Lessons Learned 2005

jbelson · Post by **jbelson** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 5:14 pm

Rebar everything down!!! And then take those noodle-floaty things for the pool and cover thend sticking out.

Take frozen food, pack it in dry ice, but make sure to use an extreeme cooler, and it will stay frozen for 5 days.

Carpet and pillows in your shade structure make a world of difference (make sure it has walls).

Dont be too serious on the playa. Have fun.

If someone on stilts walks to the front of a crowd to see the show, heckle them.

Dont argue with a guy with a bullhorn, they'll always win.

Climb on everything.

Volunteer. It will make your experience.

Dont buy cheap: If it's beer, you wont want to drink it. If it's yor shade structure, it will fail you. If it's a generator, you wont want to use it cause it's too noisy.

angelface · Post by **angelface** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 5:37 pm

the mobile coffee bar was run by some friends of mine, I thought it was a great idea.. glad to hear that others enjoyed it

Sometimes it's the little things that save you..

I brought 2 pair of sunglasses and 3 tubes of chapstick as I tend to lose those things and would be very sad without them.

irish cream makes really good coffee creamer, no need to keep it cold.

girls - it's all about the pee funnel and a gallon sized water jug, a little bleach water to pour through it keeps things from getting too stinky.

You can clean your dishes with baby wipes if you get the unscented ones (maybe even with the scented ones, if you're desperate).

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 7:35 pm

.
.
DO ""NOT"" PUT BLEACH IN PEE WATER
.
The two mixed put off a deadly gas. And can blow up if the container is caped and shaken.

spectabillis · Post by **spectabillis** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 8:02 pm

LL 05: The spirit is still there and strong, despite its problems. People can amaze and dazzle with thier creations and understanding of what the event can do for you, if you can successfully keep an open mind and heart.

There are still those who bring in the sociopathic tendencies of the greater community we all are born into and inherit - problems and everything. But with this event I am starting to believe those are just stale leftovers that will fall along the wayside of evolutionary social-progress.

angelface · Post by **angelface** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 8:25 pm

unjonharley wrote:.
.
DO ""NOT"" PUT BLEACH IN PEE WATER
.
The two mixed put off a deadly gas. And can blow up if the container is caped and shaken.

d'oh.. good to know.. I guess a very dilute water bleach mix didn't get me into trouble, but I'd hate to come back to a tent full of exploded pee jug..

ick..

thanks for the warning

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Sep 12, 2005 8:33 pm

angelface wrote:
unjonharley wrote:.
.
DO ""NOT"" PUT BLEACH IN PEE WATER
.
The two mixed put off a deadly gas. And can blow up if the container is caped and shaken.
d'oh.. good to know.. I guess a very dilute water bleach mix didn't get me into trouble, but I'd hate to come back to a tent full of exploded pee jug..

ick..

thanks for the warning

~
You can get a small amount of the stuff to go into pots at any camping supplier.

retropsycho · Post by **retropsycho** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 12:34 am

DallasPlaya
Evaportion ponds work great! I hadn't thought about doing one but we were getting full on graywater and someone in my camp just went ahead and built one and it worked incredibly well. Saves money, too.

It was a fairly sunny light-dust year, fortunately. E ponds can fail w/o lots of sun or when covered with dust. I soaked an old beach towel in the gray water and hung it to dry over my pond. Worked quite well, but had low-volume use during the event, just 4 people. I heard that one camp had a wick like this on a roller system. Pretty snazzy!

AntiM:
Bungee cords are unreliable when it comes to securing heavy loads. Get thee to a truckstop and acquire the heavy black stretchy bands the truckers use for their big rigs. Those bastards don't let go easily. Save the bungee cords for the lids of your totes; I've often seen the lids fly off and go on their own journeys.

Bungees are unsafe for securing loads. Read their labels. The ratchet straps are available at Home Depot, Ours did double duty as pickup bed tiedowns AND to secure carport to rebar stakes.

EB:
Home Depot plastic cable ties are your best friend. Get the big ones and the little ones. The collary: A new pair of scissors is your best friend to cut those suckers when it's over.
AntiM:
We have some reusable zipties aka cable ties. Green and bumpy, they hold tight, but you can release them rather than cut them. If I can find where larry stasted them in the garage I could come up with the brand name.

