Note to newbies: Start to prepare NOW

[mamasharon]

All first years take heed, You need to start now!
Get your rebar ready or at least some serious stakes.
Hunt garage sales and thrift shops for used water containers or start saving and cleaning milk jugs.
Stock up on baby wipes.
Stock up on some sort of lights to light up your camp at night.
If you don't have a bike, get one and decorate it.
Get your costumes ready.

I'm sure others could add to this to-do list.

[plantmandan]

When you go out for the night, be sure to pack some sunscreen. You just might need it!

Bring a headlamp flashlight. And bring an extra one in case the first one breaks or disappears. Ever tried to navigate a questionably clean porta potty in pitch dark conditions?

Get a basket for your bike. They are essential. Decorate the hell out of your bike to minimize the possibility of mistaken bike theft. Light up your bike as much as possible. Get creative and make your bike easy to identify at night. You will have to pick your bike out of a crowd of a few hundred bikes in the middle of the night more than once. Oh, and be sure your bike has working brakes.

Carry two lighters at all times, whether or not you smoke. They will always be in need for many various reasons. And decorate your lighters with smiley face stickers. There will be no doubt they are yours.

Always carry a large plastic beverage cup with a handle. Many camps offer beverages but only if you bring your own cup. Clip a carabiner to your cup's handle and you can then secure your cup to a backpack or bike basket.

[tahiti_treat]

Read the survival guide. Read it again in a few days. Read threads on eplaya for hours and hours.

If you don't ride a bike regularly, start doing so now. Go for long walks, too.

If your tent and shade are new, practice putting them up and taking them down a few times. If they are old, do it at least once to make sure nothing is broken/missing.

Taste-test the recipes or ready-meals you plan to bring.

Start keeping notes now of things you are doing to prepare. Save your packing list. After the burn, take notes of what worked and what didn't.

[Ugly Dougly]

If you need an airplane ticket, you should have it in hand by now. Fares increase steeply as you near the date of departure. So if you haven't bought your plane ticket yet, go back and look at fares now and decide if you can really afford to go.

And no whining from now on. It will get hot and dry and dusty and dirty. There will be times when you will get sick of the incessant WIND and you will wish you stayed home. Then it will get weird.

Bring a folding chair, a bike and a folding table. Don't expect "someone" to provide these for you.

[junglesmacks]

When you think you've got your visuals really going.. just look a little to the left.

[Bob]

Yeah, start now:

• Invent time machine.
• Go back to age ten.
• Join the scouts.
• Learn how to camp, learn how to tie a fucking knot, learn dirty jokes, etc.
• Earn at least five merit badges that have something to do with the outdoors.
• Go to age sixteen or seventeen.
• Drive to the desert.
• Camp. Apply what you learned in the scouts.
• Return to present day.
• Stop bugging us with minutia, and do some art.

Hope this helps.