some first timer questions

[letterset25]

I'm a first time burner, really excited about attending and I have a few questions. I've tried doing some searches but wasn't able to come up with answers to some of my questions. And yes, I've read all the first time and survival material on the web site and many others. I am a first time burner but an experienced car camper. I'll be driving a truck, which will hold my supplies and sleeping in a tent next to my truck. Since I'm going to be alone I'm not planning any huge art installations, or rave clubs, but rather focussing on survival and enjoyment for my first year. Providing for myself, in terms of food and water will not be a problem.

Its my first year and I really want to bring a gift to share with others. I plan to bring the gifts of helping, friendliness and other intangible but positive things. Also, I was thinking about bringing beer. But I need help, as I'm not a beer drinker. Or much of a drinker at all. I selected beer because its relatively easy, especially since I'm attending alone. I just buy some beer and hand it out, right? I'd like to share it with my neighbours and hand some out to random strangers when I'm out and about on the playa. Is this an okay way of doing it? I would have a small cooler to keep them cold and will open them for people while collecting the bottle caps. My sisters have given me the names of some excellent microbrews I can pick up in Oregon on my way down. Or should I go with canned beer? My impression is that canned beer (Coors, Bud) is easy to store but is not as good but please fire off some opinions, as I really don't know. Do I need any sort of permit for beer gifting? Also, I will ID everybody.

My other problem with the beer is storage. I have three coolers, one for me and my food and two for beer. The beer coolers will have ice in them to keep them cold, but I'm worried it won't last long. Since I'm alone I'm leery of leaving coolers of beer unattended, so I would prefer to keep them locked in my truck, although its going to be a lot hotter in the truck. Is that practical or am I going to have to be adding ice like mad? Should I just leave them out and take my chances? If I want to buy more beer than I have cooler space can I leave beer in the truck until cooler space frees up? Or will the heat ruin it?

Like so many others I will be bringing a digital camera with me. The battery only takes so many before its dead. I will probably bring at least two batteries but I'm afraid that may not be enough. I've read about various art installations (such as this year's Velocinema) or camps where you can charge electronics. Are such things common? How likely is it that I will be able to get a charge or two during the week? I'm definitely willing to pedal/work for it.

I was planning to bring a 10 x 10 quick set up shade structure, or maybe some sort of large umbrella for shade. These things I would probably not set up permanently, but rather put them up in the afternoon when needed and strike them afterwards, mostly because I'm afraid I may not be able to secure them against wind storms and I would hate for anything to happen when I'm not there. If a storm come up how much warning does one normally have?

I understand there is a vehicle search on entry to prohobit banned items. Other than not having banned items, is there anything I can do to made the process easier for the greeter/searchers?

I think those are my main concerns. If you have anything to contribute, please do as I'm eager to learn from those who have been before.

jeremy

[melodiousdirge]

OK, well, I'll take a shot at it, despite being a burgin I think I can offer some help.

I don't think most people would care too much what kind of beer you give them, especially if it's cold. Cans can be crushed for less moop hauling, and the cooler will be lighter with cans (glass is heavy).

Ice won't last very long in a cooler full of beer, no. You can replenish your ice stores from center camp - this is probably the easiest solution rather than trying to bring a ton of block ice or dry ice or something else. Unfortunately there's not much you can really do about this issue... you're talking about a cold cooler filled mostly with beer that will be opened frequently. The best you can probably do is have a larger cooler you don't open very often and a small one for taking on your forays.

Leaving closed containers of anything in a hot car is a bad idea. In the full heat of day cans can explode. This might not be terribly helpful but it's something to consider. You could consider locking your cooler and locking it to your truck so it's less likely to walk away.

$20-30 at your local target/walmart/whatever will net you a low power (100-200watt) inverter you can plug into your cigarette lighter outlet in the car. This is perfect for charging cameras, cell phones, etc. Just make sure not to kill the battery in your car/truck.

Regarding your shade structure... the impression I get is that you'd be better off going with something sturdy. I think wind storms come up rather suddenly, and even a small risk of a large umbrella flying around and bashing someone doesn't seem worth it to me.

Hope some of that is helpful!

