Burning Man 2016! Planning thread...

[elmer]

Originally Posted by BamCamper

Hi Elmer,
But I did want to mention that the "pump trucks" circle the playa mid week, usually on Thursday for our area. They will pump both your tanks for a fee. You just flag them down and they are happy for the business.

I think that there may already be a pump truck scheduled to come to our camp, so I'll see if I can get in on the action.

With only a 30G fresh tank, and a 15G grey tank, I suspect that my friend and I are just going to have to be water-wise during the week (although we're taking lots of extra bottled water just-to-be-sure),

Originally Posted by Monte B

I've used this at the burn for the past 15+ years... works great!
May sound complicated but builds pretty easy.

That sounds like a great idea, thanks! It lead me off on a research trip across the interwebs where I found a whole bunch of interesting stuff.

If looks like that design of evaporator is frowned-upon these days, and that there's a newer design that is recommended ...

http://burningman.org/event/preparat...ay-water/#tips

As it is ... since I'm joining a long-established existing camp, I guess that I should ask the camp boss what to do about grey water.

Since they seem to be already planning on a pump-truck, I guess that I'll just have to go that route if my water usage turns out to be higher than I'm hoping.

Thanks for the help!

Next thing is to figure out if using Reflectix on the Windows is really going to help, and whether leaving the Windows open for airflow, but using furnace-filters to cover the inside window frames, is a good or bad idea.

[nickclifford]

question for experienced Burners, how to do you keep your trailers "cool" .... does anyone rig up some kind of shade to keep off direct sunlight ? I really want to go one year, maybe 2017 ... is there a check list sheet for taking an AS to the desert ? ... cheers, Nick

[xxotxx]

Hey all, it looks like we and our little Bambi are going to be camping with a friend of mine at opulent Temple, but I would love to stop by and see you guys and introduce myself to all that I don't know. Where will you guys be camping exactly?

P.s. for the last post it seemed you might be looking for people who have the ability to give interesting talks. I don't know if this at all would be of any interest, but my significant other is it atourney and is considered the the US expert on human trafficking and slavery, not the most upbeat subject, but one of great importance and quite interesting.

[RMB]

First: A SNAFU ... no power to the fogger. No fog. Nada. Damnation!

Then : A dismantling by amateurs, the discovery of a broken/ lost inline fuse; a by pass......

Then: a bench test.

Wow ! :-)) Hope you like it too.

[deepfringe]

Originally Posted by nickclifford

question for experienced Burners, how to do you keep your trailers "cool" .... does anyone rig up some kind of shade to keep off direct sunlight ? I really want to go one year, maybe 2017 ... is there a check list sheet for taking an AS to the desert ? ... cheers, Nick

From this forum I took the following advice and found it to work well.. I park oriented east west, I use silvered bubble insulation from home depot on the south side windows. Also the morning- east side of the trailer. I use gaffers tape to put it up, all residue cleaned easily with googone later. I use silver bubble insulation on my skylight and bedroom fan. I use the best pollen furnace air filter that fits in my bedroom window, at night I run my dinning room fantastic fan to pull air through the filter and cool down the entire trailer. seems to work well, filter lasted the entire week. With solar panels I can run fan all night and have plenty remaining. I also put a similar filter on my refer inlet

[Zeppelinium]

Originally Posted by jgeurin

..Jilly Bean is an MD,PhD psychiatrist/psychologist/ university professor with expertise in women's issues (hormones & mood, sexual dysfunction, etc) so we could probably coax a talk out of her - any requests? - she can talk on dozens of topics and is a really dynamic speaker. Right now her big thing is the microbiome ...

Obi W,

Would love to hear Jilly discourse on any an all. Maybe a big public talk and then some "campfire" talks over Margaritas! Love anything about the microbiome--fecal transplants and all.

