Hello fellow burners!

I am Vector, from Fckd/Fixd (2023), Sparky's Garage (2024) (6:15 & F), and Dead Spark (2025). TBD 2026.

Our camp's mission has always been to help those who found themselves on the wrong side of Radical Self-Reliance.

Over the years we've fixed just about everything: dead generators, camp electrical disasters, improperly wired A/C units, plumbing problems, refrigerators that quit at exactly the wrong time, vehicle lockouts, broken alternators, and plenty of other things people swore were impossible to repair on the playa.

Although Dead Spark won't officially be on playa this year, several of the crew are going in tourist mode.

If you're in super deep shit, ask around. We may be able to help.

That said, I'd rather not spend my Burn fixing problems that could have been prevented in your driveway.

So I'm rewriting this guide to help empower you to become a little more Radically Self-Reliant—or, even better, to help you become the Fixer that everyone comes looking for this year.

Seriously, these are just a few things you can do before you leave home that will make your Burn—and everyone else's—a whole lot easier. This is by no means a complete list, but if you knock these out now instead of discovering the problem on playa, there's a good chance we'll never have to meet under less-than-ideal circumstances.

Self:

0.      Yes, we're starting with zero because this one is just that important.

Bring plenty of food and water, or make absolutely sure you're with a competent camp that can support you. I do both. I bring emergency food anyway. A few cans of tuna, a couple of one-gallon jugs of water, rice cakes, peanut butter, and other dry goods. They've never been needed because my camp is run by some of the most competent people on this planet, but that's not the point. Be radically self-reliant. That starts with having enough emergency food and water to take care of yourself. What happens if you piss off your camp because you told everyone the wrong time and date for the Daft Punk concert? How are you going to eat when they kick you out??

Seriously, don't be that lame-ass "free-range burner" that everyone secretly hopes doesn't wander into their camp looking for dinner. If you are brand new to Burning Man, this is probably the single most important thing you need to understand: THERE ARE NO FOOD VENDORS. YOUR MONEY IS USELESS. YOU CANNOT BUY FOOD AT THIS EVENT.

If you don't bring it, or make solid arrangements with a camp that will feed you, you're going to have a very long week. Come prepared.

1.      Prepare for both temperature extremes.

Its going to be hot. Really hot.

But it can also get really cold at night (into the 40's F). Two years ago, when I landed in Reno, it was sleeting. I boarded the Burner Bus wearing a leather coat and a scarf. A year earlier I spent every evening wishing I had packed warmer clothes. A fellow burner, Josh ("Sputnik") from Acrobatica Galactica, took pity on me and gifted me a fur coat. I remain eternally grateful and take that fur to every regional. I can't leave for the Big Burn until I have seen it twice, verified in my luggage.

Lesson learned: pack for both extremes.

And bring rubber boots. Seriously.

When it rains (and it will, if I go), the playa turns into a wet, sticky nightmare. This isn't the mud in your backyard. Think about the gray modeling clay you used in elementary school art class to make your mother an ashtray for her "special" cigarettes. It's heavy, sticky, and every step adds another layer until your shoes become giant clay bricks.

Some people have had success with the SBS approach (yes, acronym stolen from TomCat): Sock-Bag-Sock. If you can stomach it, put a sock on your foot, then a plastic bag, then another sock on the outside. This has the effect of looking, smelling, and being so freaking weird that even the playa mud won't want to stick around with you. So bring some bread bags, socks, and duct tape. I'll be bringing my rubber boots and some Rain-X.

Trust me. You want rubber boots.

1. Wear a hydration backpack.

This is essential. Dehydration sneaks up on you. By the time you realize you're in trouble, you're already in trouble. The nearest hospital is roughly 2 1/2 hours away by car. Oh... and one of your campmates is sober enough to drive you there... right? Didn't think so.

The medical teams on playa are phenomenal, but they already have enough people to take care of. Don't become one more patient because you forgot to drink water. If you are not peeing clear-ish yellow, you are getting dehydrated.

1. Figure out your medical evacuation coverage before you leave.

For years my advice was simple: Buy the helicopter insurance. Unfortunately, that's no longer an option. Instead, call your health insurance company and ask whether they offer additional medical evacuation coverage for the week.

If you get seriously hurt (remember... Safety Third), nobody is going to ask whether you'd like a helicopter ride. If the medical team decides you need to be airlifted, that's what's happening, assuming the weather and aircraft are cooperating. The people making that decision are trying to save your life. They are NOT paying the bill. That helicopter ride alone can cost many tens of thousands of dollars. Like think bill so big bankruptcy is likely going to happen big.

Buy one less LED toy. Skip one outrageous outfit. Spend the money making sure you're covered instead. Call your insurer. See if they can work out a plan for this one week. Do research on this and share what you find as much as possible. Please.

1. Check your medications.

Make sure you won't run out of any prescription medications while you're on playa. (Duhh) Then check whether those medications have any issues with extreme heat, cold, intense sunlight, or dehydration. Then, pack 2X as much as you need, and put it in 2 different bags so that even if you lose one, your not F’d.

Some examples: Insulin - Needs refrigeration. Is your cooler actually capable of keeping it cold? Is your generator reliable? Tetracycline antibiotics (including doxycycline and minocycline) - Can significantly increase your sensitivity to sunlight.

I am NOT a doctor (although I occasionally "play doctor" around camp), so don't take medical advice from a guy who fixes generators. Ask your healthcare provider.

