Best products from r/BurningMan

These cooling towels are AWESOME. They are made of a material that water soaks into, but doesn't come out of easily. This means they hold a ton of water, stay wet for ages, and don't get anything touching them wet at all (so you don't get an irritated neck like you do from wearing a wet towel). Seriously if you wet one of these and give it a squeeze, you'll be amazed by how much water comes out. They dry stiff, so make sure to fold them up neatly while they're still wet. Highly, highly recommended.

Shemaghs make great dust masks, head scarves, and hats. There is a reason these things are so popular in the desert. Lots of colors too.

These are the disposable dust masks to get. For a proper whiteout, they offer better filtration/protection than a bandana, and the valve means you can actually wear them for more than five minutes without suffocating. They come in little individually wrapped packs, which mean they're great for gifts (although I'd unwrap the ones you aren't planning to carry around as a gift at home).

Not prime, but free shipping, and if you order now they'll get here: goggles. Comes with a day and night set, inexpensive and highly recommended. These are my go-to utility goggles.

These personal misters are good. They aren't durable, so don't count on it lasting more than a year, but they're much more compact than the big garden sprayers.

If you feel the need to own a Soviet Russian spec gas mask, amazon has one for 10 bucks. Protip: that bag it comes with is the perfect size to stick a 1 gallon waterbottle (the kind with the peice of tape a handle, not the ones with the handle built into the bottle) to turn it into a canteen.

If you enjoy biking, and tend to wear boots, wide, grippy pedals are great bike upgrade. I was really suprised at the difference they made for stability and my ability to comfortably put power to the ground. I went for these ones that were on sale last year (not prime), but the shape is what matters from what I can tell, so any ones like that with the grip nubs should be good. There are cheaper ones made of plastic, but I find plastic pedals crack on the playa way too easily, and a decent set of metal ones was worth the investment.

Pump

Pump upgrade This one really moves some water! You will need to increase your tubing/tee size from 3/8" to 1/2".

Jungle Special, good to have a spare.

Media Confirm size!! These come cut in various sizes. One of them goes all the way around the inside of the bucket. I like this media better as it allows better air flow. But you need to make a cage out of chicken wire to hold it up when its wet. Like a tubular filter cartridge. It can be found in pre-cut panels like the poly pads too.

Fan Get a spare, along with the pump. Pre-wired for quick change out if needed. If you don't have spares, you will need them. If you do, you never use them. :)

Flex Duct This can be 'shaped' to fit around the fan mounted on top of the lid. Its 5" duct. Kind of an 'off size' but works great for this. Some duct tape and you're all sealed up. Gently bend to the desired direction, wrap with a towel or bubble wrap for some insulation if you like. It comes compressed length wise at 29". It can be expanded to 8ft! Handle with care while shaping 'a square' to fit around the fan. And again when setting the direction you want it pointing. Cut to length if needed.

• A five gallon paint bucket with lid
  
• 3/8" ID Tubing.
  
• A 3/8" Barb Tee.
  
• Some wire & crimp terminals 3ft should do it.
  
• Switches for the pump and fan if desired.
  
• Deep cycle battery.
  
• Solar panel and charging controller.
  
• Or other 12VDC power source.
  
  I made a bin style cooler for last year. (It is FigJam inspected and approved! :) )But I used it for grey water evaporation. Used two of the big pumps and two fans. It held 6gals & would evap 2gals/hr in the heat of the day! 1-1.5gal/hr the rest of the time. Building a trash bin style for this year. It will have a 24"tall x15" dia 'cylindrical cage' for the media and an 8" radiator fan. Basically an upsized FigJam cooler but for grey water evap. The Bin is for sale.
  
  
  

Anything that has padding. I made the mistake first year of getting costume goggles like this, thinking they could be my main goggles. That was a mistake. I wore them for like 5 minutes and they were horrible. Now I only wear them on my head, for looks.

Same year, I also got these. They worked just fine, but I did lose a lens by the end of the week. It was nice that it came with both the clear and tinted, so that I could have a backup pair, as well as having a pair for day and night.

Second year I got a couple cheaper pairs like this thinking they were similar to the Red Barons. Those sucked too. The tiny bit of foam made them uncomfortable. They touched my eyes. I gave them away. At least someone else was happy to have them.

Then I got a pair like this like this (can't find the exact same ones but very similar). They were actually like... surprisingly good, even for the price. Comfy, and they feel relatively strong. They are cheap, but have lots of padding and good coverage. They have some vents (most goggles do) but I just covered them with a little tape. I ordered a bunch more on Ebay/Ali this year for like $4 to give away, they all seem to be pretty much the same thing.

