Complete Newbie: How can I get to Burning man with my stuff?

[Captain Goddammit]

Only as a last measure (though good you're planning for it), should you assume that everything you need must be brought in on your own back, not shared within a community of people that you may hook up with.

I wish to most politely disagree with that. I think out there you should plan as though no one else was gonna show up.

[atomicray]

Just a thought...alone the lines of seeking those near you for advice and connection...perhaps attend a regional event?

http://regionals.burningman.com/regiona ... /new-york/

"Because space is tight in the New York area, we don’t have our own regional burn, so many New York Burners travel to Playa Del Fuego (in Delaware), Firefly (in Vermont), Frostburn (in Pennsylvania), Transformus (in North Carolina), and even Flipside (in Texas) to get their playa fix throughout the year, and connect with other New York and East Coast burners"

Showing up for a regional event will put a face to the name floating in the aether

[BBadger]

Only as a last measure (though good you're planning for it), should you assume that everything you need must be brought in on your own back, not shared within a community of people that you may hook up with.

I wish to most politely disagree with that. I think out there you should plan as though no one else was gonna show up.

I'd like to retract that statement and change it to: plan for the worst -- that you'll need to bring everything on your own back -- but work hard towards securing means to share resources.

[Drawingablank]

If you do fly I recommend Southwest airlines (if they serve your local airport) since they are pretty liberal with luggage allowances. At no additional charge they allow 2 large suitcases, a decent size carry on , and a personal bag (such as a small backpack, camelback, handbag, etc...).

I UPS out the essential stuff that I probably can't find in Reno to my hotel, bring 2 large suitcases and my camelback, and just shop for big stuff and consumables in Reno and Fernley.

I normally go the box truck route, but there are other options such as ride share.

And as mentioned above, pare it down to the essentials.

[Divreon]

To everyone lending me an ear as I work past my concerns, thanks again. I know I said it several times earlier, but seriously, you're still helping and I'm grateful.

The battery I was considering for my newest CPAP problem is 7800mah, which equals 7.8 Amp Hours, which if you multiply by 12volts(which is average output of the battery depending on remaining life), equals 93.6 watts of power.

93.6 watts of power / 4 watts of draw = 23.4 hours of life, or Roughly 3-4 nights of use, depending on how I define "nights".

The batteries within are the same kind that are used for e-cigarettes, which is something I have experience with, and are typically fully drained and recharged hundreds of times(though after the first hundred or so, you see a noticeable loss of battery life).

However, one of them is nearly $80, and the sealed deep cycle marine batteries at 100 amp hours, at 12 volts, or 1200 watts of power, are only a hundred dollars more, and will power lights, ecig, and cpap for the entire weekend easily. (10 watt LED setup(assumed at overkill levels, not actual), burning for 70 hours(Roughly 10 hours a day) is only 700 watts. Meaning, I'd have an extra 500 watts of power to power my CPAP, and charge my E-Cig(4 watts max, for all week).

Clearly the Marine battery is going to be more convenient, but less portable, and I can't take either on a train or plane, but the smaller batteries can be more easily mailed.

Am I correctly looking at the situation and the pro's and Con's? No matter which battery I get, I can add a solar panel to increase the watt hours at my disposal.

[danibel]

To everyone lending me an ear as I work past my concerns, thanks again. I know I said it several times earlier, but seriously, you're still helping and I'm grateful.

The battery I was considering for my newest CPAP problem is 7800mah, which equals 7.8 Amp Hours, which if you multiply by 12volts(which is average output of the battery depending on remaining life), equals 93.6 watts of power.

93.6 watts of power / 4 watts of draw = 23.4 hours of life, or Roughly 3-4 nights of use, depending on how I define "nights".

The batteries within are the same kind that are used for e-cigarettes, which is something I have experience with, and are typically fully drained and recharged hundreds of times(though after the first hundred or so, you see a noticeable loss of battery life).

However, one of them is nearly $80, and the sealed deep cycle marine batteries at 100 amp hours, at 12 volts, or 1200 watts of power, are only a hundred dollars more, and will power lights, ecig, and cpap for the entire weekend easily. (10 watt LED setup(assumed at overkill levels, not actual), burning for 70 hours(Roughly 10 hours a day) is only 700 watts. Meaning, I'd have an extra 500 watts of power to power my CPAP, and charge my E-Cig(4 watts max, for all week).