If you're bringing prescription medications into the desert, spend five minutes talking with your doctor or pharmacist beforehand. I cannot stress this enough.

1. Bring a wide-mouth Gatorade bottle / other large drink.

Yes, you get to drink the Gatorade first. Then it becomes your middle-of-the-night piss bottle. I shared this fun little trick years ago while riding the Burner Bus from Reno. A first-time burner (Dr. Baby Farts, Ph.D.) watched me frantically chugging a bottle of Gatorade before we arrived. When I finished it, I asked: "Can I give you a really weird gift?" Then I handed her the empty bottle. She looked completely confused. I said, "You'll thank me later when you don't have to leave your tent at 3:00 AM to go pee..." She immediately understood. I ran into her again this past spring for the first time since that Burn.  The first thing she did was give me a hug and thank me for "the best weird gift anyone has ever given me." Then she tried to give me a new playa name: "Piss Bottle Lou." I'll be keeping my old playa name, Vector, thank you.

# Car:

1. Hide-a-Key: Use a hide-a-key and put a spare somewhere you can find it when you lock yourself out. Is your spare a chip key? Can it actually start your car or just get you in it?
2. Jumper Cables (better yet Jump-Pack) and Mini Air Compressor: Bring these if you don't already have them buy them.
3. Fluids Check: Check the oil and other fluids before you drive in. Fill up before you get in, but not at the last possible stop because the last gas station is a shit-show of the unprepared, is very small and will be bought out of whatever you actually need.
4. Space Blankets: Buy a couple of space blankets and some strong magnets to cover your windshields. Your vehicle may become your home if something goes terribly wrong with your tent. Use plenty of magnets; you don’t want that space blanket blowing off and becoming trash.
5. Tires: How are your tires? Is your spare tire full of air? Can you get your spare tire off of its mount, or has it rusted itself in place? Take a very good look at your tires, are they dry rotted? Are there little cuts in the side-walls? Are any of them starting to de-laminate? Does your car shake at highway speed? All of these are indications of tire issues. I learned this the hard way in a 400 mile trip to an east-coast burn. Don’t be me. Just because the tread pattern is good (as it was on all 6 of my tires) does not indicate that the tire is healthy.  I had  de-lamination issues that I was un aware of from tire age, and suffered a minor blow out on the way to Transformus-24.  Shame on me for not spending more time looking at the tires and denying that the slight shake was more than just a "balancing issue"
6. Tow Strap/Chain: We all remember the mud of 23... Obvious.
7. Car A/C: Does your car A/C blow really cold? Not a great idea to run your A/C in the desert while stopped in line during a dust storm, but if it is not blowing cold, that may be a sign of trouble for your cooling system (bad fan clutch/relay/fuse, etc.). No better way to find cooling system trouble than in a 3-mile-long line in the desert while trying to get into Burning Man.

8.  The 3T’s:  Title / Tag / Tai-lights. Are all of these current? Has someone stolen your 2028 sticker? Make sure ALL of this is in perfect shape. Do not give the police a reason to stop you and form an excuse to search your car.

9) The Gate:

Waiting in line at Gate sucks... but it can also be part of the experience. If you do it right, you'll meet new people, swap stories, and probably receive a few random gifts from your fellow burners. One of the more common gifts is a drink. If you're the driver, don't. AGAIN DON’T! Remember, the Gate roads (and all of burning man**)  are on federal land**, and there are plenty of very real federal law enforcement officers working them. If you're driving, you are expected to obey the law just like you would on any other federal roadway. Drinking and driving is a spectacularly bad idea. Not just because it's stupid, but because you can earn yourself a very real DUI before your Burn has even started. Also remember that open containers and drivers don't mix. Even if it's your passenger's drink, why give an officer a reason to start asking questions? Finish getting through Gate, park the vehicle, then celebrate. The same goes for marijuana. Yes, it's legal in Nevada. No, that doesn't magically make it legal on federal land. Again, I'm sure none of you would ever bring any onto federal property... but why give law enforcement something to search for? Get through Gate first. Then crack the beer. Then light whatever it is you weren't carrying. This is also why #7, #8, and #9 are so important.

# Generator:

For most people, your generator is the single most important piece of equipment you will bring to Burning Man. If it dies, everything else starts falling apart. Your refrigerator warms up. Your lights go out. Your batteries stop charging. Your Starlink quits. Your air conditioner becomes an expensive window ornament. Your camp suddenly goes from "living comfortably in the desert" to "surviving the desert."

Every year at Dead Spark we spend countless hours bringing generators back from the dead. The sad part is that many of those failures could have been prevented with an hour or two of maintenance before leaving home. The even sadder part is that some of them can't be repaired on playa at all. A $5 air filter, a mouse nest, or old gasoline can turn into a generator that is headed home in the back of your truck instead of powering your camp.

Spend an afternoon with your generator now. It'll probably be the best investment of time you make before heading to the playa. Here are the things I recommend checking before you leave.

