Wesley's List of Things to Bring for Burning Man
1 August 2005
I wrote this as a personal list of stuff you need to bring to Burning Man. I assume you are going to be part of a camp so I didn't include a bunch of community items normally supplied by a camp (e.g. shade structures, furniture & chairs to sit on, hammock, grill or stove, pots, camp shower, etc.). If you are going as an individual without the support of a camp, you should check visit one of the lists that other burners have put together below for a more comprehensive list of things to take with you.
Wesley's Tip: Bring a camera to take photos of all the art. (Photo: Wesley Chan)
Remember everything you bring to the playa will get covered in dust no matter what you do. Whatever you bring may get trashed or lost, so don't bring stuff you're too attached to. And washing all of the playa dust out of your stuff is nearly impossible.
Transportation, Shelter & Sleep
Sleeping Bag (get a cheap bag; Costco or WalMart sells cheap ones for $10)
Pillow
Air Mattress & Pump
Place to sleep in: Tent, RV, Cargo Van, or SUV
Eye mask
Earplugs (everyone around you will be partying and w/out this you won't get any sleep!)
Heavy-duty aluminum foil (if you plan to sleep in your vehicle, you cover your windows to keep the light out)
Food, Water, & Personal Items
Water (2 Gal/Day per person in addition to what your camp will provide) & containers to hold them
Food (non perishable/canned tems are key; stuff you can boil in a pot or heat w/ hot water works well)
-Mac & Cheese (makes a great casserole if you mix in tuna or salmon)
-Cheese, Crackers & salami
-Cup-O-Noodles
-Beef Stew
-Red Bull and other drink mixers
Goggles (you will need this when the dust storm mits)
Face Mask or bandanna (again, helpful during duststorms)
Water Bottle
Camelback or other water-holding backpack
Suncreen (SPF 30 or higher)
Plates, bowls, cups, forks, spoons – things you need to eat with
Plastic zip-lock bags to store all this stuff to keep some of the dust out
Trash Bags (we need to pack all the trash out)
Plastic Drink Cup (you bring this with you on the playa at night to parties for alcohol) that you can attach to your costume
A couple of rolls of toilet paper (there are porta-potties but they run out of TP frequently)
Your own stash of alcohol – for the pre-parties and for new friends
Gifts for your new friends – BM is a barter economy; those asian lycee jello things are really popular at night on the playa
Chapstick
A couple of towels
Handy wipes
Moisturizing lotion
Vaseline
Getting Around on the Playa
Old, trashy bike (you'll be unhappy without one)
Extra tire tubes and mini bike pump
Headlamp, EL Wire, LEDs, or whatever else you want to light up your bike (you don't want people running into you at night)
Clothing & Costumes
Sunglasses (bring 2 pairs, one will break or get lost)
Costumes (jumpsuits or flightsuits are key; they have lots of pockets to hold stuff
Costumes
with fur are always popular on the playa. (Photo: Wesley Chan)
Clothing you need to wear on the playa: shorts, shirts, pants, a couple of sweatshirts, etc.
Wide brimmed hat and baseball cap
Lots of clothing made of fake fur
Light-up stuff and blinky shit (EL Wire, glow-sticks, etc.)
Shoes (trail running shoes work well)
Socks (bring several pairs
Flip-flops
Other Things to Bring
Camera (disposables work best unless you have a trashy camera you don't mind breaking)
Flashlight & extra batteries
What about taking photos?
I took a bunch of great burning man shots in 2004 with my trusty $1500 digital SLR camera. If you're into taking photos, here are some things to think through and a list of things you should bring. You should only bring prime lenses; forget bringing anything with a telephoto zoom as it will never work the same afterwards as dust gets in and clogs the zoom mechanism.
Night shots are the hardest. Make sure you bring a tripod. (Photo: Wesley Chan)
Trusty digital SLR camera. (Note your camera will never be the same, the dust on the playa is evil and gets into every nook and cranny of your camera. It took me 5 hrs after burning man to clean my Canon EOS-10D out and I wasn't able to get everything out.)
Wide Angle Lens (I
usually bring my 24mm f/2.8 lens)
Medium Zoom Lens (I usually bring my 50mm f/1.8 lens)
UV Haze Filters for your lenses (if you don't have these already, get some. Spend the $15 to get filters to keep your expensive lens from getting scratched up)
Lens Caps (both ends, keep these on at all times when you're not using the camera)
Light Weight Tripod (Using a flash is lame as you have so many "light up" displays at night where a flash would ruin the scene. You'll need a tripod you can carry around the playa easily)
Padded Camera Bag or Backpack (to protect your camera and lenses when you drop them)
Lots of heavy-duty zip lock bags (you want to keep a much of the dust out as possible, so every time you put your camera and lens back into your bag, you should zip-lock your stuff up first. It's extremely inconvenient but very necessary given all the dust on the playa)
Moist Lens Paper Towlettes (you can buy this at your local camera store. You'll need this to wipe the dust off your lens and camera)
CCD Cleaning Fluid and Swabs (dust will almost certainly get into your camera and on your CCD. The swabs you need to clean them off are expensive but you will be really be upset when you see black blobs on your photos caused by dust and figure out that there is no easy way to get them off.)
Other burners who have compiled some great lists of
things to bring
http://www.arfarfarf.com/burningman/items.html
http://www.cieux.com/bm/things.html
http://www.cieux.com/bm/BriefGuide.html
http://www.burningman.com/preparation/event_survival/heloise.html
(BM's official list)