Yay AntiM! Home Depot sells the reusables, but understocks them. They're made by the same co as the disposibles. Think a special order in advance would guarantee you'd have 'em.

Retro Psycho:
Combo wind up/solar radio to listen to BMIR

unjonharley:
Build your bike in Oct. and ajust/redesigin for comfort the rest of the year. Easy to do with todays gas prices. = less pressure on my lovely ass.

Please don't bring a shitty bike for someone else to fix at BM. Get 'er done before hand. The BM bicycle guild honcho Vikter runs the Bicycle Hut at the SF waterfront. Cheap repairs! Light your bike and your walking self at night!!!!

mars:
Don't wait to get to Reno or Sparks to get water...they were sold out in the briefcase sizes everywhere we went and we wasted a good two hours looking before we resorted to the smaller sizes.

Buy your own collasible H2O containers and fill them for only 35 cents per gallon at Reno Super Kmart or Simply Water, 24/7 through their vending machines. Freeze a 2.5 gallon H2O container and put it in your bigass cooler. No messy water as it melts inside, and ice water when it ends it's usefulness in the cooler.

DallasPlaya
Speaking of lights, this was my first year to try an LED headlamp. Damn those things are good to have. I was even able to make necklaces at night using it (which is near-impossible using standard overhead lighting due to shadows).

Windup LED flashlights two for $20 at costco right now.

gel neck coolers[/b]

HughMungus · Post by **HughMungus** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 8:34 am

spectabillis wrote:There are still those who bring in the sociopathic tendencies of the greater community we all are born into and inherit - problems and everything. But with this event I am starting to believe those are just stale leftovers that will fall along the wayside of evolutionary social-progress.

Agreed. We are evolving, thank god.

safetythird · Post by **safetythird** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 12:45 pm

Just a quick note on headlamps. Consider the ones with the pupil friendly red led. I was really happy with the one I bought at walmart for $10. 2 White leds and a red led. The red was bright enough for most night uses and I still had the whites in case I needed it.

And if you're going to use your new super bright headlamp please, for the love of god, don't blind everyone else by aiming it at their eyes. I guess some people don't realize that their headlamp is connected to their head and will blind anyone that look at. Bad Burner Behavior!

S3

spectabillis · Post by **spectabillis** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 7:58 pm

LL '05 - #2 : Dicky does not apprecitate blowing your open mouth against his glass, art-car ships do not appreciate throwing yourself down in front of them and asking for a lifejacket, the smoke ring guy does not liked being asked to fire one off to just light your cigarette, and center camp volunteers dont like you telling others what camps are serving free coffee.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 8:38 pm

spectabillis wrote:LL '05 - #2 : Dicky does not apprecitate blowing your open mouth against his glass, art-car ships do not appreciate throwing yourself down in front of them and asking for a lifejacket, the smoke ring guy does not liked being asked to fire one off to just light your cigarette, and center camp volunteers dont like you telling others what camps are serving free coffee.

~
Whle waiting for my""free"" cup of tea in front of center camp. Some one said center camp was giving free coffee at the same time. Any on know this for a fact?

Tiahaar · Post by **Tiahaar** » Sat Sep 17, 2005 9:14 pm

Well last year I went around and removed the batteries from all the lights, radios, and other playa playthings to keep them from corroding but forgot about the solar lights...just tossed those in a bag and forgot about them. Bad idea...there are NiCads in them that need to be kept up. Only one worked this year after setting out in the sun. Next year they'll all be checked for proper charging/good batteries in advance.

On the very good side, helping neighbors with mechanical fixits rewarded the camp with some very yummy homemade goodies. I enjoyed being "the naked mechanic".

HughMungus · Post by **HughMungus** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 11:13 am

Tiahaar wrote:Well last year I went around and removed the batteries from all the lights, radios, and other playa playthings to keep them from corroding but forgot about the solar lights...just tossed those in a bag and forgot about them. Bad idea...there are NiCads in them that need to be kept up. Only one worked this year after setting out in the sun. Next year they'll all be checked for proper charging/good batteries in advance.