[ygmir]

I'm a first time burner, really excited about attending and I have a few questions. I've tried doing some searches but wasn't able to come up with answers to some of my questions. And yes, I've read all the first time and survival material on the web site and many others. I am a first time burner but an experienced car camper. I'll be driving a truck, which will hold my supplies and sleeping in a tent next to my truck. Since I'm going to be alone I'm not planning any huge art installations, or rave clubs, but rather focussing on survival and enjoyment for my first year. Providing for myself, in terms of food and water will not be a problem.

Its my first year and I really want to bring a gift to share with others. I plan to bring the gifts of helping, friendliness and other intangible but positive things. Also, I was thinking about bringing beer. But I need help, as I'm not a beer drinker. Or much of a drinker at all. I selected beer because its relatively easy, especially since I'm attending alone. I just buy some beer and hand it out, right? I'd like to share it with my neighbours and hand some out to random strangers when I'm out and about on the playa. Is this an okay way of doing it? I would have a small cooler to keep them cold and will open them for people while collecting the bottle caps. My sisters have given me the names of some excellent microbrews I can pick up in Oregon on my way down. Or should I go with canned beer? My impression is that canned beer (Coors, Bud) is easy to store but is not as good but please fire off some opinions, as I really don't know. Do I need any sort of permit for beer gifting? Also, I will ID everybody.

My other problem with the beer is storage. I have three coolers, one for me and my food and two for beer. The beer coolers will have ice in them to keep them cold, but I'm worried it won't last long. Since I'm alone I'm leery of leaving coolers of beer unattended, so I would prefer to keep them locked in my truck, although its going to be a lot hotter in the truck. Is that practical or am I going to have to be adding ice like mad? Should I just leave them out and take my chances? If I want to buy more beer than I have cooler space can I leave beer in the truck until cooler space frees up? Or will the heat ruin it?

Like so many others I will be bringing a digital camera with me. The battery only takes so many before its dead. I will probably bring at least two batteries but I'm afraid that may not be enough. I've read about various art installations (such as this year's Velocinema) or camps where you can charge electronics. Are such things common? How likely is it that I will be able to get a charge or two during the week? I'm definitely willing to pedal/work for it.

I was planning to bring a 10 x 10 quick set up shade structure, or maybe some sort of large umbrella for shade. These things I would probably not set up permanently, but rather put them up in the afternoon when needed and strike them afterwards, mostly because I'm afraid I may not be able to secure them against wind storms and I would hate for anything to happen when I'm not there. If a storm come up how much warning does one normally have?

I understand there is a vehicle search on entry to prohobit banned items. Other than not having banned items, is there anything I can do to made the process easier for the greeter/searchers?

I think those are my main concerns. If you have anything to contribute, please do as I'm eager to learn from those who have been before.

jeremy

HI and welcome!!
if only, everyone thought this way!! Gate life would be much easier.
Yes, you can have your tickets ready.
have your stuff, packed in such a way, it's either obvious no one or nothing is hiding in it, or, so that it can be easily and quickly searched, for said stowaways and contraband.

[FIGJAM]

Put the beer coolers in your tent. It will help hold it down.

And set them on a couple of 2x4s so they don't pull heat from the ground.

[Sham]

There is really no contraband search of your car on the way in. The car check is not meant to look for banned items, but rather to see if you are smuggling your cousin Louie under your stuff. Also, it's meant to see if you are prepared for your week. Do you have water and food. That's it! They are not the fucking TSA feeling you up to see if you have explosives in your underwear. Don't bring fireworks or guns, and if you bring recreational substances, keep them out of sight. No gate search will find them.
As far as beer as a gift, plan on maybe sharing with your immediate neighbors, it won't make sense to drag a cooler with you to pass out to people on the street. Beer tends to sap the energy from people during the day. Maybe a few cases of cold water bottles would be a more welcome gift during the day---also much cheaper than beer. A real good piece of advice for a first timer is to go the first year and learn the lay of the land, and don't try to do too much. Keep and open mind and be willing to help if needed.

A shade structure is a must, and you can do what works best for you. A well anchored tent or one that you can fold and put away is all up to you. The wind can get intense. 50 mph winds are not unusual. Dust gets into everything. You can keep your coolers inside your tent. It would help to keep the tent from taking off in the wind also.

Again, come and observe and keep an open mind! See you in just 6 short weeks.