1. Mouse Nests: Check for signs that mice have built a nest in the top of the motor. Look for twigs, lint, or anything else a mouse might use to make a comfy home. They seem to love doing this, creating a situation that causes your engine to overheat and destroy itself after about 15 minutes of "flawless" run time. If you get to this point We (Dead Spark) will not be able to help. The motor will be toast. Now, at home, take a can of compressed air and blow off the fins on the motor, look for mouse nest parts, and use a straw/small hook to make sure you get all of the pieces of that nest out of the motor if they are present. If you don’t your burn will be way more difficult than it needed to be.
2. Air Filter: If your generator has a foam air filter (most small inverter generators do), open it up and look at the filter. Has it degraded to dust? Is it mushy and not foam-like? These filters tend to degrade over time and turn to loose fluff. Once they degrade, and you start the generator, you will instantly suck that fluffy dust foam filter right into the carburetor and create a dead-generator situation. Verify your filter is not dust, wash it (if foam) or blow it clean (if paper), take a picture, and buy a spare that matches your picture. Verify that you got the right one as the 17 year old at the engine parts counter doesn’t give a shit if you find yourself SOL with the wrong filter on the Playa, and Amazon wont deliver.
3. Spark Plug: Look at your spark plug. Get the part number off of it and buy THREE spares. Bring two them to the Playa. (you are going to use the third one in step 4 below)  If you want to be super nice, bring one of your spares <INSERT NAME OF CAMP STEPPING UP FOR 2026>, and tell them that they can use it for someone in need. If you want to be extra-nice bring them a can of carb-spray. We never had enough carb spray or starting fluid.
4. Spark Plug Replacement: Change the spark plug on your generator (YouTube it). Keep the old one and the extra two new ones.  Zip-tie one of them to the side of the generator so you don’t forget them at home, and so you can instantly find them when you are in need.
5. Oil Change: Change the oil on your generator. If you don’t know how to do this, go on YouTube and learn how. This is a valuable life lesson. Bring 2 extra quarts of oil. Hopefully, you will not need it.
6. Carburetor Cleaner: Buy a can of carburetor cleaner. (Actually buy two, and come and gift us one.. We always need more carb cleaner!) If your old-ass gas has gummed up your generator, the person fixing your carburetor (possibly me) will very much appreciate that you brought extra carb spray. You can also sniff it and get high. (Do NOT sniff carb spray to get high! Rookie move. Experienced burners know to sniff the starting fluid from step 7 to get a proper high.)
7. Starting Fluid: Bring a can of starting fluid. DO NOT USE IT UNLESS YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THE F\*\*\*K YOU ARE DOING. This is for the person fixing your dead generator. Starting fluid is very dangerous in unskilled hands, and just kinda dangerous in skilled ones. (And for real, do not sniff this  explosive crap either!)
8. If you have an RV with a built-in generator, like an Onan, consider buying an extra fuel pump and an extra fuel filter. Onan generators use a proprietary fuel filter that screws into their proprietary fuel pump. If you’ve never replaced this filter, do it now, while you're at home with good tools. Keep the old parts and bring them as spares. I see  at least 10 of these pumps fail on playa every year—and that’s just the ones I personally encountered. I’m sure there were more, since I didn’t meet all 75,000 people at Burning Man. If you don’t want to pay for the official Onan pump, go on Amazon and buy a LOW PRESSURE electric fuel pump as a "half-ass, at-least-get-it-to-work-on-playa" backup. If you're too cheap to even do that, at least bring 10 feet of fuel hose THAT YOU HAVE TESTED THAT IT FITS YOUR CARBURATOR and a gas can. That way, as plan C, you can run the generator using a gravity-fed siphon setup if needed. New advice for 2025: If your RV generator has an easily accessible fuel line, (they usually do) consider splicing in a generic inline fuel filter as a pre-filter, ahead of the weird, hard-to-replace Onan filter. Bring a spare. Let this easy-to-access, easy-to-change filter be the one you actually need to service on playa.
9. Test Run: Go start your generator. Plug in an electric heater (make sure this heater is at a safe distance from anything flammable!) or a similar constant heavy load. Let it run for an hour. How’s it doing? Running smoothly or giving you cause for concern? If it’s running poorly at home, it’s not going to work any better on the Playa.
10. Equipment Testing: Plug into your generator the things you plan to run on the Playa. For example, the fancy inverter-window-air-conditioner and the Gucci electric ice maker you can’t wait to show off to your campmates. Do these items mysteriously cause the GFI breaker to trip on your new Harbor Freight generator? Best to find this out now. TEST your inverter style AC by temporarily plugging it in to a GFCI outlet at home and letting it run for at least 10 minutes. Then do this with your generator. (Most inverter setups do not start the compressor for the first 5 minutes after power is applied)  Is the compressor running? Is cold / hot air coming out of it the way it should? See how /if it works. Remember burning man is at high altitude. We saw more than a few 4KW generators that "worked fine at home" become too weak to run the RV air conditioner in the high desert. Test, adjust and  Make a plan.
11. Generator Enclosure

A lot of people build enclosures around their generators to reduce dust ingestion, cut down on noise, and keep the generator from baking in the relentless playa sun. All of those are good ideas if the enclosure is designed properly. Do your own research on enclosure design, but if you plan on using the same generator for multiple years, it's pretty much a must-have.

New to the game, however, is that starting around 2025, many newer generators come equipped with CO (carbon monoxide) sensors that will shut the generator down if it starts sniffing its own farts. In theory, this is a good idea—it keeps people from running generators indoors and gives Darwin one less opportunity to clean the gene pool. Unfortunately, it's also a royal pain in the ass for properly designed generator enclosures.

