to bring: a compass

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 12:02 pm

during last year's dust storm, i was riding on an art car and we had no idea if we were going out or in or around in circles - but it took us the entire storm to finally get back to civilization.

on a compass, you could mark the general direction of center camp. so if you get caught in the middle of nowhere during a storm you'll at least hit something other than the trash fence before too long.

i hear the surface is really soft this year, so a small compass would be a very practical item to carry with.

anyhoot - just my little bit of advice.

bronco

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 1:44 pm

You don't need no damn compass.
When you can't see where your going in dust storm... Just jam the pedal to the metal. ucking stupid asses

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 1:52 pm

Read the DMV driving rules

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 2:07 pm

I'd pity the pedestrians, but a white-out is perfect cover for slashing tires.

Tancorix · Post by **Tancorix** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 2:22 pm

Tire Pressure is not a right. Ask the owner of the infamous shark artcar about what happens when you drive like a fool and piss too many people off.

Bob A · Post by **Bob A** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 4:16 pm

A Compass won't do you much good unless you know where you are exactly when the storm starts. You'll have no reference so are you north or south of center camp you would need to be aware of your position at all times pre storm. Now GPS could help you get around.

Oh yeah don't drive during a dust storm, just stop and wait dumb ass.

Bob A

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 4:18 pm

In a whiteout a compass is worthless pretty much. A GPS with way points keyed in on the other hand is a very different thing.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Sat Jul 24, 2004 4:28 pm

Badger wrote:In a whiteout a compass is worthless pretty much. A GPS with way points keyed in on the other hand is a very different thing.

In my experience, it still ends up as a traffic jam around the Man.

You know, I'd like to blame roundabouts on the French, but like the apotheosis of the masonry dome it probably originated in Imperial Rome. Vault of Heaven my ass.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 10:32 am

a compass would work if you line it up while standing at the man, and make a notch towards center camp. since you're only going to get lost 'out there' - when you do get lost, line it up to north, and the notch will point GENERALLY towards civilization. the idea is to keep from hitting the trash fence or from going in circles.

not all storms are white-outs all the time. you can drive when visibility allows, and stop when it doesn't. is that okay for you kiddies?

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 3:12 pm

Yeah, but you're still in a gussied-up two to ten ton piece of metal and probably didn't notice who that speed bump was that you ran over a few dust puffs ago.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 4:02 pm

yes, driving in a storm is SOOOO bad! so against the rules. it's a good thing this forum has a good supply of rule-nazis who don't mind suggesting the merrits of vandalizing vehicles if they piss you off.

thanks bob, for thinking of the children.

the burningman organization is accepting volunteers to make sure no one puts anything in the porta-potties that shouldn't go in - all you have to do is stand in the porta-potty and make sure everyone obeys.

get a compass. leave your GPSs at home. then get a life outside of these forums (your internet dating world, not included).

Tancorix · Post by **Tancorix** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 4:11 pm

This comes down to a question of severity and common sense and not just rules. If you can see a reasonable and prudent distance beyond the front of your vehicle and are following the 5 mph rule, that's one thing. I'd proceed with extreme caution. If you can't see the front of the vehicle, much less anything outside...then GPS, compass, whatever, I'd be parking it. I'm thinking there would be legal ramifications if you drove in whiteout/alpha conditions and hit someonen (ie: Bob's speedbump reference). I wouldn't want to find out.

And as for life beyond the internet? Some of us by necessity are "on" 24x7, if it's not here it's doing other things. So it's easy to swing by the e-playa between other tasks. Quit stereotyping.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 4:40 pm

Oy... okay... there's nothing particularly wrong with a compass, if you happen to know this year's magnetic declination and whether the site crew rounded off to the nearest five degree mark, or you can accept rough approximation. Apologies.

I use dead reckoning, but keeping the corpse from rotting in the back seat is bloody hard, wot?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 5:09 pm

you're so rad bob.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 6:42 pm

Apologies. Last time someone used a compass to lay out the city, his diving watch threw the whole thing off almost five degrees. Or so he claimed.

lapeer20m · Post by **lapeer20m** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 6:47 pm

will GPS work if you're in total white out? Seems if the GPS unit doesn't have a reasonably clear sky it would be as usless as a compass near the MRI machine.

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 8:08 pm

Dust should not, at least in theory, interfere with GPS. An electrical storm might, I am not certain about that. Sattelite television works even through trees, so GPS should work through dust, which is less dense, unless the dust has a high metallic content.

You still wouldn't want to drive in it, though. You might know where you are headed, but GPS would not tell you about someone huddling on the ground ahead of you, or even if you are about to run into something like an art structure, another vehicle, or anything else not marked on the GPS system.

Then again, I have never actually used a GPS system, I just know (a little bit about) the theory behind it. Please don't sue me if I am wrong!

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Sun Jul 25, 2004 8:09 pm

will GPS work if you're in total white out?

Absolutely.

vic · Post by **vic** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 10:16 pm

Last year I brought a compass I bought for a dollar - just a cheap toy really, but it is small and light and points north. While walking out to the man a dust storm came up. Before it hit us I took a bearing on the man and we were then able to keep a fairly straight course in the white out. It got us there, where we were able to get out of the wind and have some nice chats with others who were also waiting out the storm. Used it in a similar way several more times during the week. I was glad I had it and I will take it again this year.

precipitate · Post by **precipitate** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 10:21 pm

Ask the owner of the infamous shark artcar about what happens when you drive like a fool and piss too many people off.