[essjay]

You nailed it in the second sentence of your second paragraph. It is your first year - having gifts is nice, but you should not dwell on it - the newbie compulsion for needing to have gifts is over-rated. Take your own advice and offer friendliness and lending a hand when others are struggling with set-up and take-down. That is the best gift you can ever offer and will result in the most lasting memories.

Having beer to offer a new friend is a nice idea. As for cooling your beer, see the "dry ice" sticky in this forum for advice on keeping things cold throughout the week. Read the tips carefully so that you don't end up freezing your beer. Many people will have their own cups, so be prepared to haul out the empties after they have poured their beer into their cup. Cans are easier to deal with than bottles - but the fancy beer also comes in bottles.

As for the beer, I would suggest offering 2 kinds. 1) a standard american light beer like bud light/miller lights/coors light - not much on taste, but most people will like it and having an ice cold light beer after raising a tent, etc can be very refreshing; 2) for those who like nicer beer, have an import or microbrew that you also like (guinness, newcastle, blue moon, fat tire, or some of your oregon micros etc).

As for your camera - bring a lot of batteries - get a big pack at Samsclub. They are small - don't stress over bringing 2 or 8 - just bring 8. Shade - it won't stand up to the wind - I would not leave your camp with that thing unattended. Windstroms can happen at any time and that thing will fly away. Don't worry about the greeters, it is a quick and easy process.

[motskyroonmatick]

Put the beer coolers in your tent. It will help hold it down.

And set them on a couple of 2x4s so they don't pull heat from the ground.

YES! and I have found--
Covering cooers with a heavy blanket also helps keep ice longer. I buy block ice from ICE9(the ice outlet at the 9:00 keyhole) and it lasts much longer than cubes.

My poor quality cooler chews through the ice so it pays to have a high quality cooler.

[Eric]

Its my first year and I really want to bring a gift to share with others. I plan to bring the gifts of helping, friendliness and other intangible but positive things. Also, I was thinking about bringing beer. But I need help, as I'm not a beer drinker. Or much of a drinker at all.

Reading your post it's sound like you have a solid head on your shoulder and your basic gift idea is perfect for your first year.


Since you're not a beer drinker, I'd say two options for the beer part:

A) Don't worry about it. Most people will just like the helping hand.

B) If you really want to gift it just get the cheapest beer on sale in Reno (in cans)- usually Budweiser, Tecate, or Miller Lite. As long as it's cold, Burners will appreciate it. If they want fancy beer they can bring their own (I do).

[The Bee]

Beer preference is a matter of personal taste. At home, I like to drink heavy hoppy micro-brews, but on the playa I prefer lighter beer. Cans are easier to deal with. They pack easily, they don't break, they crush, and you can take empties to recycle camp. Sapporo (Japanese) makes a good canned beer. Gifting beer is a great idea and a great way to meet people. But if you don't like to drink beer, what about gifting something you do like to drink? You could make bloody marys and serve them with or without alcohol. Or you could gift juice or vitamin water etc. By the way, towards the end of the week a lot of bars run out of mixers, so if you have extra bottles of mixers, that makes a good gift for the bar.

I never thought about locking my cooler, and I never worried that someone would help themselves. That seems foreign to the idea of Burning Man. I leave my coolers full of good cold beer and booze under my shade structure. You could keep yours under your truck if it's high enough, or right next to your truck in it's shade. Keep the coolers in the shade, off the ground on 2x4's or something similar, and wrap them in a blanket. You can find insulated foil blankets at the hardware store.

You don't need a permit to share a drink with someone. It never occurred to me to ID anyone. People who run theme-camp bars need to ID, but if you're sharing a beer with one or two people in your camp, it's not an issue.

I don't think you're going to want to set up and tear down your shade structure daily. Make it strong enough to leave up for the week.

[Elderberry]

Everyone has done a great job in answering your questions. I just want to reiterate two things. The wind can come up real fast, so either tie down your shade structure securely or don't use it. And I'm not sure it was made clear that you can buy ice on the playa, and also coffee. So you'll be able to keep your beer cold.

[Eric]

I never thought about locking my cooler, and I never worried that someone would help themselves. That seems foreign to the idea of Burning Man.

