Post Playa(wear) Debrief: What Worked/Didn't

[EmilyD]

Sorry this was a duplicate topic. Please go to Ratty's thread to share your lists:

http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic. ... 79&t=61911 (Thanks Zeke)

[CornMan]

http://eplaya.burningman.org/viewtopic. ... 79&t=61911

It was a bit glib of me to just post that link. In our enthusiasm of post BM celebration, we tend to make more than one thread on the same subject. Trilo will likely come around and combine the two. Some people get really upset with cross posting - I don't know why.

[EmilyD]

Hey Zeke, I've realized that the other thread is play clothing only. I want a de-brief thread for anything/everything so will bring this back to life.

I'm just going to toss in things as they occur to me since I can't type for long at a time.

What Worked:

* Keen zip up boots (comfy, great and not too hot) I kept needing to go in and out of the trailer and to keep the carpet clean shoved my feet into two discarded, plastic ice bags. It worked so well (except for blowing around when not on feet) I'm going to make some boot covers to slide into out of thick fabric...maybe fake fur - to brush the dust into the bag. More on this idea later.

* All clothes in trailer and outside costume bins separated by either ensemble or type (underwear together etc.) in giant ziplock bags worked GREAT! We even came home with some clean clothes and I didn't have to wash because the bags kept them dust-free.

* Shade structure!!! We skipped bringing our huge, difficult-to-assemble structure and instead just brought a popup canopy (the heavy kind) and used the shade cloth I made for the big one. We staked it down with "U" shaped rebar (essential) and the shade cloth (80%) did a great job of keeping the space in front of the trailer cool and dust-blocked.

* Portable hammock!!! Pounding rave music kept us awake all night so a midday nap in the hammock under the shade was critical to health and sanity.

More later...please add your own Worked/Didn't tips on all subjects!

[AntiM]

We had napping cots which doubled as couches. Be sure to look at the weight rating, a cheap cot will collapse under three people.

Larry put his utilikilt into a trash beg each evening. Too dusty to take into the tent, but didn't want it uber-dusted overnight.

Propane oven!!!!!!

I need better camp shoes. Bruised the tops of my feet with my clogs.

[Mojojita]

Brought WAY too much food and water (again)
The new leaves for our palm trees worked really well
Need a good pair of playa boots
Need to find a way to protect the skin on my face when I have to talk at work so can't cover it with a mask or bandanna (had 2nd degree wind/alkali burns)
Having a storage tent was really wonderful - not tripping over stuff in the old RV

[EmilyD]

Food that worked:

* Pre-cooked bacon...OMG yes! Pre-cook partially on a rack in the oven, cool, wrap, freeze. When you're ready to serve just fry up till crisp, there is virtually no fat to deal with (having left it at home.)

* Inari pockets (Thanks whoever told me about this Figjam?) Canned Inari (Japanese soy pockets) make great holders for sammiches days after your bread is long gone. I stuffed them with vacuum packed salmon, pre-cooked rice (packaged) cucumber, capers, seaweed strips, and re-hydrated shiitake mushrooms.

* Best tip of ALL!!! Long term freezing/chilling achieved by placing tall plastic containers into large ice chest, surrounding with ice. Place all food you wish to keep chilled and dry into containers. I was able to keep packages of guacamole (pre-frozen) corn tortillas, cheese, bacon, sausages, and eggs fresh and cool for the entire week. We re-iced the chest daily but sometimes it lasted more than a day.

[Sham]

I'm glad I was camping with you EmilyD. Your bacon was great as were your sandwiches. Next year we can work on new bacon derivatives!

[theCryptofishist]

But will you work on Bacon Integrals?

[RedHeaven]

Worked:
~Using Gorilla tape and bamboo to reinforce my janky EZup. I did a fine job....it was sturdier than good condition EZups.
~Air jordans and leg warmers
~Lots of Protien Smoothies
~No Mesh tent with zip up windows kicks ass! Forgot it in 09, did not go in 10, and 11 was mellow dust wise. This was its first real test and she lived up!! Although now she is falling apart because it was a cheapie at $150. Its a Trek. Its 10x 10, very roomy. I highly suggest this tent if you cannot afford a very expeinsive one.
~Regular ole household spray bottle for misting people at camp and yourself. Other people had gadgety misters that kept breaking, not my trusty household sprayer.
~Wearing a small compact back pack so you can boogie without bulk and you dont have to put it down, so it can stay safe.
~Using a glowie lotus beacon to guide camp mates to burns so we could watch em together
~LED Battery operated christmas light strands are much more easy to deal with than a strand of L Wire if you are lazy and could not get creative with a glowy costume. They hang around your neck nicely.
~Using HOTD as my anchor. Best music and peeps
~Saying No to ingesting More brain treats. Moderately keeping wits leads to better days

