How much space should I buy on the NYC container?

[Yoshi1223]

It's gonna be my first burn and I have no clue how much space to buy on the container. Just got told tomorrow's the sale and don't think I'll have time after work to look for everything I'm packing and measure it... What's the typical amount of space to get and how much do you usually spend? Right now it's $6.75 per cubic foot. Also do you recommend packing non perishable food supplies like canned food/water on the container? I'm not getting to Reno till Monday so it might be worth it to save time and send those supplies ahead

so far this is what I have going with me on the container:
tent
2 containers for costumes
air mattress
comforter
fans
bathmats
1 or 2 coolers (put food items in?)

[Savannah]

Are you charged by weight, too, or just cubic foot?

Food & water is heavy & probably the least difficult thing to shop for, so I would only tuck food inside if not charged by weight and I had nothing else I wanted to put into the coolers. And I would try to find out how the container is handled. Do they wrap your stuff onto a pallet with plastic, nice & tight, or do you have to be ready to strap a full cooler closed? That sort of thing.

You could put some canned food and vacuum-sealed salmon, peanut butter, squeeze-bottle jam, jerky, nuts, Clif bars, dried fruit, electrolyte powder, tuna/cracker kits, Laughing Cow wedges, etc into your coolers. Plus can opener, utensils, seasonings, napkins. Cushion things with a little newspaper. Maybe not pretzels, chips, cookies--they break too easily. I also wouldn't trust glass or liquids to travel perfectly if I'm not doing the transporting. The container might actually be handled very well, but it's easier to wait and buy juice than it is to clean up an accident.

You could pick up your water, beverages, bread, fruit cups, chips, & any fresh produce you wanna gamble on when you arrive in Reno.

[dragonpilot]

Get a tape measure and measure out a 12" X 12" square on the floor. Then place your tape vertically and measure up 12" from the floor. Since you can't draw a mark in the air, you'll have to visualize the vertical 12" but it's not hard to do. You might even be able to find a cardboard box that measures 12 x 12 x 12. The box described is a cubic foot. Try to visualize how much of your gear is going to fit in a cubic foot...some, but not a lot. So, you'll more than likely have to go to 2 cubic feet, or 3 cubic feet (which is a cubic yard which is quite a lot of volume)...

[Sham]

I would suggest 12 cubic feet for your stuff. Are you shipping a bike as well? You'll most likely want one on the playa, since it's about 7 square miles of fun.

If you're flying out to Reno, keep in mind that you can stuff 2 50lb. suitcases with your stuff. Pack wisely. Also, you might want to weigh the cost of shipping things vs. buying it in Reno, then gifting it to someone who has a vehicle. Remember, if you ship it, you have to pack it up and return it to the east coast.

As far as food, I make lists of things I want before I head out, then just shop and cross things off the list. So far I have not gone hungry and had plenty to share.

Read the guides in my signature below, and see you on the playa.

Sham....

[VultureChow]

Sav, NYC container is volume only, not weight. However you are required to be able to load it yourself. I assume this means you can use a dolly or a friend.

I would hold off on the water and anything that you can say, buy at a Wal-Mart on your way there.

Measure the three dimensions in inches, multiply and then divide by 1728 and you get cubic feet. If you haven't bought the coolers but know which one you want, then just find their specs online.

12 cf is exactly what I'm getting. It's the size of the box for my bike. It does leave me room, however, for some "packing materials" which will be clothes and sleeping bag.

[Drawingablank]

So, you'll more than likely have to go to 2 cubic feet, or 3 cubic feet (which is a cubic yard which is quite a lot of volume)...

Umm - don't want to nitpick but a cubic yard is 27 cubic feet - not 3 cubic feet.

[delle]

Ok, that's it.

I'm using this fucking thread as incentive for my son to stick with math. I just wave my hands around the space approximating foot-square boxes with disastrous results. Math is magically delicious!!

[VultureChow]

Ok, that's it.

I'm using this fucking thread as incentive for my son to stick with math. I just wave my hands around the space approximating foot-square boxes with disastrous results. Math is magically delicious!!

Any chance to use math is a bonus for me. Though number theory and algebraic spaces don't come up much in real life.

I got to do that classic word problem in a thread yesterday. If I have a 10x10 kodiak canvas or springbar tent, what is the minimum rib length needed on a standard monkey hut so that the tent will fit with at least 4 inches between all points of the tent and the hut.

[delle]

That right there is one good question.

I think the answer ranges between 0 and infinity.


Since infinity would piss off the neighbours, I'm going to say 20. (had to point to the sky for that one)

[VultureChow]

That right there is one good question.

I think the answer ranges between 0 and infinity.


Since infinity would piss off the neighbours, I'm going to say 20. (had to point to the sky for that one)

Close. Total circumference of the half circle profile of the hut is approx 25'. SO you need individual ribs of 12.5 feet.

[FIGJAM]

So the answer is "a bit"?

[NikkiG]

Here are the rules! I was looking to buy space tomorrow also.


Packing your Things:

Important to note: please pack your bins fully. Hundreds of pounds of items will be packed on top of your bins. People will walk on top of your things. Items will be jostled when the container is lifted from train to train. It’s not a moving truck so things will not be secure.

We are not responsible for any damage to your things.

All items must be boxed. All bicycles must be taken apart and put in boxes. NO metal may stick out of any item whatsoever. Nothing jutting out. Things will be packed on top of each other. IF YOU HAVE A VERY LARGE OR STRANGELY SHAPED package, let us know asap

PVC piping must be taped together.