As the event gets bigger, all those "foreign" things come home to roost. Way back in '07 we had a guy come into our chill dome & without saying a work start to look through someone's backpack while there were 6 of us sitting there. When we asked him what he was doing he said he "wanted chapstick". When informed it was polite to ask before going through peoples things he told us we weren't "Real Burners" and walked out. He was lucky; the guy who's backpack he was going through was sitting about 4' from him and could have broken him in two.

Beer & booze gets stolen all the time. Lots of stuff gets stolen. It's a city of 55,000+ people- crime may be way down from what it is off the playa but don't think you're visiting Utopia!

[Drawingablank]

That post reminds me - is there a good way to lock a cooler? A large marine extreme cooler to be exact.

While I"m not a violent person (very non confrontational), I might get a bit testy if someone was stealing (or ummm, gifting themselves) my booze. It just seems that locking the cooler would circumvent me possibly losing my temper on some schmuck and prevent a lot of uglyness from coming out.

I consider myself a generous person, but petty thievery doesn't sit well with me.

[theCryptofishist]

I think it's silly to bring beer if you're not a beer drinker. I think it's better to gift something that you're enthusiastic about, rather than something you have to ask people if it's good.

Of course, this is very different if you happen to have a wonderful micro-brewery in your hometown. Bt then you wouldnt have ot ask.

[DustHand]

That post reminds me - is there a good way to lock a cooler? A large marine extreme cooler to be exact.

While I"m not a violent person (very non confrontational), I might get a bit testy if someone was stealing (or ummm, gifting themselves) my booze. It just seems that locking the cooler would circumvent me possibly losing my temper on some schmuck and prevent a lot of uglyness from coming out.

I consider myself a generous person, but petty thievery doesn't sit well with me.

I would either suggest screwing a padlock hasp directly to the lid and body of the cooler, or if it has handles on each side get aircraft cable and Crosby clamps, put eyes on either end of the cable and cut it to a length that it's tight when you loop it thru the handles and slip a lock thru the eyes. The tight cable will keep the lid from being able to be opened.

[Drawingablank]

That post reminds me - is there a good way to lock a cooler? A large marine extreme cooler to be exact.

While I"m not a violent person (very non confrontational), I might get a bit testy if someone was stealing (or ummm, gifting themselves) my booze. It just seems that locking the cooler would circumvent me possibly losing my temper on some schmuck and prevent a lot of uglyness from coming out.

I consider myself a generous person, but petty thievery doesn't sit well with me.

I would either suggest screwing a padlock hasp directly to the lid and body of the cooler, or if it has handles on each side get aircraft cable and Crosby clamps, put eyes on either end of the cable and cut it to a length that it's tight when you loop it thru the handles and slip a lock thru the eyes. The tight cable will keep the lid from being able to be opened.

I considered both of those options and coulkdn't really think of any others - I'm leaning towards the hasp but would be happy if anyone wants to weigh in on the plusses / minuses of the two options. The hasp seems like a lot less hassle.

[letterset25]

Thanks for all the great responses and ideas.

I don't think I can stock up on batteries at Sam's Club, as the battery is specific to the camera. Do they have all manner of Panasonic and Nikon batteries or are you talking about AA batteries?

I also cannot use an inverter in my lighter socket to charge batteries. I'm planning to stay in Hushville and running vehicles to act as a generator is not allowed. Also, my truck doesn't have a lighter. Its an old British army Land Rover. It goes anywhere, over anything, in any climate. The downside is that its as plain a truck as possible. No lighter, no interior light, no air conditioning, no power locks, no roll down windows, bare metal inside and out. Its noisy and slow, but it will pull a bus out of a ditch. In the future I would like to add a lighter/power socket, but it won't happen before Burning Man.

I ran outside and my cooler does fit under the truck, so I will lock them to the axle. When locked you pull them out and you can't open them without pulling them out.

jeremy

[DustHand]

The hasp does seem much more simplistic. The only neg I can see is that the plastic that coolers are made from is not particularly rigid: it flexes a lot. It also isn't very thick. You could find the self tapping screws strip out after a while. Unless of course you drill all the way through and use nuts and bolts. That could be difficult on the lid, however.

[DustHand]

Thanks for all the great responses and ideas.

I don't think I can stock up on batteries at Sam's Club, as the battery is specific to the camera. Do they have all manner of Panasonic and Nikon batteries or are you talking about AA batteries?

