The Best Advice You Can Give...

[C.f.M.]

I have never been, but...
Save up enough to pay for a full price ticket and buy it in December, so you don't have to deal with the fucked up ticket process...

RAGE FACE!

Ok. Let's see if this fifth post takes:

There's always a plethora of $250 or less tickets available, right up to the event.

Advice: read my blog (linked to below). I've been told it's very helpful. I look at tents, shoes, what to drink...all sorts of stuff. And I like comments. They help assuage my existential crisis.

[ibdave]

1. Bring an extra memory card for your digital camera.

2. If you don't have the means of recharging your camera battery at your camp, bring a spare camera battery fully charged.

3. Bring disposable film cameras as a back-up.

Before you start filling your memory card, take a notebook page and write your contact info on it and take a few shot of it. Then when you lose your camera, your info is on the memory card.. Hell, you can even take a few shots of it during the week just in case...

Haven't taken a camera the last 5 years...meh...

[Raven9940]

1) If you need quiet to sleep and can't while music is playing; you need to camp on [u]E street[/u] or further back. Any closer and you WILL hear the music blaring all through the night and into the day.

2) Don't bother with earplugs, they don't work. I was on 4:00 and C last year and has two different kinds of earplugs with me, and they didn't do &%^#. At best they soften whatever chatter might be going on around you.

[dragonpilot]

A bike is fine for running daytime errands and trips out to the deep playa to see art...but go out on foot at night.

I discovered riding my bike at night I tended to blow by sights and sounds instead of taking the time to park, lock my bike and hang out visiting and slowly exploring...then there's always trying to find your bike amongst the piles of bikes in the vicinity of a cool event...and the darkwads that appear out of nowhere in front of you while you're riding along....ass hats, them!

[C.f.M.]

1) camping further away from Esplanade does cut down on some noise but not the noise from art cars who make a point of going down all the streets, all night long, with their dubstep blaring.

2) The right ear plugs put in properly make a difference. I'm a crazy light sleeper and have tried the wax, the kind with the ridges and different shapes of foam. The trick is to rub it between your fingers to make it small. Grab the tip of your and pull it up. Slide in the skinny'd earplug. Hold your ear up as the foam expands. This gets it in there good. I've had people stand at my tent door calling my name, and I didn't hear them.

3)Bike at night is good for a speedy trip home when you hit the wall of "done." Since there can be less going on camp-to-camp, it can be nice for cruising by quiet blocks. I'd usually ride it to say, PEX and chain it up there, walk around "downtown" and then enjoy not having to walk my drunk, exhausted ass back home.

[mudpuppy000]

If you have the option, sleeping in a car/truck is a lot quieter than a tent. Still not completely quiet but it's an improvement.

[Ugly Dougly]

Turn off the engine and it's even quieter.

OK that was stupid.

[MyDearFriend]

Turn off the engine and it's even quieter.

OK that was funny.

Fixed that for ya.

[The Hustler]

Blinkies are a rip-off, and el wire is a pita.
For simple and cheap go glow. Just remember to take the used ones home with you to throw out.

Seriously? You're advocating dim plastic chemical land fill filling glow sticks?

..and how are blinkies a "rip off"? You can see an LED light 50X farther than you can see a glow stick.

LEDs are retarded cheap, last longer than any of us will and are available in all sorts of colors and arrangements for bikes, camping, safety and other uses.

The obnoxious disco red and amber 7-LED on my bike took three years to kill the AAAs that came with it. I put new lithium AAAs and plan to get a very long time out of them.

LEDs can be in strings or modified from commercially-available under-counter kitchen lighting (they're nice in the kitchen or workshop/S&M dungeon as well), Christmas or Festivus lights or certain kinds of car lights.

Hell, go nuts and have port/starboard (red & green) lights on your camp or car or bike.

Glowsticks are retarded retarded.

(Hey, look at that, time to go home. Thanks ePlaya for helping me waste another day at work!)

[Ugly Dougly]

Happy to be of help.
I hope we can meet on the playa SEB, you seem to be pretty cool, even for this crowd.