You can definitely get better ones; I've been on a budget so I haven't really been able to justify spending $50 on a couple pairs of goggles. Basically any ski, snowboard, or motorcycle goggles would be fine.

Not everyone wears goggles, but I would recommend having them anyways until you know for sure if you need them. I personally wouldn't spend too much on them, just make sure they have padding, and I would get one clear pair and one tinted pair (day and night).

• There are some awesome Etsy shops out there - you can usually find cool things by keyword (neon, festival, burning man, steampunk, leotard, fringe, goth, whatever you're into), and filter by price range.
  
  
• Forever 21 - Yes, it's cheap, probably made by 6 year olds in Indonesia, and not the best quality, but they usually have awesome cheap leggings in crazy patterns, fun tops, inexpensive faux fur coats, etc.
  
  
• Amazon. Great for essentials like fishnets, LED lights, goggles, booze-cups, and protein shakes.
  
  
• Shoes: I really recommend a pair or two of comfortable boots. Motorcycle style, cowboy boots, combat boots, or fuzzy boots can all be very versatile. Make SURE you could walk 5 miles in them without getting crazy blisters (get some drugstore insoles for them). Do NOT plan on wearing open-toed shoes. Do NOT bring heels.
  
  
• You NEED a warm coat that is both exciting and practical.
  
  
• You need outfits for each day and each night, but don't be afraid to have a "uniform" of sorts to save packing space - e.g. 3 patterns of rainbow panties + 3 different tanktops = 3 different days.
  
  

Sure! For starters I spent months researching eplaya and elsewhere on the web. There are some companies that sell turn-key systems, like Goal Zero, that seem crazy over-priced. I told myself I would’t charge anything to my CC and I’m pretty good at figuring shit out, so I wanted to take a cheaper route. I wanted avoid soldering a bunch of Chinese stuff together if I could. Once I figured out what I needed, I had to look for components…

Panel - I looked at everything from 5 watt panels for fountain pumps to big ass 100 watt panels. I am flying from the East Coast so I needed something portable. I was thinking I need 20 watts to be comfortable, so I looked for 30+ watt folding panels. A cherry-on-top feature would be both AC and DC power. I committed to a DC cooler system but it would be nice to charge phones and power banks too. If I am going to spend some cash, I don't want a single purpose device. I came across SunKingdom early on but the panels were mad expensive. Almost like Goal Zero expensive. Then one day out of the blue this guy popped up on sale! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MTAFEJ6/ref=s9_hps_bw_g107_i4

I got it for $79! Very happy with it so far. I’ve used it several times already.

Charge Controller - This was pretty simple. I found one that could handle the load, was easy to use AND had two USB outs for good measure. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018ICLC3K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I must confess I don’t know how to “use” it. I plugged it in and it does what I need it to do for now. It has some really shitty instructions (none) so I hope I don’t need to figure out how to do something else with it.

Battery - I am going to buy a 100+ ah battery in Reno but I needed something to test with. I found this 12 v 12 ah battery on sale at Radio Shack for like $12. She told me it was for a discontinued Verizon cable box.

Bucket - I have a few Home Depot buckets around the house as a matter of course. I cut two rows the first time and decided I’d rather have one row of squared off holes instead of two rows of round holes. This way I get a lot of airflow and maximize the water holding capabilities of the bucket. I can probably fit another .75 gallons in my bucket with one row of holes.

Padding in the bucket - Went with FIGJAM’s suggestion for $22. It comes with two in case you fuck one up. Cut to FIGJAM’s spec and adjust as needed but give yourself an extra inch in all measures and fine tune from there. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001UTNFPW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Pump - I was told 60 gallons per hour (GPH) was good enough so I bought this for $10: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JWJIC0K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

At first I didn’t think it was powerful enough but I had a dead ass battery. After I charged it up, this little guy acted like a freshman going to prom with the homecoming queen. It squirts quite well. I bought 2 more as back up.

Tubes - I bought some tubbing at Home Depot and experimented. It’s took a few rounds of $5 tubes to figure out the spacing of the holes. I heated up a nail on my stove to poke holes in the tubes. Ended up with nice, clean holes.

