Protecting music equipment / DJ Gear

[BeeLee]

Hey everyone,

Still haven't found a ticket but I won't let that get in the way of a good thorough planning for my first burn!

I've been offered to join a friend's camp which is awesome, and I'd like to contribute by offering my services as a DJ. It doesn't sound like they had a lot of gear last year, but they do have solar cells and speakers, so power should not be an issue.

I won't worry too much about logistics and transport for now, my biggest concern is the care and maintenance of the gear while on the playa. I've heard many scary stories about laptops and cameras living their last days after succumbing to the playa's dust - thing I'm not ready to let happen to my gear. But I'm still hopeful.

Now, here's what I was hoping to bring to the playa:

- My macbook pro 13" - looks like there are decent "dust kits" out there to plug all the openings and cover the keyboard so hopefully that'll do the trick.
- My Traktor Kontrol S4 for the mixing - that's the piece I'm really worried about... I can't find any dust case and I did seriously consider putting it in a big ziploc-style bag but I don't see this working...

Anybody with this kind of experience? I've seen plenty of macs on videos, so I'm assuming there are ways to care for these while on the playa and clean up once you're back to the default world. But when it comes to proper DJ gear (i.e. CDJs, mixers, etc...) I'm curious... Should I scout eBay and buy a used mixer/kontroler that will not making it back from the playa?

Or should I go ahead with my evil (stupid?) plan and build myself something like this:

glove_box_faqs_full_view_toxic_chemical.jpg

[ygmir]

all said, don't take anything to the playa that you can't afford to lose or have broken.
dust, drunks,and firetrucks are all threats to sound equipment, and really, everything out there.

[Elderberry]

Not to mention heat. I put my laptop or iPad, depending on which I take, in a zip lock bag. 1 or 2 gallon size depending.

We have a sound system in our camp for use during cafe hours. It is never covered while in use and it's put away and covered when not.

[some seeing eye]

This has been discussed extensively on ePlaya. Search for dust electronics, dust computer, dust laptop.

A lot of people going to the event can afford to gift their equipment to the landfill after.

[AntiM]

While rare, don't forget rain. One year a camp near us set up their sound system under camo netting. The next day, they went out to play in the afternoon. A hard fast storm blew through, drenching us momentarily. We dried out pretty quick, but never heard a peep from the sound camp the rest of the week. Ooops.

[AntiM]

Moved from Share Resources, as that is more for gifting and rideshares than advice.

[Captain Goddammit]

I checked Amazon and saw lots of protective gear/cases for a Traktor S4.
You should be ok operating your gear, just seal it all up when you're not using it.

[Token]

Do a risk analysis.

Worst Case Scenario:

Both your MacBook and Mixer get dropped into a cooler full of rancid playa water and are destroyed completely. All you data is lost forever. Or someone simply steals your expensive stuff.

How will the remained of the year work out for you?

[Jovankat]

This has been discussed extensively on ePlaya. Search for dust electronics, dust computer, dust laptop.

The best way to do this is to use google to search eplaya specifically. The built in search here is pretty terrible. Do it like this;

site:http://eplaya.burningman.org care of DJ gear

[Eric]

I camp with a whole gaggle of professional DJs, all of whom have multiple gigs all over the playa all week. They all bring playa-specific equipment, never any of their good stuff, and certainly nothing irreplaceable. We no longer throw parties at our camp so we don't have to worry about a sound-system anymore, but when we did it was the same thing - playa-specific equipment that you can afford to have get ruined. With proper care (ie: covered on the playa when not in use - but not so tightly the heat destroys it, a deep clean when you get home) it can last for years, but, like AntiM said, all it takes is one surprise event to destroy it (huge whiteout that shoves the dust deep into the connections inside, rain, a drunk spilling shit all over it...).

Use the google format Jovankat posted above for more details, but the bottom line is to expect it to get destroyed, and be pleasantly surprised if it's not.

[BeeLee]

Thanks everyone!

I did a little more research and yeah, it sounds like bringing gear to a burn is the equivalent of sacrificing an offering to the music Gods... But I still have hope, looks like you can take precautions and clean up your gear when back to safer environments, like described in the article I found below:

http://djtechtools.com/2013/08/19/djing ... -beyond-2/

My strategy is definitely to invest in used gear from eBay. I'm thinking iPad with a waterproof case for the music/software source, and either a Traktor Z1 or S2 depending on what I can put my hands on. I can't afford to destroy CDJs, even used.

And then, whatever happens, happens... Like I read in some comments, the elements may very well be making it harder on me than on the equipment.

I'll update this post later once our plans get finalized, for those curious to see what we end up doing.

Cheers!