Clearly the Marine battery is going to be more convenient, but less portable, and I can't take either on a train or plane, but the smaller batteries can be more easily mailed.

Am I correctly looking at the situation and the pro's and Con's? No matter which battery I get, I can add a solar panel to increase the watt hours at my disposal.

This past summer we had a campmate at the OCF that had a CPAP machine. He had to fly in because we get on site much earlier than he could arrive. He paid us some money to take a couple of bins up in the van. One of the bins had his tent and a big ole car battery in it. He only used it for five nights, but it lasted the whole time, no problem. I don't think it was a deep cycle, just a big ole battery from costco. He only used for the CPAP. I am pretty sure you would be able to find a battery (deep cycle or otherwise) in Reno when you arrived by plane, train, or automobile.

PS. I have major respect for any birgin that is planning this far ahead. Yay for stealth birgins. Ya'all rock.

[BBadger]

Two 6V 220AH batteries ($85 ea) should last the entire burn assuming the CPAP runs on 12V. Even one will do if the voltage can be boosted to required levels.

[gyre]

Eight amp/hours is not a lot of power.
Sounds like a small lithium pack.
A sealed lead gel pack might be better.
First consider a D cell alkaline pack, about 12 amp hours in duracell.
Nimh AA cell packs are another option.
Actual D cells are available in nimh, but costly.
You often see fake D cells sold. Don't be fooled.
Adapter sleeves are available, so you could make D packs and use AA when you wanted, or just get both.
Alkaline and nicad, nimh are different voltages. Plan for this.

New old stock of all types of nicad and nimh are floating around now.
There's disposable lithium too, notable for a flat voltage curve and light weight.
Worth adding to headlamps.
Don't know pricing in D, cheap in AA now.

I see backup lithium packs closed out all the time now.
I have one myself.
Phone companies often close them out, like motorola.

If you want to charge up batteries, get a good charger, smart charger.
Bring your own breakouts -THIS IS IMPORTANT!
Pay someone for access to generator power.

[Captain Goddammit]

Only as a last measure (though good you're planning for it), should you assume that everything you need must be brought in on your own back, not shared within a community of people that you may hook up with.

I wish to most politely disagree with that. I think out there you should plan as though no one else was gonna show up.

I'd like to retract that statement and change it to: plan for the worst -- that you'll need to bring everything on your own back -- but work hard towards securing means to share resources.

That's perfect !!!

[Captain Goddammit]

Re: battery and CPAP
You made an error in calculation. Grey Coyote said 4 AMPS, you said 4 WATTS. 4 amps at 12 volts is 48 watts.
I seriously doubt it could draw only 4 watts!
Also, you can usually only really use about half a battery's capacity.

[Divreon]

So, ResMed, the makers of my mask, have instructions for connecting a battery in a handy guide on their site.

They claim that 4 amp hours at 12v dc, will power my device, at the air pressure I use for 8 hours. That means that the gentleman who claimed the small battery lasted two nights was probably accurate.(if just barely)

They have an inverter specifically for it that plugs into a cigarette lighter, and there are clips to connect those to any battery. So that means, as long as I bring any battery to the Playa, I should be able to figure out power.

That's one problem mostly off the table. I just wish I could get transportation hammered out before next year so that I could stop worrying. Toronto people will probably be going so I can hit up some of them at their next regional event.

[gyre]

When comparing disposable and rechargeable, remember usage limits on rechargeable vs disposable, because you can drain the disposable down to minimum operating voltage, and voltages are not the same, 1.5V vs 1.2 V usually.
This varies tremendously between devices.
I've had fluorescents that wold run down to barely visible light, while the crappy GE models die quick.
I use to take the "worn out" batteries from the GE and use them in the hong kong variant for ages.

You may want to build battery packs to the maximum allowable voltage, to stay in operation range longer.

[Asquared]

<derailing from the battery speak for a second>

as a 2013 newb, i can def say less is more. the second you get there, you'll want to leave camp and explore and that feeling won't go away for the entire week! i camped with one other person only, and while it was right for my first burn, it may not be right for yours. think hard about it and decide what will work for you. socially speaking, camping with a group (even a small one) is advice i wish i would have listened to.

if you get the license, or travel with someone who can drive, fly into reno and rent a box truck (search the forum for the thread called "box truck camping tips" - you're welcome ). buy what you need there, or ship it to yourself in reno. it really is the easiest way to go for travel, you can literally park and go, and the after burn is super easy.

also, book/budget at least one night hotel in reno pre-burn and one night post-burn. believe me, you won't regret it.

welcome to eplaya

[GreyCoyote]

Not to beat a dead horse (batteries), but while I was avoiding a gaggle of teenagers in walmart yesterday, I did a shortcut through the toy section... and ran into a power option for you.