Fan - VERY IMPORTANT PART - IF YOU CAN’T MOVE AIR, NOTHING ELSE MATTERS My smaller 4 person tent does’t need much so I thought a 150 cubic foot per minute (CFM) fan would be fine. I wasn’t crazy about the horsepower of my first fan that was $8: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0099TTAIG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So I ordered a 200 CFM fan for $18: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0054S92FW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Again, I charged the battery and got MUCH better performance from the 150. However the 200 makes me feel like I ate a York Peppermint Patty so I am using it and taking the 150 as back up.

Connectors

• All “raw” cables get connected via these $5.55 things that are very easy to hook up. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B015OCV5XO/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  My pump and fan need to go to one line so I got this for $4.38: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007Q8IKRE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  The “watch this” moment comes by the way of this $6 switch: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00G6GNREI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
  
  I think that is everything. Now I need to figure out how to get a big ass battery from Reno to the Playa on Saturday, pre-gate. I can probably use my camps local asset or ask someone driving in.
  

I used the lovemonkey plans, but they seem mostly the same as the site you listed. I've brought the same setup out since 2012. Here's my tips.

Set this up in advance before you get on the playa at least once. It's easy to do, but make sure in advance you have all the parts and everything fits ok. It makes on playa setup a ton easier if you've done it before.

Bring a tape measure and a long piece of rope (over 20').

Set your golden spike. This is the keystone piece of rebar. From there find the angle you want the hut to run, and set a second set of rebar far out from the keystone along that angle. (distance doesn't matter, it's just for the rope to attach to so you get a nice straight line.

Along the rope, measure in 5' (or just slightly under) increments and pound in the rebar. Get one line set with as many spikes as you have ribs for the hut. Put half your ribs over the rebar as you do this, to prevent accidental rebar injuries. Bonus points if while setting up in advance, you mark out your rope with pieces of tape so you don't have to measure it on playa, you can just pound rebar at the rope's tape marks knowing they are the right distance.

After you get one half set, measure the proper width you want (some people use 12', some less. Depends on how big you want your arch to be). This is your second keystone. Go out to the other end and measure 12' out again (or whatever width you settle on). Pull the rope so your line is straight, double check on a few existing ribs that the rebar to rope is the proper width, and then repeat the first process to get the other half of the wall. Again, put the ribs on as you do this so you don't accidentally trip over rebar and injure yourself. It happens.

So now you have two walls of white PVC pointing up in the air. Pull them down and connect them following the instructions from the site you listed.

Once you pull your tarp (or aluminet or whatever you use) up and over, pound in extra rebar so EVERY SINGLE EYEHOLE in the tarp has a piece of rebar lined up with it. You should already have a ton of ball bungees ready to go. Attach the rebar to the tarp using these. Every single one. It gets windy as fuck out there, and properly securing down your tarp is critical to not worrying about that shit blowing away. You want it snug, but not overly tight. Let it have a little play so the bungees can do their thing. Same for the bungees holding together the horizontal pieces of the ribs along the spine. What makes these huts work so well is they move a bit with the wind.

Finally, get one of these. It will fucking save your life. Best money I ever spent.

/edit. My hut is 30' long. If I need it shorter I just build less ribs and pull the excess tarp in on one side. The first year I did end ratchet straps to hold down the mouth on each end, but these days I just make sure I'm angled sideways to the wind and rebar the shit out of the sides of the tarps, it's been fine. I use a giant 12'x30' silver tarp. I thought silver would reflect the heat. The problem is the inside of the tarp is black, so it gets toasty inside, especially when the wind is calm. I'd replace it with something cooler, but tarps are fucking expensive, and I'm a cheap bastard.

OMG excellent tips. Thank you so much. I really feel a lot more comfortable about my ability for success on this project with your tips. I do have a few questions.

1. I ordered two pumps (1 as theoretical back up arriving from China sometime between August 17 and Sept 2). Both seem comparable from a L/Hr standpoint they used but presumably too weak per your rec. Since you are speaking from experience I may return the solar powered one since I realize a battery will be necessary and get the one you suggested..and it will be too weak.
   http://www.harborfreight.com/solar-powered-fountain-pump-66093.html and https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JWJIC0K/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
   
   Have you used the one you recommended in a similar cooler? Or just did a quick Amazon search? Do you think the 170GPH would be the best option? Or would the 60GPH or 140GPH be sufficient?
   