Nothing? Jail time? Vigilante justice? What's up with the oblique non-helpfu
l references?

Isotopia · Post by **Isotopia** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 7:20 am

will GPS work if you're in total white out?

No. Won't work for the same reason that a GPS stops working as soon as the sun sets.

Now if GPS's worked based on radio frequencies rather than photonic emission spectra that'd be a different story.

Bob A · Post by **Bob A** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 10:52 am

Isotopia wrote: No. Won't work for the same reason that a GPS stops working as soon as the sun sets.

What? GPS "Global positioning Satellites" does not stop working at night! If they did they would be pretty worthless for the military, which put them up in the first place, since they do a lot of their work at night. Some New cell phones have a GPS chip so emergency services can find you again not to useful if you crack up at night. Car mapping systems, sorry you can't drive at night.

They do work on a very low energy level so I was wondering if dust storms would block them. They need to reach 2 or 3 satellites to get a good fix.

I know my DirecTV dish goes out in really heavy rain even though I get 95% - 100% strength in clear skies.

bob A

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 11:02 am

Any global positioning system would include the participant at the dumb end of the tape, AFAIK.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 11:11 am

cherp cherp cherp

dragonfly Jafe · Post by **dragonfly Jafe** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 11:31 am

Tancorix wrote:Tire Pressure is not a right. Ask the owner of the infamous shark artcar about what happens when you drive like a fool and piss too many people off.

I keep hearing this, and it comes off to me as vigilante justice. Same as if I don't like your generator so I pour sand in it. Or I don't like your art so I deface it. What right does anyone have (aside from LEO) to destroy private property? I am assuming that this was an "un-official" grassroots type response (if it was in fact a LEO operating from a court ordered authority, I apologize in advance). Effective, YES! Legal? NO!

Why do some posters on this list advocate illegal activities? Isn't that against the ToS? Destruction of private property is illegal. Impound the vehicle, ticket the driver, and/or eject them from the event. But do not become vigilantes and break the law. I know, they have more important things to do, but this does not justify vigilantes. How are these poor fools supposed to remove that vehicle once the tire cores have been pulled?

If I see anyone trying this on my vehicle, I will use whatever force needed to stop them before they can damage my property (as allowed by law), then forcefully retain them for LEO (and press charges). Of course, I do not anticipate a problem based on my past driving history, but I am worried about Yahoo-type commandos that think it's fun to disable any mutant vehicles for no good reason. ymmv

TheJudge · Post by **TheJudge** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 7:23 pm

dragonfly Jafe wrote: What right does anyone have (aside from LEO) to destroy private property?

Even LEO's dont have the right to destroy private property. Confiscate and impound, maybe. But not destroy.

dragonfly Jafe wrote: Why do some posters on this list advocate illegal activities? Isn't that against the ToS?

As far as I know, the Borg have not written any Terms of Service.

Again, no one is talking about vigilante justice. They are being smart asses. Not much more.

Stormy · Post by **Stormy** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 7:29 pm

As far as I know, the Borg have not written any Terms of Service.

http://eplaya.burningman.org/profile.php?mode=register

Tancorix · Post by **Tancorix** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 8:59 pm

Dragonfly: This is where the Air Pressure is not a right thing kinda got started.
http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic. ... 02&start=0

Posted: Wed Dec 10, 2003 4:00 pm Post subject:

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I believe there was vigilante action directed at the shark mobile. I believe someone said something like 'Don't assume we think you have a right to tire pressure'.

I had an even longer explanation wrote up but fuck it, I'm tired and I'm waiting for my ride to the airport and to get the samhell out of Boston. It's a beautiful city, but I just wanna go home and sleep in my own bed.

And one last thing. You won't find me sabotaging shit. I always...ALWAYS take the diplomatic approach first. And like many others I bust my ass to pay for and then get to the playa. I only have a week and I have a lot of things I want to see and do. I honestly don't have time to be playing vigilante out there. If I get pissed off that bad, I'll get on my bike and transfer that aggression into the pedals. I'll go out and ride along the perimeter fence, ride out from center camp to DPW, then over by the airport and back or out past the temple to the perimeter and then back. By that time I've cooled off or become distracted enough that the original problem doesn't mean crap.

calsur · Post by **calsur** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 12:29 am

Straight information.

Unless you have a military style compass and can answer the following questions do not think a compass will help you.

What is magnetic declination and what is the correction for BRC?

What is the card?

What is a back azimuth?

And if you are using GPS know how to set a way point on your gps unit, set one for your camp or other safe place and know how to recall it. If you are traveling more than 100 miles from your initial point be sure to reinitialize your gps unit. Carry spare batteries. And know how to work the gps menus on your unit. Know what the gps unit is telling you and how to get what you need out of it when the shit hits the fan.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Fri Jul 30, 2004 12:38 am

Don't forget strike, dip, and plumbing up the falsework.

to bring: a compass

to bring: a compass

Fun with your compass

Oh god, here we go again...

Re: Oh god, here we go again...

do not do it