Your name must be on everything. Duplicate items come out every year.

Nothing illegal, flammable at high heat or questionable allowed. This means NO GENERATORS unless they are brand new, never been filled with gasoline allowed. NO gasoline, gas of any kind, explosives, pressurized canisters or illegal substances. These containers will get VERY hot during their cross country trek. Consequently, anything that can be damaged by extreme heat should not be shipped on The Container. Batteries, non-canned or dry food, compressed gas, explosives ... etc. Use your best judgment.

We reserve the right to open any container to check. If you blow up and/or cause the container to be searched because of suspicion of illegal substances, your friends will ALL HATE YOU because their stuff won’t make it to the playa…

[Yoshi1223]

lol thanks! I think I'll go with 3-4 cubic feet. Thought I needed more then I realized that other than 2 headresses and a fur coat my costumes don't include much fabric I'll probably pick up food items in Reno when I get in on Monday
Glad that there are some mathy people on this thread to help with the cubic foot visualizations. Haven't taken a math class in years and it seems my brain forgot everything i learned in college and high school

[AbundantChoice]

Are you sure that's all you need? 3 cubic feet, for example, would be one container 3 feet long by one foot wide by one foot tall. That's very small. The air mattress rolled up, alone, probably fills that space.

You need to multiply out in all dimensions. A box 3' by 2' by 1' is 6 cubic feet. 3' by 2'[ by 2' is 12 cubic feet. Etc etc etc. Also, as a general piece of advice, do not get one massive bin for all your stuff; try to keep your bins around 7-12 gallons. 15-20 gallon bins get heavy heavy heavy.

[Yoshi1223]

ended up going with 14 cubic feet after i put in measurements on the calculator. I had to downsize my original measurements since it would have cost way more than I had budgeted so pretty much just going to put one container and a bicycle wheel on there. Yikes, didn't expect this to be so expensive! I wanted to get a bike just for burning man but shipping it on the container would cost an extra $60

[VultureChow]

ended up going with 14 cubic feet after i put in measurements on the calculator. I had to downsize my original measurements since it would have cost way more than I had budgeted so pretty much just going to put one container and a bicycle wheel on there. Yikes, didn't expect this to be so expensive! I wanted to get a bike just for burning man but shipping it on the container would cost an extra $60

14 Cubic feet is a good chunk. I can fit my bike in a box and have left over space in the box to use clothing etc as "packing materials" How big is the box you are sending?

[9ah]

I am shipping about 6cu/ft again this year... And that space holds the 2 - 48gal coolers I ship everything in (then use one cooler to store food on the playa). The coolers hold my clothes, air mattress, tent, lantern, shoes, flashlight and who knows what else!

I shipped a few bottles of wine back on a container last year. They arrived in tact. YMMV

See you on the 10th!

[Yoshi1223]

14 Cubic feet is a good chunk. I can fit my bike in a box and have left over space in the box to use clothing etc as "packing materials" How big is the box you are sending?

omg I'm confused... I suck at math so don't really know what 14 cubic feet look like. I haven't bought my containers yet, I just measured a cheap storage container I have in my room and my bicyle wheel and added on 3 inches to that.

Measurements were 20 inches height x 34 inches width x 34 inches length. I put that into the container calculator and it gave me 14 cubic feet but if you're saying you can fit a bike in there then that sounds like way more space than I planned to buy!

Another poster said they can fit 2 containers into 6 cubic feet?!

I am shipping about 6cu/ft again this year... And that space holds the 2 - 48gal coolers I ship everything in (then use one cooler to store food on the playa). The coolers hold my clothes, air mattress, tent, lantern, shoes, flashlight and who knows what else!

aah now I don't know if I should plan on bringing another container full of stuff

[mudpuppy000]

Regarding food/Water: I would buy that in Reno. You don't want some nasty surprise showing up without anything to eat and your bins of food get lost. Don't die1!1!11!11oneoneone

[9ah]

Not gallon. Sorry about that. I skipped my two coolers, planning on shipping the same two. Pretty sure on the size. I'm not packing a bike though.

[AbundantChoice]

Mostly likely 48 quart coolers; they would be 12 gallon coolers (4 quarts to a gallon). 48 gallon coolers would be... something.

The reason Vulture can fit a bike box into a 14-15 cubic foot share is it's going to be tall and long, but very "skinny". A box five long and three feet tall but only one foot wide, for example, is 15 cubic feet. And yeah, your 24" by 34" by 34" box works out to 14 cubic feet as well. It's just that your box is a lot more like a cube, per se, while a bike box is pretty much a rectangle with just enough width to fit a bike in it.

[DaftBunk]

Hey Group,

The website says the container is all full

Is there an email to inquire per chance if more room will be made available, or if an additional container is being thought of ??

Thanks,

[VultureChow]

No new containers is my understanding. There is a waiting list if space opens up. Email in PM.

Be polite in your email. Apparently people can get rude and pissy when it sells out.

There might still be space out of Philly and Boston
http://www.videogasm.com/burningman/bigoletruck/

Though if you aren't dealing with really large/heavy items, it's probably cheaper to use UPS ground then to schlep the stuff out to Boston or Pennsylvania.

[Yoshi1223]

Hey Group,

The website says the container is all full

Is there an email to inquire per chance if more room will be made available, or if an additional container is being thought of ??

Thanks,

NYC container is full but Philly has space open
https://sites.google.com/site/phillycontainerbrc/

Disorient is probably going to be selling their unused container space too