   

2. Thanks for confirming.
   
   
3. Makes sense. Did you use any specific sealer on the section above the fan?
   
   
4. Makes sense.
   
   Originally I was thinking of calculating out the amps of fan/pump and hoping it lasts for the week. Then recharging with the battery with my car if there was a miscalculation. What are your thoughts on this? Think i should just get a panel to top it off on a regular basis?
   Any recommendations on a panel or battery? I've read quite a few posts/blogs with recommendations but curious about what you think.

This is the fan I used for mine, it's borderline leaf blower status and fits 4" flexible dryer exhaust tube perfectly. Draws 2.5A. Highly recommended.

Attwood Quiet Blower Water Resistant (White, 4-Inch) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003EX02DA/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_9XLCzbD3X657Y

Using a float switch is also a good idea, so you don't run it dry and burn out your pump.

The more holes you can drill in the bucket (without compromising its integrity and leaving a reasonable volume for water at the bottom) the better. More surface area means more evaporation.

I had issues with mine leaking the first year. I found I had much better luck cutting the outer pad so that it's pushed against the inside of the bucket. I put the vinyl tube hoop on top of the inner pad, and tied it with thread so it can't move. It doesn't leak at all using this method, as the outer pad only gets damp by soaking up water from the saturated inner pad. And it works better, because there is no gap between the pad and the bucket for air to go through, it has to all flow through the pads.


http://imgur.com/a/0SyOy

Yes that is a very good idea if you have the room for bringing it in. A small 12v like for motorcycles/lawn mowers would be fine if all you're doing is charging stuff. If it's going to take up valuable space, then skip it.

Or, you can even just hook it right up to your car battery. You'll have plenty of juice for the whole burn.

Here is the cheapest and most decent solar controller that will fit your needs:

https://www.amazon.com/Controller-Battery-Intelligent-Regulator-Adjustable/dp/B072MMDY4F/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=solar+charge+controller&qid=1565061072&s=gateway&sr=8-3

​

actually now that I understand your setup, just hook the solar panel direct into that charge controller, and there you go, you're set. use the charge controller to hook into anything else, including a battery to keep charged if you like. they arte super easy to use, just hook the wires up and it knows what to do from there

• Tent fan. I went pro my first year and won't go back. 60 bucks is worth it. Course, then I had to buy a deep cycle battery, but it lasted all week (and a half). Plus it was awesome for the one year I did exodus (11 hours....you know what year it was). We could avoid using the blowers in the car and instead just used the fan to keep us from dying.
  
  
• Fuck air mattresses. Fuck them in their little air hole. Foam is the way to be. I have a four inch full sized foam mattress that folds up, and yes, it's a bear to transport because of how much size it takes up, but I live on playa for three weeks. This thing is the ultimate luxury. I then place it on a "queen" sized Coleman cot. It's a full size cot that holds a queen size air mattress on it, and man it was loud. Much better with the foam. Seriously, sex on that thing was like sex on a megaphone.
  
  
• Someone else mentioned it, but a sheet covering your bed during the time you are not sleeping in it is wonderful. Do you know how many times a day you say, "oh shit, I forgot [something dumb] in my tent, better go in!" If you have a raised bed, especially, you'll more than likely lean in the door of your tent and put your hand down on the bed and bam playa bed.
  
  
• Someone also already said this (I think) but I take two sets of plastic drawers with me instead of bins for my smaller items. It's so much more fun to root around in a clear drawer than in an opaque bin. All my shit lives in those during the year, so if I randomly decide I need something from my burning man kit, I can grab it.

Will there be "walls" to hang tapestries from? They pack small and add a lot of warmth and flair to a space—while increasing shade during the day. Scarves and whatnot can be nice, too. Think of how you'll hang them – tarp clips, bungees, and zip-ties are handy. (I'm going to try these this year: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GLN1TLL/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=AGZ9AHQAQD41N&psc=1 )

If you can figure out a hammock or two you'll be hailed as a hero. I have a couple of lightweight portable hammocks for improvised comfort around BRC, and I found one of these on craigslist cheap: https://www.amazon.com/Vivere-Double-Hammock-Space-Saving-Tropical/dp/B004YJCP7O But you can find plans for homemade hammock stands online, too.

And don't sleep on bedsheets lol – I mean old sheets from home or Goodwill can be a lightweight way to cover things and soften an area, make shade, or even cover a ground tarp as a lightweight "carpet" you can sweep or shake out. (You did remember a broom of some kind, right?)

Hope you have a stellar Burn!

I have lots of stupid little things that make my time nicer. One of the things that I learned that helps quite a bit is methods for managing your cooler.

• have a decent, well insulated cooler and keep it in the shade.
  
