“Stay away from camps that are providing ‘services’ like stylists, hair and makeup, staff, or anyone bundling housing and tickets,” Feldman says. “These are red flags. The people who will be camping there probably won’t be as much fun, and the whole camp could get shut down mid-burn and you’ll be stuck without shelter, food, water, etc.”
If you’d like a extra sustainable camp, search for one which brings their meals scraps to a composting camp, collects cans to convey to Recycle Camp, and has some form of photo voltaic array.
One trick to find out how good a camp is, is to examine how the camp did by way of Leaving No Hint final 12 months. When the Burning Man crew does a sweep of the playa after it’s throughout, they be aware down how a lot MOOP (matter misplaced, or litter) is left on every camp’s website. If the camp is within the pink, that’s a nasty signal.
Decide Your Shelter
Your choices for shelter embrace a tent, an RV or a trailer. You possibly can additionally strive a Shiftpod, a reflective shelter designed by burners for desert tenting.
Hardcore burners will swear up and down that you just don’t want air-conditioning to take pleasure in your burn—only a battery-powered fan to your tent—however that may not be true for for much longer. Close by Reno, Nevada, is heating up sooner than every other metropolis because of local weather change.
“As much as I hate AC units because they’re bad for the environment, they can be seriously life-saving depending on the heat,” says Collins. She says you’ll find a used AC unit for between $200 and $500. In case your camp doesn’t present energy, you’ll must convey a small generator—photo voltaic panels can’t deal with an AC unit.
For those who do tent camp, ensure that your camp has a quiet, effectively shaded, and even air-conditioned shared lounge space the place you possibly can nap through the day. Or know the place your mates with air-conditioning are staying, in case of emergencies.
The hexayurt constructed from taped insulation panels was extra common, but it surely’s annoying to construct and transport, so the Shiftpod, an insulated dome that sleeps two comfortably, has largely taken its place. Actually, each Collins and Rueben Pacheco, who attended his first burn in 2009 and brings a gnome-themed artwork automotive to the playa, personal a Shiftpod. Feldman purchased a trailer a few years in the past however may get a Shiftpod sooner or later.
The Shiftpod sells for $1,600, is available in a big duffel, and will be arrange in 20 minutes. It retains mud out fairly effectively, and people who stayed in them throughout final 12 months’s deluge reported that their flooring stayed dry. “Seriously, a great investment,” Collins says.
Many burners who fly into a close-by metropolis decide to choose up an RV to finish the journey. With its built-in AC, beds, kitchen, and fridge, it makes for extra consolation and lighter packing. It’s additionally far more comfy than a automotive in a 12-hour-long exodus line. The draw back is the expense (price range at the very least $2,000 per particular person for rental, charges, and gasoline), and the stress of piloting that lumbering monster round Reno and into and out of Black Rock Metropolis, particularly since Burning Man’s governing physique, the Org, banned RV supply beginning final 12 months. Oh, and RVs are hands-down probably the most polluting shelter at Burning Man, with a big carbon footprint and a big generator draw, which suggests extra noise and particulate air pollution on the playa.
Determine How You’ll Get There
You will get to the burn (so as of value) by taking the Burner Bus, driving your personal automotive in, driving an RV in, or flying in.