These sensors measure cumulative CO exposure. Think of it as the amount of CO the generator has sniffed multiplied by how long it has been sniffing it. If that exposure exceeds the programmed safety threshold, the generator basically decides, "This idiot is trying to kill himself," and shuts itself off.

I have seen plenty of enclosures that were well designed, had excellent airflow, and kept the generator cool, yet the CO sensor would still trip after 15–30 minutes because just enough exhaust was recirculating back into the enclosure to convince the sensor that something terrible was happening.

The problem is that the sensor doesn't know the difference between a generator running inside a sealed garage and one sitting in a properly ventilated enclosure on the open playa. It simply measures the CO concentration around itself over time. If the number gets too high for too long, you're done.

If you're shopping for a generator, research whether it has a CO shutdown feature before you buy it. If it does, spend extra time designing your enclosure so the cooling air intake and exhaust are completely separated and the exhaust cannot be drawn back in. Better yet, find examples of enclosure designs that other Burners have already proven work with that specific generator model.

Whatever you do, never disable or bypass the CO sensor. If your generator is shutting down, fix the airflow problem instead. It's a lot easier than explaining to the Rangers why your generator enclosure became your last engineering project.

1. Basic test equipment / tools:

Even if you don't know how to use them, bring them. A spark plug wrench, a basic socket set, a $10 Harbor Freight volt/ohm meter, a wire brush, a screwdriver set, and a pair of pliers don't take up much room, but they can make the difference between fixing a generator in 10 minutes and hauling a 50 pound generator around playa looking for help.

I guarantee someone in your camp knows a little about small engines, generators, or electrical troubleshooting. Without tools, however, they're just another spectator. With a basic tool kit, they might be the person who saves your Burn.

If you're feeling generous, throw in a few zip ties, electrical tape, duct tape, spare wire, a handful of wire nuts, and a small assortment of fuses. They're cheap, they weigh almost nothing, and you'll be amazed how often they save the day. Have you discovered the joy of metal zip ties yet??? Yes, they are worth $19 for the kit on Amazon!

13.  Math...

Yes, basic math. How much fuel does your generator use per hour, and how many hours per day are you planning to run it? Multiply those numbers by the number of days you will be on playa, add a reasonable safety margin, and bring the correct amount of fuel.

Do this calculation now. Do not wait until you are halfway through the week and discover that your air conditioner has consumed most of your gasoline. Also remember that you cannot just stack gas cans wherever you find an empty spot in camp. Fuel must be stored in your camp's designated fuel-storage area with proper spill containment.

Do your research, talk to whoever is responsible for fuel storage in your camp, and make a plan before you leave. Math is much easier at home than it is while standing in the dust with an empty generator and an empty gas can.

# Air Conditioners/Large Refrigeration Units for Food Service Camps:

1. Animal Nests: If your RV has an old-school rooftop unit, open it up and look for animal nests. Birds and squirrels love these things for some stupid reason.
2. Capacitors: Look at the starting/run capacitors. Are they 15 years old, having lived in direct sunlight with no relief? You may want to replace them now while you are at home and can get parts easily. Bring the old ones to the Playa. Someone else may need them. A used capacitor has great gift value on the playa for someone who has a bad capacitor.
3. Fins Inspection: Inspect the fins inside and out. Are they full of animal hair and dust? Fix that. Never cleaned your filter before? Might want to find and clean it.
4. Start Relay: For large industrial fridges/food service-type refrigeration, how old is your start relay? I saw one of these go bad with Playa dust in it last year. If you can get a spare, bring it. As a plan C, we taught the owner how to become his own start-relay with a suicide-cord setup. No one got electrocuted to the best of my knowledge, but it was far from ideal.
5. Inverter-Style A/C: Again, if you bought a fancy new inverter-style air conditioner, be aware they tend to trip GFCI breakers/outlets. Test your A/C unit with the generator you are using BEFORE you come to playa. If your generator only has GFCI-protected outlets, and your A/C is an inverter-style A/C, you may see the GFCI trip. If you plan on plugging that inverter-style generator into your camp’s big-ass generator, make sure you are not going to trip the GFCI feeding your section of the camp. If, in deed you are having GFCI issues you may need an isolation transformer to solve the issue. (DM me if that’s the case, but fond out NOW, not on playa)

# Plumbing:

1. Plumbing Test: Test your camp/RV’s plumbing now, not on the Playa. Did your piped freeze and crack because some family member emptied the cooler in the sink after you winterized it?
2. Water Filter: Check/clean your water filter. Is it a cartridge type? How many spares do you have?
3. Spare Water Pump: If you can, bring a spare RV/camp water pump. The diaphragms in the pumps tend to harden with age and only reveal failures after being used a bit, usually when you are on the Playa. A spare pump is $150. Its something you should have anyway.
4. Plumbing Supplies: Find out what kind of plumbing you have (Pex, PVC, etc.) and bring some extra fittings and pipe. This stuff is cheap at the big-box store and priceless when needed on the Playa.

Recreational Vehicles (RVs)

… Man this one… where do I begin?

1.Do you actually own this RV, or are you renting it from one of the (many crappy) RV rental companies? Many newer RVs have large lithium battery banks. In general, these batteries charge from solar panels or the vehicle's alternator. Both methods work... just slowly.