[The Hustler]

Happy to be of help.
I hope we can meet on the playa SEB, you seem to be pretty cool, even for this crowd.

Thanks

Yea sure. I plant to meet a bunch of people.

[Elorrum]

I agree with most of the advice here, even the advice that doesn't agree with each other. meaning: try a few different ways. try riding your bike at night (its' cooler, and you'll be able to cover more ground for deep exploration.) Visit the same thing in the day and the night and see how different it is. See if you can find it again, and see what you find instead. One night, take shank's mare. One night, see if you can catch a ride on an art car (see Shank's mare) ha ha ha. I still haven't ridden on one. It is quieter in the outer rings, and I sleep well at night, sometimes with earplugs, sometimes not. Take naps in the shade during the day.

[theCryptofishist]

Blinkies are a rip-off, and el wire is a pita.
For simple and cheap go glow. Just remember to take the used ones home with you to throw out.

Seriously? You're advocating dim plastic chemical land fill filling glow sticks?

..and how are blinkies a "rip off"? You can see an LED light 50X farther than you can see a glow stick.

LEDs are retarded cheap, last longer than any of us will and are available in all sorts of colors and arrangements for bikes, camping, safety and other uses.

The obnoxious disco red and amber 7-LED on my bike took three years to kill the AAAs that came with it. I put new lithium AAAs and plan to get a very long time out of them.

LEDs can be in strings or modified from commercially-available under-counter kitchen lighting (they're nice in the kitchen or workshop/S&M dungeon as well), Christmas or Festivus lights or certain kinds of car lights.

Hell, go nuts and have port/starboard (red & green) lights on your camp or car or bike.

Glowsticks are retarded retarded.

(Hey, look at that, time to go home. Thanks ePlaya for helping me waste another day at work!)

Maybe I just have one of those electrical fields that destroys leds, but except for the cheapo wreath lights that you can only get for 3 weeks of the year, I cannot recommend them.

[geospyder]

I'm an early to bed person - before midnight. Grab a couple hours sleep and then head out to the deep Playa before sunrise, stopping by center camp for a coffee. Grab a seat on the Playa and watch the sunrise.

[C187]

Keeping pop / beer / other drinks in cans, cool with out the use of a cooler or ice.

Step 1: Have a tent
Step 2: Place the box with canned drinks inside the tent at a corner
Step 3: Place your thick blanket or comforter (or both) over and around the box of drinks. Leaving the bottom touching the floor of the tent. At the start of the day.
Step 4: Remove to get drink and cover back up during the day.
Step 5: Remove the thick blanket, or comforter (or both) from package at night to sleep with.

For extra coolness, consider keeping your drinks inside a plastic bin with other dry foods, with a lid. Use the same steps as above. Results may vary from overall size of containers, coverings, and thermodynamic properties present inside your tent.

[The Hustler]

Keeping pop / beer / other drinks in cans, cool with out the use of a cooler or ice.

Step 1: Have a tent
Step 2: Place the box with canned drinks inside the tent at a corner
Step 3: Place your thick blanket or comforter (or both) over and around the box of drinks. Leaving the bottom touching the floor of the tent. At the start of the day.
Step 4: Remove to get drink and cover back up during the day.
Step 5: Remove the thick blanket, or comforter (or both) from package at night to sleep with.

For extra coolness, consider keeping your drinks inside a plastic bin with other dry foods, with a lid. Use the same steps as above. Results may vary from overall size of containers, coverings, and thermodynamic properties present inside your tent.

To keep everything really cold, add salt to the water. It will chill it to below freezing and it's very effective. A chemical reaction between the sodium chloride in the salt and the water cools the solution to blow freezing whilst staying liquid.

[Savannah]

Maybe I just have one of those electrical fields that destroys leds, but except for the cheapo wreath lights that you can only get for 3 weeks of the year, I cannot recommend them.

I seem to destroy LED lights exceptionally fast, myself. My headlamp is the only LED item I have that has survived multiple burns. So I end up bringing a variety . . .