Dr Quark

[Mtrid3r]

Swamp cooler. DIY for about $20

Originally Posted by nickclifford

question for experienced Burners, how to do you keep your trailers "cool" .... does anyone rig up some kind of shade to keep off direct sunlight ? I really want to go one year, maybe 2017 ... is there a check list sheet for taking an AS to the desert ? ... cheers, Nick

[NevadaGeo]

Looks like we need to add ChollaBill and Anne, our Best Playa Post Cards inventors. Anne is retired Hallmark cards. Bill makes bacon sometimes, and can't walk too far so we like to have their trailer near the canopy/carport

Dr. Quark// 1 // 23' //* Zep
Archie // 2 // 20' //* RGColeman
Bam // 1 // 19' // (aka *Laurel) Adjacent to bar area
Tranquilo//1//20'// Adjacent to bar area
NevadaGeo // 2 // 31' (*Perry)
Gnewel // 4 // 25'
RMB // 2 // 23' // (*Michel and Bob) Adjacent to art car
RMB// 2 more with car (* Jody and Jean)
Gigi // 3 // 27' // Gigi, Crash & BeeKeeper (*Jina, Rex & Tanya) - Adjacent to 2 tent campers w/ rental truck Punky & Shep (*Billie & Frank)
Mtrid3r // 1 // 19' // Adjacent to bar area
JMRCohen // ? // 19'
Funkill // ? // 27'
Cosmic//2//25'
Obi Wan//3//25'//Obi Wan, Jilly Bean, Shroom Yoda (in a small yurt adjacent to our van)
ChollaBill and Anne with a bambi.

[NevadaGeo]

Here's the 2016 layout in case we can't find it when we want. There'll be one in the Whowhatwhywherefor book we get at the gate too but we loose that before we get to camp usually. Looks like we'll be about the type of street corner layout as last year, with Bam's art work and Ron's bar in the corner, canopy next to it. Unless we aren't, the Placement Gods don't even know until it happens.

[jgeurin]

Zep,
We do plan to use our generator during the day from time to time for AC and to keep our house batteries from dying off. Its exhaust pipe is on the driver's side of the motorhome.
ObiWan (Jim)

[jgeurin]

Originally Posted by elmer

I just wanted to say 'hello' to everyone that's going, and 'thanks' for the tips that folks have given in this thread.

I'm a 1st-time burner with an old mostly-original Argosy, who's been tempted into going by an old friend that's been there once-before. We're joining (and helping out) at one of the existing theme camps way up in the presumably-noisy 6:30 & Arno region, so I expect that I'm not going to get much sleep during the event.

I'm hurriedly trying to finish off some deferred-maintenance on the Argosy, and trying to get all prepared, and was wondering if anyone had any other tips that might help.

In particular ... with the huge front window on the Argosy, should I be trying to tape-up some reflective-film on the windows?


Howdy, and thanks!

Elmer,
I will be bringing a big roll of reflective film. I used it last year - taped it on the outside using blue painter's masking tape - and it worked great. Will have some to share if you need it. Look for the black Interstate.
ObiWan (Jim)

[Zeppelinium]

Originally Posted by jgeurin

Zep,
We do plan to use our generator during the day from time to time for AC and to keep our house batteries from dying off. Its exhaust pipe is on the driver's side of the motorhome.
ObiWan (Jim)

No problem. We will park you accordingly.
Dr Quark

[Zeppelinium]

Attention, Burners:

I just saw a GPS map of BRC and it appears that 12:00 is oriented approximately bearing 060 ((that's about 2:00 for you civilians). That means that our normal parking orientation, eg, pointed basically at the ring road, will be bad for the dust storms.

So all you early arrival people, don't be putting down permanent stakes until I get there, probably around 10 AM on Friday. We are going to have to do some serious adjustments to make the camp a happy place when the wind comes up.

Dr Quark

[RMB]

the VVV is Finished!

Final testing took place today; we discovered that it needed a 6000w generator to power the fogger, thank goodness one was found and it fit; the cone tarp fits pretty well; all that remains are the lights, of which we have about 3000 which we will do on site with a lot of help!

We arrive on the 26 late, or maybe the 27 early - depends on how fast we can go dragging this thing down the highways.