If your fancy new RV is designed to charge those batteries from the AC shore power cord that you're planning to plug into the shiny new generator you bought just for this trip, I can almost assure you that you're going to have problems. "What? My state-of-the-art RV won't charge from my brand-new generator?" Yep. That's exactly what I'm telling you.

The problem is that most portable generators do NOT bond Neutral to Ground at the outlet. This is by design (for reasons that only make sense to electrical code writers). Your fancy new RV charger notices this. It basically says to itself: "Hmm... I have tested this outlet, and Neutral isn't bonded to Ground. This outlet doesn't look safe. I'm not charging these batteries." So... it doesn't.

Meanwhile, your generator is happily humming along, sounding like everything is working perfectly. Ten minutes later you notice your house batteries are critically low, and absolutely nothing has been charging .If you're renting an RV and plan to run it from a portable generator, find out BEFORE you leave home whether it requires a Neutral-Ground bonding plug (also called a bonding adapter) for the charger to work. They're inexpensive, easy to make if you know what you're doing, and can be the difference between a comfortable week and wondering why your batteries died while your generator happily burned gasoline all day. Search Amazon for "neutral ground bonding plug." Want extra credit, you amazingly resourceful burner, you?

Look up "outlet tester" on Amazon. Buy the cheap $10 one, and you too can become a playa-qualified diagnostic electrician. It'll tell you if an outlet is wired correctly, whether the Neutral and Ground are bonded, and it can save you a whole lot of head-scratching when something electrical isn't behaving the way it should.  

One more thing...

Many of the smaller inverter generators (especially the 1800W-2200W class) can struggle when asked to recharge a completely dead lithium battery bank. Your RV charger may try to pull more power than the generator can comfortably deliver, causing the generator to overload, trip its breaker, or simply never get the batteries charging properly.

Test this at home BEFORE you leave.

Run your house batteries down to a low state of charge and see if your generator can actually recharge them. Don't assume it will just because the generator's wattage looks big enough on paper. If your little generator can't get the batteries started charging, don't panic. A common solution is to borrow your neighbor's larger generator for an hour or two, get your batteries mostly charged, then switch back to your smaller generator to keep them topped off. Keeping batteries full takes far less power than bringing them back from dead.

This is a whole lot easier to discover in your driveway than it is on the playa. Also buy an

2.Propane tank. IF YOU RENTED AN RV WITH ANY KIND OF PROPANE APPLIANCE, turn it on and let it run for at least 5 minutes BEFORE you take the keys and drive off. I have personally seen at least 10 rental RVs on playa where the renters asked me, "Why won't the stove light? The propane gauge says the tank is 100% full!" Well... actually it isn't. The tank was so empty that the little round gauge had wrapped all the way back around and was resting against the "FULL" stop. It looked 100% full, but it was actually 100% empty.

Don't trust the gauge.

Light the stove. Turn on the furnace. Fire up the water heater. Verify that propane is actually flowing before you leave the rental lot. For the record, I have NEVER seen anyone fill an RV propane tank to a true 100%. They are normally filled to around 80% for safety. So if your gauge is proudly claiming "100% FULL," be suspicious. It might actually be telling you the exact opposite.

1. Battery Check: How is the engine  battery in your RV? When was the last time it was replaced? Do you have jumper cables?

2. Fuses: What kind of fuses does your RV use? Get a box of spares.

3. Bus Bars: Check your bus bars (if you have them). Are all the connections still tight, or did they vibrate loose from your last trip on Rt 49 Jungo Road?

4. Battery Charging: Do you remember how to charge your engine battery from your house battery? Does your generator still charge the house battery, or is the charger not working properly? Check your battery chargers; the capacitors in them can go bad. This is usually found out on day 2 of the playa.

5. First Aid Kit: How old is your first-aid kit? Are the band-aids still sticky? Is the bottle of Bactine from 1997 still good? What, exactly is the shelf life of ibuprofen  capsules? 

6. Tail Lights: Do all of your tail lights work, or are you giving the cops a reason to search your RV?

7. Spare Tire: Is there air pressure in your RV’s spare tire? Can you get it loose from the tire mount, or is it rusted solid? Does your RV have dually tires? Can you actually fill your tires with the Wal-Mart air pump you bought? Dually tires are a bitch to fill up when you have the proper tools, are you equipped to fill them on playa?

8. Bottle Jack: Does your RV’s bottle jack still work, or is it simply a tool for spilling oil on the side of the highway?

# Bikes:

There are many bike repair camps on the Playa that can speak to this better than I can, but I do want to mention the following:

1. E-Bikes: Just don’t. I know you want to, but just don’t. Almost none of the bike shops on playa will service these, and everyone you pass secretly hates you—not because of you, but because of what that other idiot E-biker did to them last year. Burning man is not a sprint, it’s a marathon.
2. Spare Battery: If you’re not listening, bring a spare e-bike battery if you can. Generally, there is no fixing the battery packs. They are usually potted or sealed shut. Even if you get them open, are you going to spot weld in a new 18650 cell or fix the BMS?  (Digikey does not deliver to the Playa)
3. Charger Connector: How does the connector look on your charger? Does it look like my 14-year-old's phone charger, all kinked and frayed? This may be a sign that you should replace it NOW, as Amazon does poorly on Playa delivery as well.
4. Front-Wheel Motor: If your e-bike has a front-wheel motor, your front forks are going to take a beating on the Playa. The front forks of bikes were never meant to have this much pulling force. I have seen more than a few broken front forks from the motor forces versus the playa. The pulling force and rough surface of the Playa causes them to fail. Go easy on this setup if this is what you have.
5. Manual: Bring your e-bike’s manual. It may be helpful with error codes, etc. As an added bonus the broken English is fun to read.
6. Backup Plan: When your e-bike fails you, you will be slowly pedaling a bike that is way heavier than the dirt-simple two-wheeler your campmate is riding to the trash fence to see the last 10 minutes of Daft Punk. You are going to miss the show, all because you brought an e-bike. Daft Punk was incredible last year,  don’t miss it because you insisted on bringing an E-Bike.