I also cannot use an inverter in my lighter socket to charge batteries. I'm planning to stay in Hushville and running vehicles to act as a generator is not allowed. Also, my truck doesn't have a lighter. Its an old British army Land Rover. It goes anywhere, over anything, in any climate. The downside is that its as plain a truck as possible. No lighter, no interior light, no air conditioning, no power locks, no roll down windows, bare metal inside and out. Its noisy and slow, but it will pull a bus out of a ditch. In the future I would like to add a lighter/power socket, but it won't happen before Burning Man.

I ran outside and my cooler does fit under the truck, so I will lock them to the axle. When locked you pull them out and you can't open them without pulling them out.

How about something like this to charge your batts?
[url]http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000SECKO ... 53408/[url]

jeremy

[DustHand]

Posting via iPhone can be challenging. And editing a post is simply impossible. Apologies.

I was trying to post this, but not as to make it appear in the quoted text:

How about something like this to charge your batts?
[url]http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000SECKO ... 53408/[url]

[Savannah]

Hey letterset25! What I like about you is that each one of your questions is a good one. I'll bet a majority of the people reading your post thought quietly, "oh, sure" when you said at the beginning of your post that you had done as much research as you could, but sure enough--I could understand how each question came about, and I'll hazard that that's why people have put so much into their answers.

There is a 3rd ice station at the 3 o clock plaza in addition to Center Camp and the 9 o'clock. (I don't know if that was clear.) They are $3 per bag, block or crushed, and one of each per cooler every 2 days has worked for me--occasionally stretching to three, 'cause I'm not keeping mayonnaise or anything--just beverages and fruit cups. Cool water with ice chunks is often good enough for beverages, as keeping beer ice cold can be difficult and rarely does a giftee expect icy cold. They're just hoping for "pretty cold". . . . I recommend keeping one cooler in the tent, unchilled (your tent and car will be uselessly hot), and one outside, covered, inconspicuous, chilled (and if you like, locked when you leave camp). Don't feel that you have to give drinks away on a schedule or compulsively get rid of all of them--sharing with your neighbors or people who smile as they pass, or whenever you feel moved to do so--that's even better. If you have any left at the end of the week you can donate them to the Department of Public Works during exodus.

A large umbrella sounds like something you could strike easily but doesn't allow you much; a 10' x 10' staked down really well is a frequent sight (and too much work to strike daily). I've seen someone on here diagram making an "X" of good solid rope and rebar on each of the three sides, leaving the 4th open. (There might have been even more rope than that . . maybe some straight ropes at each corner.) The quality of 10' x 10's seemed to vary when I looked at them on Amazon. (For example, I didn't like the reviews of the classic E-Z Up so much, but there was a Swiss brand 10 x 10 that had better reviews. (In the end, I commissioned a 10' x 15' shade from a friend, who made it flat as can be out of steel and shade cloth.)

So maybe one "permanent" shade . . . and if you have the space for an umbrella, hell--bring it too. Back-up!

The main Burning Man site has some links about robe and rebar and covering the rebar ends so no one gets hurt.

Is there warning about storms? Sort of. They come from Center Camp and move out towards the Man (usually, but not always) so you can often see it coming, depending on where you are, and might have a few minutes, but if you are all the way across town you may not be able to get back to your camp before it hits.

[CapSmashy]

Like so many others I will be bringing a digital camera with me. The battery only takes so many before its dead. I will probably bring at least two batteries but I'm afraid that may not be enough. I've read about various art installations (such as this year's Velocinema) or camps where you can charge electronics. Are such things common? How likely is it that I will be able to get a charge or two during the week? I'm definitely willing to pedal/work for it.

Somebody in your neck of the woods will have a generator. You will have to move away from camp since you are going into Hushville SHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh....... most people should not have an issue with letting you plug in a charger if they have a tap available on their genie. If all else fails, get your charger and batteries and come around to 3:30 and A (assuming placement is good to us), look for the camp walled in by a fence of scavenged materials and ask for Smashy. I'll hook you up to some juic...uh, I mean hook you up with some juice for the batteries.

All we ask is that you tell us a good story that makes us laugh.