[Ugly Dougly]

Don't let your beer get hot or even warm, thinking you can just cool it off with ice later. Beer that has been very warm for an extended period can get MANKY and no amount of ice can cure that.

[VeganChoirGirl]

Don't let your beer get hot or even warm, thinking you can just cool it off with ice later. Beer that has been very warm for an extended period can get MANKY and no amount of ice can cure that.

Oh so very true. Even if you don't want to use ice, a cooler with a little water and salt in the bottom will keep your beers from getting too warm!

[mudpuppy000]

Don't let your beer get hot or even warm, thinking you can just cool it off with ice later. Beer that has been very warm for an extended period can get MANKY and no amount of ice can cure that.

Oh so very true. Even if you don't want to use ice, a cooler with a little water and salt in the bottom will keep your beers from getting too warm!

Alternatively, just drink it faster so you can't taste it.

[Strata]

Space blankets. Bring some.

Between your sleep-object and the ground.
Between your cooler and the ground.
Inside your cooler, with a flap left to fold over so the ice n food is completely enclosed.
A couple of ounces in your backpack yet priceless when you find yourself out at 3am with awesome new friends and still in your day layers, and all the booze has worn off so you realize you are Frickin Cold.
A damn fine hasty toga for those spaceman-chic toga parties.
A windshield anti-sun screen that you can just prop up inside your car and fold down your sun-shields to keep held up.
Lining a box with a clear lid, a solar oven maker.
A myriad of other uses too.

[Gusthefuss]

In no real order just as they come to my head:

1 treat your body well. Use lots of sun screen and moisturiser. The dust will hurt you after a week of being covered in it. Not after just one day but make a point of soaking your feet in vinegar and water if you are going to wear flip flops. You should take the time to soak em. I brought vinegar but never used it and i got playa foot. Cracks in between my toes.

2 have a place to sleep thats quiet and doesnt shake from your camp mates moving around. I was in a van and it moved all the time. We also stayed too close to a dance camp and my ear plugs did not stop the noise enough.

3 if you use a communal shower stall try to keep your solar shower bag separate. i went to have a shower and my bag was empty.

4 get a tall ish flag for your bike so you can see it from far away. I lost mine last year and it bummed me out. It kinda just blended in with all the other bikes. A tall flag on a pole would have helped me find it in the sea of bikes that are there.

5 always have your dust mask and goggles on your body so wherever you are you can protect your lungs and eyes from the dust. Sure one dust storm is not going to hurt anyone but youll get more than one in a week. It adds up and you will not enjoy your burn as much. Who cares if it doesnt go with your costume or your sick of luggin the mask and goggles around. Playa lung is harsh. Last year (2010) the night of the man burning there was a huge dust storm and it lasted for 2hrs out in the middle of the playa. You dont want to be breathing it in for that long. But if you have them on you can dance your ass off!

6 I saw alot of bars at camps with signs that said they needed drink ingreadiants. Olives ,asparagus, tomatoe juice, clamato for the canadian camps, celery salts and celary hearts and on and on. bloody marrys are big during the day. Aswell as vodka and tequila and other booze. The camps really apreciate the help. So if you bring some extra then go gift it to the dance camp you like the best. Or the one you think needed a boost. Its awesome how you just go around to camps and get free drinks. Itlll blow you away the first time. But they really arent free. So wait till you get down south to buy booze where its mega cheap.

7 Bring a table. We didnt and we had to just put things on the ground and it was a mess.

8 if you dont want it to be dusty for the rest of its life then dont bring it to burning man. It wont come off easily and it corrodes the surface of any metal. Just the surface. Its freaky.

9 your bike should be bright at night and so should you! EL wire is awesome stuff. I buy my stuff from a canadian company in victoria. http://glowarehouse.com/products/el-wire-kits they are on sale right now for 5 bucks each. the colours are limited but who cares. Buy a few 6 foot kits each. And some glow sticks. Or blinky stuff. The brighter you are the better. It may not be cool at home but your at burning man.