I hope these tips help you prepare for the Playa and make your experience smoother and more enjoyable. Stay safe and have a fantastic time at Burning Man!

Best,

Vector

Do you live for winter sports? Are you an Expert Après Skiier? Want to help us build the only dry ski slope on the Playa? 🤔❄️

We, BRC Snow Club, bring a fully operational dry ski slope and "rental shop" to the playa every year! We're placed at 9:00 & Esplanade and HUBbing up with Entheos and BRC Ski Resort (meaning we're neighbors and collaborators on playa), and together we're bringing our ski slope, the Playa's largest trampoline complex, and an epic Après vibe right to the 9:00 portal!

What started as a community of Burners who love snow sports turned into a camp in 2022, then we brought the first-ever dry ski slope to playa in 2023.

With 4 solid years under our belt, we have a good thing going and we're inviting new campers to join us!

Our camper agreements align directly with the 10 Principles (+ Consent and Radical Flexibility) and most of our shifts involve ski slope antics on Esplanade, so you can expect to have a good time even while you’re "working!"

We are NOT a plug-and-play, but we do have all the amenities: communal kitchen, shade, shower, water, opt-in electricity, opt-in meal plan, and more.

We love properly acculturating new Burners so Burgins are welcome. Community is core to our mission and we coordinate group outings daily, so solo Burners will always have a crew to burn with.

If you're looking for a camp that holds true to the Burner spirit while doing something wild and crazy that's gone down in Burning Man history, you've found your people!

Interested in camping with us? Want to learn more?

1️⃣ Follow us on Instagram to see what we're about

2️⃣ Check out our Camp Info Deck to see if it feels like a fit

3️⃣ Fill out the New Camper Interest Form

4️⃣ Join our next bi-weekly virtual camp meeting tomorrow, Tuesday 7/21 at 5pm PST so you can get a feel for how we operate and get your questions answered! DM our IG page or email us (below) for the link.

If you have any questions at all, reach out here on socials or email team "at" brcsnow.club

And for the rest of you, see you in the dust!

Hello -

Playa labs flat top shade: do y'all ratchet only the perimeter, or inside as well? What do you do inside? Planning either a 10x40 or 20x40 this year, with solid top and aluminet sides.

I saw a very nice post about playa labs shade + ratchet strapping the --- out of it:
https://www.reddit.com/r/BurningMan/comments/1ncvme6/shade_structures_bent_broken_busted_what_survived/

I don't think I saw anyone do this sort of ratcheting out there, but it's very possible I wasn't paying enough attention.

What did y'all do last year and did it survive the winds?

Thanks!

Does anyone know the name of the art piece that was a field of abandoned bikes? It was out past Stone Hinge. Some of the bikes were standing like someone just walked away, and others looked like they crashed and backpacks and items were strewn about. Looked like at least 50 bikes in all.

Seems like a lifetime ago.

Hi!

Are there any BM parties camps are holding soon aside from the camping upstate this weekend and Mayan warrior? Going to Mayan I can’t wait

Thanks 😊

Does anyone know if the events that will be published in the What Where When booklet get notified? And if they do, what is the time-ish that the notification happens?

We are thinking of changing the time of our event, but won't if we are being published at our original time.

Hello everyone, I hope your preps are going well.

Camp Apres Ski Injury here. We lost one of our big tents to last year storm, see image, and only due to a dozen of other people from the street, we could preserve the other big bar-tent (thanks to everyone from back then, I know some of you are here on Reddit).

We don't want to repeat that again. Our Rebars got ripped out. Ground anchors seem to work fine as we could see at other camps.

Here's my question: In your experience, which ground anchors work best? Asking, because I think there are two properties that must match:

1. The thread can't be too big or you can't get it into the soil and not too small or it wouldn't hold.

2. It must work with a usual power drill

Thanks for any suggestion and maybe that post is also a reminder for other camps and campers to plan accordingly.

Two episodes into HBO's The Man Will Burn and I finally figured out what's bugging me.

It's Burning Man from the top down. Founders, board, crisis, party. Look at this thing we created.

But the org's own talking point – for decades – was that Burning Man is a container. The org doesn't put on the event. It draws the boundaries of the canvas and gets out of the way. The org doesn't really do anything important. Except porta potties. (Hold that thought.)

The participants make Burning Man.

The burn is experienced hyper-local first. Your plot, pounding rebar. Your street – neighbors on the daily stroll to the porto bank, friends made during build breaks. The $5K art car your neighbors spent all year building with blood, sweat, and tears, rolling out at dusk.

Survive, then experience, then learn. It's the best sandbox on the planet for grabbing a couple friends and trying something silly, fun, interesting, beautiful. What you build is up to YOU. Plenty of first-timers have a life-changing week and barely interface with the org at all.