They make 12V battery packs for ride-on cars that are fairly cheap. They are made from gel cells. My math says one of these should be about 15 ah. These can be shipped by air and you can get a nifty little charger made just for them. If you are flying in, you could even buy one in Reno when you shop for water, etc.

Google "Peg Perego Battery" or "Power Wheels Battery". Might be an option for you.

[Divreon]

Yeah, need to work out a connector for them, but they do appear cheap and small, they are all non-spillable, and are much less than the battery packs I was looking at.

Most appear to be Lead Acid, and Power Wheels batteries are notorious for dying(probably because people don't charge them regularly, and store them for the winter without considering the battery being drained) I can also probably pick one up at a walmart in Reno the same day I arrive, preventing me from needing to ship it.

If I figure this out, I'm totally writing a Tutorial for CPAPS at burning man and linking to all the materials.

[Eric]

If I figure this out, I'm totally writing a Tutorial for CPAPS at burning man and linking to all the materials.

That just made me wonder - are we trying to reinvent the wheel here... and, yes, apparently we are (at least partially)

[gahb13]

What about taking the Burner Express? I admit I just scanned the previous posts so maybe this was mentioned or the reason why it isn't feasible was mentioned.
Last year was my first burn and my group (4 of us) took the burner express from the reno airport after running around town for some last minute supplies (water!!). Met some great people on the bus and got dropped off right at the BE camping spot. As ours was the first shade structure (cheap pop up gazibo) up we gathered an informal group of campers around us and had about 20 people sharing and informally acting as a pop up camp. Was great experience and met tons of people I wouldn't have otherwise.

All that to say that having used Burner Express last year it's now my prefered method of transportation to BM.

[bluemiragemi]

A dome? A swamp cooler? Marine batteries and solar panels? Are you going to bring a church organ too?

For a single person who is traveling across the country, and who doesn't drive, and who doesn't want to spend much money, you're bringing an extraordinary amount of stuff. Instead of a simple passenger asking for a ride and transporting some water/food, you're now a person who might need access to a trailer, or an entire back-seat. Two 60-gallon storage containers are nothing to sniff at; $150/crate sounds cheap actually. Add on all your water and your own self and you're looking at a significant cargo load. There might be people who can help, but given your locale, you'll need to work with people at your regionals to see if they can give you more help.

So how about downsizing your load? Yeah, you've read on the forums about all these great cooling solutions, about domes and camp lighting and all this stuff. Well, most of these setups are brought in by people with their own transportation means, and camp setups. They're luxuries that are only made possible by the luxury of transportation and money. Sure it's awesome to live in that level of comfort, but you've gotta pony up your own means for getting it there. From what you've stated, you don't have means, transportation or monetary, to bring your vision of comfort to the playa.

Consider whether you need some of the stuff you're bringing. Do you really need a dome when a backpacking tent and tarp will do? Do you actually need a swamp cooler bucket to stay cool? What are you even powering with those marine batteries and solar panels? Is it worth bringing?

Get in touch with your regionals. Maybe there will be some people there that can help. Maybe get hooked up with a camp too, so that you don't have to bring stuff like batteries. Overall, rethink what you actually need to bring.

Yes, all of this. I am a virgin burner. I live in Michigan and am flying out to Reno. I'm taking a backpacking tent and getting a solar tarp. I plan on paying for shipping one box full of stuff via Videogasm's truck that goes from Philly and Detroit to Reno. Rates are very reasonable and the crew is awesome. Food = ship in the box and bring in my backpack on the flight. Bring one luggage container that is on wheels, pack lightly for clothes. EL wire for my body at night. The gear in the truck will be camping gear, solar lights for the tent, rebar for staking, food, and MAYBE water or I'm going to ask a camp member to get water and/or stop for it via the Burner Express.

I'm trying to do this cheap and on my own and cutting back seems to be the way to go. The universe, she will provide, we need to take care of basics. Good thread and responses. Thanks!