[Gusthefuss]

In no real order just as they come to my head:

1 treat your body well. Use lots of sun screen and moisturiser. The dust will hurt you after a week of being covered in it. Not after just one day but make a point of soaking your feet in vinegar and water if you are going to wear flip flops. You should take the time to soak em. I brought vinegar but never used it and i got playa foot. Cracks in between my toes.

2 have a place to sleep thats quiet and doesnt shake from your camp mates moving around. I was in a van and it moved all the time. We also stayed too close to a dance camp and my ear plugs did not stop the noise enough.

3 if you use a communal shower stall try to keep your solar shower bag separate. i went to have a shower and my bag was empty.

4 get a tall ish flag for your bike so you can see it from far away. I lost mine last year and it bummed me out. It kinda just blended in with all the other bikes. A tall flag on a pole would have helped me find it in the sea of bikes that are there.

5 always have your dust mask and goggles on your body so wherever you are you can protect your lungs and eyes from the dust. Sure one dust storm is not going to hurt anyone but youll get more than one in a week. It adds up and you will not enjoy your burn as much. Who cares if it doesnt go with your costume or your sick of luggin the mask and goggles around. Playa lung is harsh. Last year (2010) the night of the man burning there was a huge dust storm and it lasted for 2hrs out in the middle of the playa. You dont want to be breathing it in for that long. But if you have them on you can dance your ass off!

6 I saw alot of bars at camps with signs that said they needed drink ingreadiants. Olives ,asparagus, tomatoe juice, clamato for the canadian camps, celery salts and celary hearts and on and on. bloody marrys are big during the day. Aswell as vodka and tequila and other booze. The camps really apreciate the help. So if you bring some extra then go gift it to the dance camp you like the best. Or the one you think needed a boost. Its awesome how you just go around to camps and get free drinks. Itlll blow you away the first time. But they really arent free. So wait till you get down south to buy booze where its mega cheap.

7 Bring a table. We didnt and we had to just put things on the ground and it was a mess.

8 if you dont want it to be dusty for the rest of its life then dont bring it to burning man. It wont come off easily and it corrodes the surface of any metal. Just the surface. Its freaky.

9 your bike should be bright at night and so should you! EL wire is awesome stuff. I buy my stuff from a canadian company in victoria. http://glowarehouse.com/products/el-wire-kits they are on sale right now for 5 bucks each. the colours are limited but who cares. Buy a few 6 foot kits each. And some glow sticks. Or blinky stuff. The brighter you are the better. It may not be cool at home but your at burning man.

[graidawg]

Don't let your beer get hot or even warm, thinking you can just cool it off with ice later. Beer that has been very warm for an extended period can get MANKY and no amount of ice can cure that.

Oh so very true. Even if you don't want to use ice, a cooler with a little water and salt in the bottom will keep your beers from getting too warm!

I'm British give your warm beer to me!

Super Evil Brian wrote:
(Hey, look at that, time to go home. Thanks ePlaya for helping me waste another day at work!)

how is a day on eplaya a wasted one?

[VeganChoirGirl]

Don't let your beer get hot or even warm, thinking you can just cool it off with ice later. Beer that has been very warm for an extended period can get MANKY and no amount of ice can cure that.

Oh so very true. Even if you don't want to use ice, a cooler with a little water and salt in the bottom will keep your beers from getting too warm!

I'm British give your warm beer to me!

Super Evil Brian wrote:
(Hey, look at that, time to go home. Thanks ePlaya for helping me waste another day at work!)

how is a day on eplaya a wasted one?

Perhaps I should have clarified, by TOO warm I mean:

In a nylon tent, unprotected beers will get SO warm that they may burst. You will come into your tent and everything will be sticky and smell like beer that's sort of gone off a bit.

A cooler with water and a little salt in the water will give you warm, but unexploded and unexpired, beer.

Hope that helps.

[FIGJAM]

Yea, that shit wont be warm, it will be hot! Like 120 to 150 degrees HOT!

So do what VCG said.