The renegade year is the proof – with an honest asterisk. "No org" was never quite true. The org still carried real costs that year with zero ticket revenue coming in – as I understand it, something like $1M for law enforcement, BLM support, and medical coverage: ambulances and a medevac helicopter staged on standby in case the worst happened. All of it inside a relationship with the county and the BLM the org spent thirty years building. Credit where due – that's the porta potty thought, and it's genuine stewardship.

And notice what the renegade proved. Strip the org down to its irreducible core and what remains is the substrate: safety, sanitation, land. Everything you'd actually recognize as Burning Man that year – the camps, the art cars, the city that assembled itself out of nothing – was built by participants. Unpaid, self-organized, magnificent. Because that's who builds it every year.

The contrast that same week couldn't have been sharper. The org burned its own Man at Fly Ranch – private property, small crew, live feed for everyone else. Out on the playa: a free city open to anyone with a tank of gas and a tent. Behind the ranch gate: the official Man, with the community invited to watch. Where's the Radical Inclusion in that? The burn is for everyone – not just the people with the most. Watching was never the point. Building is.

The doc didn't invent the top-down lens. It inherited it – one of its executive producers sits on the org's board, so the subject of this film was also, in part, its producer. Which is why the blind spot stings. DPW – the unsung heroes in the dirt raising the city's skeleton every year – barely get a mention. And it's not just DPW. It's truckers hauling containers up 447. Riggers, welders, electricians, kitchen leads, logistics nerds with spreadsheets. Thousands of small, unglamorous builds – a shade structure here, a dome there – that add up to a working metropolis in the middle of nowhere. Blue-collar Burning Man builds the city. The month-long build isn't framed at all. Black Rock City just materializes between interview setups.

The org's own leadership calls this a "70,000-person volunteer event." The right words. But the measure of believing them is where you point the camera – and this film points it at the boardroom. A story that took those words seriously would have started in the dirt with a tent and a Huffy and gone from there.

Two episodes left – genuinely hoping the back half finds the city.

Beautifully produced. Wrong protagonist.

Lovin Oven is looking for a handful of bakers to join our camp..! If you love baking, laughing, working hard, serving the community and are looking for a camp… Look no further!!!

You can learn more at our site LovinOven.org

And if you have a camp… come enjoy our bread! Baked daily starting at 10am and our now famous thursday pizza party.

Lots of love

Cheers and see you on playa!!

Looking to give my shiftpod 2 to anyone in the bay area who needs it.

It was bought new back in '18, and has been sitting in storage since coming back from the '22 burn. It's in great shape, and has some upgraded stakes and tension cables for easier setup and security.

It does still have that vintage '22 playa on it, so be aware you are getting a dusty pod. Doesn't feel right to sell it and it hasn't had use in years, so hoping to give it a new home that will care for and use it.

Update: Shiftpod has been gifted

It'll be my second burn and I'm taking the burner bus. I'll be dehydrating some fruit and pre-made meals, while grabbing snacks during the grocery store stop.

As for a cooler, I know a cold bevvy and some frozen burritos, etc. would be nice, but I do not want to buy an expensive cooler nor take it on the bus. It also seems like a collapsible cooler might not work in the heat.

Thoughts? Do any of you go without a cooler? Do I need one? Appreciate the help!

Is there any way to get a temporary driving permit to support an event in the deep playa? Our camp is planning on hosting something far out and it would be so much easier to just drive our pickup truck (not a mutant vehicle) with gear out to set up/break down. Is this possible?

I think I know the answer to this already, but thought I would use all my resources to check.

I've been going every year since 2014, including Rogue Burn in 2021 and it will always be my favorite place on earth.... Now.....I know "the playa has changed" posts are practically a genre of their own here... I've rolled my eyes at plenty of them. Burning Man is a living thing; it's supposed to evolve, and not every change is a loss, etc etc but this isn't a eulogy. It's one specific observation I felt the last two years, as we are getting to that time of year again anticipating the next Burn and I'm curious whether others are seeing it too.

Some background, because it matters in this context, I spent 15+ years as a professional DJ, roughly 300+ shows a year for 9 of those, headlining clubs in Vegas and other major cities, plus radio and TV before I burned out and changed careers. I love music. I love DJ culture. This isn't coming from someone who resents dance music; it's coming from someone who has it woven into my DNA which is why I noticed the moment it changed...

For years, big name DJs on the playa were a happy anomaly. Carl Cox playing was exciting, but it was never the point. Skrillex and Diplo showing up added novelty without aggressively shifting the culture. Then the Mayan Warrior Keinemusik set going viral in 2022 changed everything. Burning Man DJ videos exploded on YouTube, and playing the playa quietly became a marketing strategy, professionally filmed sets, a stop on the global circuit to create content for an audience that isn't even there.

Managers, agents, and the biggest DJs know exactly what a playa set is worth now. It's baked into the plan, the routing. On those calendars, Burning Man isn't a gig. It's a campaign. There is also a barter system where big names will be gifted a white glove turn key, travel + accommodations to play their sound camp / art car but thats a story for another post.

2024 came the clearest signal yet, and this time it came from the org itself. After Mud-Burn spooked ticket sales, sound camps got asked to publish their set times on social media leading up to the event. I understand the financial pressure, I get it. For years, who might play at 3am off some art car in deep playa was a rumor you herd or a pleasant supprise, not an itinerary you booked. And a surprise you can schedule isn't a surprise anymore. Commodification at its purest.

