed (no trash flying off the top or anything). Even two bikes slide right in. I also bought some nice shade things from some burners in oakland and I can sleep in my van until 1 or 2pm. Battery operated fans are awesome.

One of my campmates built herself a hexayurt for some hundreds of dollars ( I don't know exactly how many) and that thing is SUPER comfie. She made the one that is one and a half tall (I don't know what it's called, but you can find lots of hexiyurt designs and info on the board and interwebs). Run a FIGJAM cooler in that baby, and you are set. They pack flat too.

The good news is, you have time to figure it out.

[dragonpilot]

After renting RVs for several years and splitting the cost finally got wise and bought a cheap crappy little camping trailer...a tent on wheels...add water and viola...it's set up! And the peace of mind not having to deal with travel partners...priceless!

[AliCat903]

We've had camp mates rent RV's the last two years. While it was useful for getting a lot of people through the gate at once, thus using fewer vehicles, I could never sleep in one. Because you have to dust proof it you also end up making it impossible for air to circulate. It gets so stuffy. I am so much more comfortable in my tent under a monkey hut. And even considering that we bought a Kodiak tent last year it's still insanely cheaper than an RV. We all really mean it when we say there are other ways to do it. I'd say most of those other ways of doing things are much more comfortable. We have a Kodiak tent that is 6' tall so we can both stand up in it. Inside we put an air mattress. We just put regular sheets on the air mattress, bring our standard pillows and a bunch of extra blankets. We can also include a couple of chests of plastic drawers to store all of our clothes in and other stuff in. I find that it's a lot easier to clean all of those things than it is to try to clean out an RV at the end of the week.

(As a side note, I also found the comment about choosing to live someplace expensive a bit unnecessary.)

[Captain Goddammit]

Here's why that comment was relevant.
Did you read those other excellent suggestions people made about buying their own trucks or trailers? Those are great ideas but you have to keep SF logistics in mind. It's not likely someone who lives there has anyplace to park things like that.

[ACfromSAC]

HEXAYURT.

My first year I camped in a tent. It was fine but very dusty and it got hot early
My second year I camped in a tent under a monkey hut. It was fine but still pretty dusty and still pretty warm.
My third year I built a hexayurt and it completely revolutionized my burn. It's fairly cheap to build (only a few hundred bucks) VERY easy to assemble, it's almost completely dust free, it stays cool during hot days, it stays warm during cold nights, it stays dark so I can sleep in late after staying up until sunrise. I have a queen size air mattress inside and still have PLENTY of room for several tubs of supplies.

If you have the money to spend on an RV, they're a fine option... but after yurt living for a few years now, I couldn't imagine doing it any other way.

[LowePro]

Just to add more opinions to the mix: a rental cargo van or box truck can be great, you can deck it out with a mattress in the back and some LED lights and hang a curtain over the windows. Or if you have a vehicle with a tow-hitch you could rent a trailer and make it into your dorm-room on wheels. It's a lot easier to clean out a box truck or trailer that's all metal than an RV with carpet, upholstery, and tons of nooks and crannies. Or if you connect with a camp in the meantime, you could split the cost of the box truck---they use it to transport their gear, you get to use it as your dorm room.