As mentioned, gate is not a TSA checkpoint. If you have anything that is small and considered prohibited but necessary for travel, stow it in a locked container in a place that is not big enough for a person to hide in, like under a seat. To make your gate process smooth and easy, have your ticket ready and make sure your vehicle is packed as neat and organized as possible so that the gate person does not have to go spelunking to check corners and such. A couple of cold beers for your gate crew is always appreciated as well.

A few pointers for it being your first year.
1. Start repeating this mantra now: It is impossible to see everything at Burning Man. I will slow down and enjoy what I can see.
2. You will here the phrase "No expectations" repeated a lot. It is impossible to not have expectations. I will loan you my first year expectations for use. Its going to be hot. I am going to get dusty and dirty. I am going to see something that makes me say "Whoa...". I am going to meet an interesting person. I satisfied my expectations in the first couple of hours on the Playa and was free to have a good time from that point forward.
3. The excitement and kid in a candy store with a roll of hundreds look of fascination and joy from a burgin is the magic that revitalizes us jaded and crusty burning veterans.

[Asherbeez]

A few pointers for it being your first year.
1. Start repeating this mantra now: It is impossible to see everything at Burning Man. I will slow down and enjoy what I can see.
2. You will here the phrase "No expectations" repeated a lot. It is impossible to not have expectations. I will loan you my first year expectations for use. Its going to be hot. I am going to get dusty and dirty. I am going to see something that makes me say "Whoa...". I am going to meet an interesting person. I satisfied my expectations in the first couple of hours on the Playa and was free to have a good time from that point forward.
3. The excitement and kid in a candy store with a roll of hundreds look of fascination and joy from a burgin is the magic that revitalizes us jaded and crusty burning veterans.

Love that bit of knowledge!

It's my first year and I really want to bring a gift to share with others. I plan to bring the gifts of helping, friendliness and other intangible but positive things. Also, I was thinking about bringing beer. But I need help, as I'm not a beer drinker. Or much of a drinker at all. I selected beer because its relatively easy, especially since I'm attending alone. I just buy some beer and hand it out, right? I'd like to share it with my neighbours and hand some out to random strangers when I'm out and about on the playa. Is this an okay way of doing it? I would have a small cooler to keep them cold and will open them for people while collecting the bottle caps. My sisters have given me the names of some excellent microbrews I can pick up in Oregon on my way down. Or should I go with canned beer? My impression is that canned beer (Coors, Bud) is easy to store but is not as good but please fire off some opinions, as I really don't know. Do I need any sort of permit for beer gifting? Also, I will ID everybody.

The summer before my first burn I took some time to make some little trinkets (clay hearts with the )'( on them) and never really got around to handing them out. I found, as you mentioned, that a helping hand with setting or striking camp, or helping someone sunscreen up, or move a heavy cooler, etc. goes a lot further and is far more appreciated than some chachski that will either be tossed in the default world or lost in some box full of other stuff.

[Dr. Pyro]

If I may suggest, cheap beer is fine, especially if 1) you're not drinking it; and 2) it's cold. Might I suggest La Playa beer. It can be bought at Trader Joe's (I would check first, just in case). It's cheaper than Budweiser/Coors/Miller and has a certain panache. I buy a few cases to give away during the week, and just the name alone is enough to put some burners in a euphoric dance.

[AntiM]

Thanks for all the great responses and ideas.

I don't think I can stock up on batteries at Sam's Club, as the battery is specific to the camera. Do they have all manner of Panasonic and Nikon batteries or are you talking about AA batteries?

I also cannot use an inverter in my lighter socket to charge batteries. I'm planning to stay in Hushville and running vehicles to act as a generator is not allowed. Also, my truck doesn't have a lighter. Its an old British army Land Rover. It goes anywhere, over anything, in any climate. The downside is that its as plain a truck as possible. No lighter, no interior light, no air conditioning, no power locks, no roll down windows, bare metal inside and out. Its noisy and slow, but it will pull a bus out of a ditch. In the future I would like to add a lighter/power socket, but it won't happen before Burning Man.

I ran outside and my cooler does fit under the truck, so I will lock them to the axle. When locked you pull them out and you can't open them without pulling them out.

jeremy

We camp in Husville. I bought a couple extra batteries off ebay. We have a little solar battery charger we got cheap at Harbor freight, it has enough juice to keep a camera battery charged, I trade them out daily. We also have a small inverter and a 12v deep call battery which will also run a camera battey charger.