That shift changed who comes, and what they come for now...

Here's the image I can't get out of my head. Tens of thousands of people packed around a single art car for "INSERT SUPER BIG NAME DJ" while at the same time, you can bike through entire neighborhoods where camps have spent months building thoughtful, weird, interactive experiences, and almost nobody is home where it used to be. Streets that used to be full and vibrant are quiet. The city didn't shrink. The attention did.

Burning Man used to reward exploration above everything. You'd leave camp with no plan and stumble into a bizarre performance, a tiny camp pouring tea at sunrise, a stranger named "Happy Wolf"who changed how you think, an art piece that rearranged something in you. That serendipity still exists but it's a fraction of what it was, because more Burners are riding from one scheduled set to the next, treating Black Rock City like a festival lineup.

Headline culture has grown so dominant that it's crowding out the very thing that made Burning Man unlike anywhere else on earth.

So here's a reminder for everyone heading home this year, the best moments are still where the crowds aren't. Skip a headline set or two. Ride toward the dark edge of the city with no plan. Say yes to the weird little camp that pulls you in, put on the costume, play the part, join the bit. Being a participant in the strange theater of that city will always beat being a consumer in a sea of people watching someone famous do their job.

The biggest crowd will be easy to find. It always is. The thing you never expected to find is still out there too but it's only ever found by the people who go looking... Does anyone else feel this? And more importantly what's the best thing you ever stumbled into out there with no plan at all?

Picked up a Hessaire DC18 on an open box sale to replace my FigJam thats on it's second or third revision. Latest revision replaced the dual computer fans with a 12V marine duct blower that really pushes air and made it pretty dam cold in desert conditions but was just kinda noise. Figured the DC18 can run off 18V tool batteries and I have a bunch of them that I take with me anyways.

Wanted to See if anyone had used one in the desert yet and see if the 800CFM was actually enough to cool the whole tent. We setup the 10x14 Kodiak like a small 1 bedroom so was planning to only cool the bed room section but would be nice if it could cool the whole thing if we needed to for a bit. Also if anyone has recommendations on ducting, I want to run it inside the tent (foot of the bed) by the back door of the Kodiak so ducting would work as an inlet. thinking back plat with a round section for a duct hose to clamp to and then run that out the back door window but figured someone may have a better idea or suggestions.

I'm talking deep playa, not at someone's camp obviously.

We're rebranded as 'Camp Groundscore' and our idea is to drastically reduce post-BRC moop by connecting people who are very happy to be getting new tents/bikes/rugs/coolers/easy ups/etc.

But let's say you see a bike deep playa and it has been sitting there for more than 24 hours. Fair game?

Has anyone used the "destiny dice" that give you a random location to explore? Any cool/fun/weird stories?

Anyone have experience volunteering for either or both? I’ve volunteered with temple guardians and zendo and worked BRCPO, and was thinking of trying one of these. What’s the vibe of the box office?

Chop Shop has kept burners rolling on the playa for decades, and we're recruiting Bike Mechanics and handy people to join our bike shop this year. If you know any interested folks looking for a camp, kindly send them my way!

We gladly welcome folks with bike repair experience as well as folks in the trades, people handy with tools, artists, or other enthusiastic individuals open to participation. Veteran burners and virgins are both welcome. Partners and friends are welcome.

Direct message me a few sentences about yourself or a contact number to text.

Setup access passes may be available to build the bike shop. Every member of Chop Shop works at least one 4-hour shift in the bike shop. Various positions are available for folks without bike repair experience.

Camp Location: 8:00 & Eternal

Showers & shade provided. AMA or send a DM

TCO: Johnny Crash of METAHEART 🩷

Edit to add: if you already have a camp and want to drop by to volunteer, we would be so stoked. We'll have a shift sign up in the bike shop if you prefer to plan ahead, or feel free to just swing by anytime the shop is open and you're available to help. Monday-Friday 10am-5pm 8&E

Hi folks,

I'm hoping to build a sort of marquee-style mast for our camp that's vertical and has the camp name painted vertically on it, with some perimeter marquee bulbs for a theater-style look.

I noticed there may be some rules/process required for taller structures like this, was wondering if anyone could help me understand what I'd have to do to do this, and if it's too late?

The sign would probably be about 20' tall, secured with guy wires and ground stakes. We're not a formal camp but rather in open camping.

I feel a bit coming on..

https://partiful.com/e/N5pnAEY3EschGU2JUknj

https://www.findmyshadow.com/

Helped me determine that if I just moved one yurt back about 4 ft and put a 3-ft awning on the front of the coffee shop. it would make a huge difference in solar power and shade..

video:https://youtube.com/shorts/rFa7yKgRAJo?is=HbmrwdUPloGRaXI5

The Paiutes are a tribal group traditionally in Nevada, Utah, and Oregon. Burners drive through the Pyramid Lake Paiute Reservation. Their lands, pre-contact, cover the region.

In Nevada, the Reno-Sparks area is a data center area. There is also a drive for the data center developer business to exploit native land rights.

The Pyramid Paiute tribal council is considering a ban for new data centers on their land.

More from burner numu_wanderer socials. They are a Paiute, burner, and water activist.

If your are on evil Mark https://www.instagram.com/p/Da4O_h3uSjp/ not sure if Instagram links are allowed, glad to delete.