On the very good side, helping neighbors with mechanical fixits rewarded the camp with some very yummy homemade goodies. I enjoyed being "the naked mechanic".

Whoah. You just reminded me that I need to go remove those.

Speaking of batteries: I use only rechargable batteries for anything anymore (in fact, I think non-rechargable batteries should be eliminated). Anyway, is it me or are rechargable NiMH bateries lighter (in weight) than regular non-rechargables?

spritemcb · Post by **spritemcb** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 4:35 pm

Great topic to start when all our lessons learned are still fresh! Most important lesson for me is to re-read all these posts pre-BM 06! Mind you, having 9 years of BM experience, you would think I should have it down but, NO!, this year I stupidly ignored previous lessons learned. First day I escaped from setting up camp for 10 minutes (turned into over an hour). No sunscreen, no lipbalm, no water, no facemask, no socks. Lots of walking (blisters on heels), lots of sun (burnt lips), lots of wind (playa in lungs)!!! But, I looked pretty in my lovely red wig & still had a fantastic week limping around & crying when I laughed. In retrospect maybe my best lesson learned is never believe I will only leave camp for 10 minutes!!

Chai Guy · Post by **Chai Guy** » Sun Sep 18, 2005 5:27 pm

Lesson Learned:

Just because you've been doing this 8 years, does not mean you can stop following your own advice. I lost my camera this year and DID NOT have it tagged with my camp info or my email. I ended up getting it back through a series of miracles and the honesty of another burner, but lesson learned, next year I won't slack on tagging all my gear with my info so that if it gets lost there's at least a better chance of having it returned.

skygod · Post by **skygod** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 1:15 pm

Lesson Learned:
I don't need a bike.
Last year (My first!) I rode a bike all day and night and my back was all screwed up afterwards.
This year, no bike. I walked everywhere and was more likely to stop and chat with people. Much more fun!
Next year: I'm gonna find some kind of light weight chair to take on my treks.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 1:23 pm

skygod wrote:Lesson Learned:
I don't need a bike.
Last year (My first!) I rode a bike all day and night and my back was all screwed up afterwards.
This year, no bike. I walked everywhere and was more likely to stop and chat with people. Much more fun!
Next year: I'm gonna find some kind of light weight chair to take on my treks.

~
If your not a 200plus ass like me. There is a chair that folds into a cane. Or make your own from this idea.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 1:29 pm

If you have a bike, You do not have to ride like your ass was on fire. With a three wheeler you can slow down to walking speed and talk to folks. Gets you around easy and gives you a place to sit.

Kinetic IV · Post by **Kinetic IV** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 1:52 pm

3 wheelers are a pain in the arse to haul though. I love mine but it stayed home this year...actually it's in the back yard of my parent's house collecting rust because it wouldn't go through the doorway to store it downstairs.

I'm thinking of buying an electric scooter to get around on next year.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 2:01 pm

Kinetic IV wrote:3 wheelers are a pain in the arse to haul though. I love mine but it stayed home this year...actually it's in the back yard of my parent's house collecting rust because it wouldn't go through the doorway to store it downstairs.

I'm thinking of buying an electric scooter to get around on next year.

Stand them on end to hual. Or use them for a cargo net, upside down on top of the load. Don't Store. Ride year around. Saves money so you can return home in the burning fall.

HappyCJ · Post by **HappyCJ** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 7:03 pm

I gotta second (or is "third" more appropriate?) unjonharley's post about 3-wheelers.

We had somewhere around 15 bikes in Happy Camp this year, and by far the one that got ridden the most was the 3-wheeler with a basket on the back.

The basket was key to getting the 6 bags of ice we needed every morning (for the mimosa bar), and it was SO EASY to ride the 3-wheeler! You could just kick back and peddle. You could also just stop next to anything you wanted to see, or plod along next to someone walking and have a conversation.

I am building a bike for next year, and it will be a 3-wheeler. However I intend it to also carry more than one person, so it will be an art project as well.

3-wheelers rock. They really do.

- CJHappy

Martiansky · Post by **Martiansky** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 7:40 pm

I'd love to have a 3 wheeler.....anyone have any plans, or pictures of ones they built?

Lessons Learned 2005

batteries

Re: batteries

lessons learned 2005