Looking forward to meeting old friends and making new ones :-)

Bob & Michel

PS attached is a pic of the of the fog test :-)

[BamCamper]

Originally Posted by jgeurin

Zep,
We do plan to use our generator during the day from time to time for AC and to keep our house batteries from dying off. Its exhaust pipe is on the driver's side of the motorhome.
ObiWan (Jim)

No worries. Most of us use our generators at some point during the day and with all the other playa noise it's really not a big deal.

[BamCamper]

Originally Posted by Zeppelinium

Attention, Burners:

I just saw a GPS map of BRC and it appears that 12:00 is oriented approximately bearing 060 ((that's about 2:00 for you civilians). That means that our normal parking orientation, eg, pointed basically at the ring road, will be bad for the dust storms.

So all you early arrival people, don't be putting down permanent stakes until I get there, probably around 10 AM on Friday. We are going to have to do some serious adjustments to make the camp a happy place when the wind comes up.

Dr Quark

Some of us will arrive Thursday so let us know your thoughts about the layout. We will need to get going on the set up. Orient toward the numbered or lettered streets? And we will need to use the corner for the bar area regardless.

[elmer]

Originally Posted by jgeurin

Elmer,
I will be bringing a big roll of reflective film. I used it last year - taped it on the outside using blue painter's masking tape - and it worked great. Will have some to share if you need it. Look for the black Interstate.
ObiWan (Jim)

Thank you!

I'm trying to keep up the whole self-reliant ethos, and have just ordered some Reflectix to attempt to create the screens myself ... but I may be knocking on your door in a week or so with a sheepish look on my face if I mess things up.

I have nobody local to help, so I'm trying to figure things out from online resources.

I've just been trying to replace a broken fluorescent fixture, and made the silly mistake of leaving the AC power connected ... which blew a fuse, and seems to have made my 40-year-old power converter unstable (i.e. 1/2 the time that I plug it in, there's a 60Hz flicker on my new LED bulbs).

Replacing the old Power Converter is something that's been on my to-do list for a few years, but now it's jumped to my "top priority".

I guess that the sheer "unknowns" are seeming a bit overwhelming in the last week of run up to pulling out of the driveway.

I'm sure that you've all been through this before, and can share a good laugh at the potential over-preparation!

[Zeppelinium]

Originally Posted by BamCamper

... Orient toward the numbered or lettered streets? And we will need to use the corner for the bar area regardless.

Wind is generally out of the SSW (bearing about 210 degrees). If BRC is rotated as much as I think it is this year, then parking parallel to the lettered streets would be slightly better than parallel to the numbered streets.

In any event, the corner should be set up like it always is, eg, keeping it open for at least 60' along both the numbered and lettered street that forms the corner. Bam, you usually park parallel to the numbered street and immediately adjacent to the open space, which is fine.

Here are the general guidelines:
1. Keep the corner open for a radius of about 60'
2. Allow for spaces at the edge of the open area for Bam, ChollaBill, the post card tent, and the art car.
3. Arrange all other parking so that (a) everyone can be pumped, (b) late arrivals can easily access remaining spaces, (c) early departures can get out without having to move someone, (d) maintain a smaller open space in the interior as the "community center," and (e) park reasonably close together for wind protection and to allow us to give up space to random guests if we don't fill it.

Things should work out if we mass along the two streets that form the corner. Just don't randomly park along the back street or the interior edge.

[BamCamper]

Yep. Same as always. Thursday posse will set up the corner and interior space and you can wrangle all the aluminum.

Gina...when are you arriving and how much space do you need for your art? Is the peace sign coming this year? Anything else large?

[BamCamper]

Originally Posted by elmer

Thank you!

I guess that the sheer "unknowns" are seeming a bit overwhelming in the last week of run up to pulling out of the driveway.

I'm sure that you've all been through this before, and can share a good laugh at the potential over-preparation!

You'll be just fine. One of the wonderful things about Burning Man is that it is a community of great people. If you forgot something or need something, there will be someone there to help.

One thing to know for sure is that you will get dusty. No matter what you do and how much you prepare. The weather is unpredictable but you can count on dust storms. It gets in everything. Doesn't damage anything. But it's there. And removable. Mostly. 😎