What Didnt:
~I tried to make my bins more maneagable by using more bins and not filling them up so much. Meh, not sure if I like this. then I just had more frickin bins to look through!!
~Dont pack away things you want to use often. Keep the essentials in one bin/box for easy access.
~Oddly enough, Going with the FLow. Sometimes its good to HAVE A PLAN. Its not the destination, its the journey, but having the destination sends you on a path. Sometimes I get lost in immediacy and find myself spinning.
~Redline energy drink is not a good coffee substitute
~Using HOTD as my anchor. Best music and peeps leads to less playa exploration!! Damn you!!
~Saying NO to ingesting more brain treats. Sometimes ya gotta just go for it!!

[EmilyD]

Vinegar...Vinegar...VINEGAR!!! The second most important liquid on the playa. I had a lot of trouble with my hands this time (not an issue last time) and unfortunately didn't bring thin gloves to wear when my fingers were aching from the dust. I did a lot of vinegar soaks, followed by Citafil hand cream but alas...needed to cover my poor paws to protect from more damage. Next time...

BRING COTTON GLOVES!

[EmilyD]

HOT CLEANING TIP from The Black Rock Beacon...this was in the Wednesday (Aug 29, 2012) edition on the Playa:

How to get rid of playa dust
by RHINO

In 2010, as an afterthought to his trip to the playa, Rhino took a Ziploc bag full of playa dust. Lots of Burners do that, as a reminder of being "one with the dust." Rhino, a highly qualified professional geologist, was different. He had the dust analyzed at his workplace.

It turned out to consist of about 53 percent calcite, 30 percent quartz, and petalspar, and the rest a mineral called halloysite, a type of kaolin clay (think kitty litter).

How to get rid of it? Burners for years have used vinegar on the dust; but a residue still remains. The secret for getting of all the dust hasn't been formulated or shared - until now. Add a solution of Calgon and water to the vinegar, and playa dust comes right off. How? Here comes the science bit: Calgon acts as an ecologically friendly surfactant.

Rhino is Chief Geologist for the Black Rock City Division of Geology. And you thought there wasn't any such thing.

[Bob]

Petalspar?

Haven't seen an analysis yet that has a credible breakdown of methods used.

[maladroit]

I love how the result of analysis was "to clean something dirty, use soap and water."

[EmilyD]

Petalspar?

Haven't seen an analysis yet that has a credible breakdown of methods used.

I'm going to try it. I've already done the vinegar-only route and of course everything is streaky tan. I'm pretty certain that RHINO does not own stock in the company that makes Calgon. I'll let you know the results of my test.

[Zhust]

The "ToFlame" bus from Reno to BRC and back was overall a positive experience.

The biggest plus is not driving. And getting wound up with my fellow Burners on the way there. And the way we used the 12-mile entrance when leaving, bypassing exodus and arriving in Reno just 3 or 4 hours after we left. And leaving with a rested, sober driver. All in air-conditioned comfort (with a bathroom).

Having only e-mail to contact was unnerving, and no way to contact the Reno/BRC trip site or drivers directly was too. I asked if I could leave from SaveMart instead of the airport (a stop along the way) and got approval, but the driver was surprised I was boarding there. The trip from the airport to BRC was slow to start — the stop at SaveMart turned into an all-out cat herding session to get everyone back on the bus and ready to go. The bus left the airport a little after 2 but it wasn't until about 4:30 or 5 before we left SaveMart. We disembarked on the Playa around 11 p.m.

On the return trip, the "bus stop" moved to 6:00 and K (originally 6:00 and Rod's Road) — thankfully Playa Info actually had the info on this. Apparently the drivers weren't keen on navigating a city full of ferrets-on-crack in the middle of the night in a full-size luxury coach. Who knew?

At $70 each way, it's about what I would have pitched in for gas anyway. Because I had 3x as much luggage as was included in one seat, they said to buy two seats. The $280 round-trip was a fair bit more expensive than I'd have liked.

I think many kinks will be ironed out next year, and I have one year's experience with it, so if they do it again, it will be a sane way to get to-and-from Burning Man.

[EmilyD]

I'm happy to report that Rhino's recipe DOES WORK! I had a hard time finding Calgon but finally did get some at the hardware store. I mixed it with equal parts of water and vinegar and slopped it on the VainVan with a clean rag. It FINALLY removed the streaky brown stains that have covered the art on my car. I had previously washed it three times with various concoctions of water, vinegar, Simple Green, soap. This finally worked. THANK YOU RHINO!

[danibel]

Calgon take me away!

[BBadger]

Hmm, I guess it makes sense that a water softener like Calgon would help. I wonder if soft water itself would help? I hate softened water normally.

[EmilyD]

I think we have pretty soft water here and it streaked pretty bad so I guess there's something in the Calgon (or any other water-softening product if you can find one) that breaks up the Kaolin/clay.

LOL danibel!

Here's another DID work...a big YES for those giant zipper-top plastic bags. They really work to keep clothes and costumes clean. The most useful size was the 12"x24" ones. I even pre-organized costumes in them and then tossed them into our outdoor bins. The bins themselves were great too, almost 2' tall, with snap-on lids and a hole in each handle for tethering down if needed. I brought a bungee and stake for each side but turned out not to need them because we kept them close to the trailer.

[^Rhino!]

[quote="Bob"]Petalspar?

Haven't seen an analysis yet that has a credible breakdown of methods used.[/quote]


Credible breakdown of methods used in this case, Bob, is a combination of inductively coupled plasma (ICP) atomic absorption spectrophotometry and dust-on slide petrogrpahy with a neutral refractive index liquid. Added to that is x-ray diffraction.

"petalspar" was a bad error by the editor, Bob. It sahould have read 'feldspar' in the article, though I COULD give you approximate percentages of plagioclase and orthoclase (not much of the former, plenty of the latter).

I could wax boringly scientific and eloquent about the whole affair but choose not to.

Sum total, it takes an anionic surfactant (Calgon) to lift the dirt and a weak organic acid to dissolve the calcite.

So why are you being such an irascible curmudgeon today?

For me, it's simply the pressures of work deadlines.
Please forgive me.

[^Rhino!]

[quote="EmilyD"]I'm happy to report that Rhino's recipe DOES WORK! I had a hard time finding Calgon but finally did get some at the hardware store. I mixed it with equal parts of water and vinegar and slopped it on the VainVan with a clean rag. It FINALLY removed the streaky brown stains that have covered the art on my car. I had previously washed it three times with various concoctions of water, vinegar, Simple Green, soap. This finally worked. THANK YOU RHINO![/quote]

You're welcome. Gifting the recipe was a thrill.

[RedHeaven]

Pre cooked bacon, simple and genius!! Thanks for that tip

[Savannah]

I finally spotted pre-cooked bacon in the store, though I hadn't looked for it before. I might buy some, and try it, though up 'til now, my bacon strategy has been based firmly in Serendipity. There is something very appealing about luck-based bacon--slightly too hot--being held out to a person by a pair of tongs.

SURPRISE BACON. Om nom nom.

[nilasnake]

having one of those shoe holders that go on the back of a closet door, that have i dunno, 20 pockets. we labeled: headlamps, sunscreen, batteries, goggles, bics/matches, swag, etc. worked great for finding little things easily.

[Savannah]

having one of those shoe holders that go on the back of a closet door, that have i dunno, 20 pockets. we labeled: headlamps, sunscreen, batteries, goggles, bics/matches, swag, etc. worked great for finding little things easily.

That's brilliant.

I will not be dissuaded by the fact that I do not usually have a door . . .

I could hang one from the bar of a portable clothing rack.

(I don't have one of those either, but it would be easier to get hold of than a door. )

[ygmir]

having one of those shoe holders that go on the back of a closet door, that have i dunno, 20 pockets. we labeled: headlamps, sunscreen, batteries, goggles, bics/matches, swag, etc. worked great for finding little things easily.

That's brilliant.

I will not be dissuaded by the fact that I do not usually have a door . . .

I could hang one from the bar of a portable clothing rack.

(I don't have one of those either, but it would be easier to get hold of than a door. )

*offers door on frankencamper*......I have lots!!

[AntiM]

Having things in plain sight does mean you will use them. Our stuff languishes in bins. But it also means that unless you have the pocket thingy IN an RV or some such thing, it will be a major dust-collector. Hmmm.

[VultureChow]

Having things in plain sight does mean you will use them. Our stuff languishes in bins. But it also means that unless you have the pocket thingy IN an RV or some such thing, it will be a major dust-collector. Hmmm.

They have some that are meant to deal with accessories other than shoes that have clear pockets with zippers. Just found this one online. This may solve a major organization problem for me!

http://www.shoedazzle.com/products/THE-NEAT-LIFE-1

The more I look, I see smaller ones for jewelry etc. The organizer might get dusty, but the thing inside stay clean.

[moonrise]

DIDN'T WORK
Cheap straw hats, they break up and shed and turn into MOOP (learned this in 2010 and tossed it into the fire).

DID WORK
High quality straw hat...the replacement one made it through two burns and is still going strong.

[theCryptofishist]

Ah, but can it make it through the gut of an elephant?