• have a couple of lidded containers that are wide and flat that can float on top of the ice and water in your cooler. Put your leftovers and open packages in these.
  
• have everything else in the cooler be in completely water tight containers that can be fully immersed in water (ie vacuum sealed or with water tight lids). Let the melt water completely cover everything that isn't floating on top.
  
  In this manner there are no warm spots and you are keeping things colder than you would a normal refrigerator (ie right at the edge of being able to freeze but not quite) and food lasts longer (milk and meat stay fresh for two weeks or more with no problems if kept like this).
  
  When adding ice, drain only enough water that you can add your ice. Since you've taken the effort to keep everything well sealed this water is clean and can be used for showering, evap cooling, misting, etc.
  
  
  To make your life easier, when transferring water, don't try to use the cooler's drain. Use a small fountain pump (and tubing). Depending on your electric systems at your camp, you can get 5V fountain pumps that plug into a USB port, 12V pumps that will run off of 12V battery systems or 120V pumps that will run off a generator. This in and of itself was a huge deal for me and saved me from making muddy messes in my camp.

My wife and I sleep on this Coleman double size cot.
https://www.amazon.com/Coleman-Airbed-Folding-Tables-Battery/dp/B00AU6AVLW/

It comes with an air mattress but i've yet to take it out of the box because it's useless. The listing says it's a queen and it may be if using the air mattress but the cot itself is a dbl. We put an old 4 inch memory foam pad on top with regular flannel sheets and down comforter.

The cot has a carrying case and folds down to about 3'x 8"x 8". I found it for sub $100 open box/return.

It's just about as comfortable as our bed at home and we sleep great at burns. There is a metal spine right down the middle so you can't really sleep comfortably there. Also sex tested and approved!

I mostly manage with sunglasses but for those dust storms I love this style. They aren't 100% dust free since they gave tiny side air holes but that also means they don't fog up or get overly sweaty. They are also lightly padded. Tinted is helpful during the day but make sure you have clear at night.
https://www.amazon.com/Baron-Motorcycle-aviator-Goggles-Night/dp/B001TK7CYM

I have funky shaped acrylic (plastic) glasses, but these fit them perfectly! I'm a virgin burner as well, but the few veterans I know highly recommended them.

These are super cheap and almost too bright to look at. Bought a bunch to sew inside light colored clothing and wrap on bike. Am very happy with the results.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004DYV2RE/ref=oh_details_o07_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

These are even cheaper, not so retina frying, and good for wearing on outside of costume.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IJ46DUU/ref=oh_details_o07_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'm so over the last minute, impulse purchased el-wire ready-to-wear kits that I've had spotty luck with. Less than four dollars for an LED light string? That's insane, and cheap enough to pack a few spares without adding too much to the "suddenly costing you more than you planned" budget.

I also have a very narrow face, and found that these fit me well the last 2 burns. Added bonus, they have transitions lenses (get darker in daylight and clear at night) and cost $17.

I've used a Coleman Instant Cabin for a few years. It's spacious (8x7 with a 4'10" ceiling) but being made of not canvas is much lighter and smaller. It's held up pretty well and has no permanent venting so dust is easily controlled. You can buy a separate rain fly but it's not required.

No joke there... I got these ones to use at Electric Forest and stake down our canopies with ratchet straps and I'm way pleased with them! Also love that you called them lollipop sticks.... BWAHAHAHAHAHA!

These look like the ones I have but them not being safety yellow is a big plus. The ones I have are a few bucks cheaper though. They work fabulously and I decorated mine with E6000 and some jems.
DEWALT DPG82-11/DPG82-11CTR Concealer Clear Anti-Fog Dual Mold Safety Goggle https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A12J3GI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_U60kDb0RQ0CPX

I'm going to second the red baron motorcycle googles. They're perfect in every way -- simple and lightweight so you don't mind carrying them around (unlike those huge ski goggles), they seal around your eyes and are comfortable (you just need to duct tape over the little vents on either side), and they send you both the clear night and tinted day versions. They do start to deteriorate after a few years, so we tend to re-up every year and now we have a fairly large collection in our container in varying stages of decay but all still usable enough that we can pass them around to folks in need. I also take some more fashion-conscious goggles, but the red barons are what I'm actually wearing 90% of the time.

And sure, some people may not need goggles.. but don't take that chance if it's your first time. I wear contacts and I absolutely 100% require goggles out there. I've only ever left camp without a set once. Never again.

Based on how big of a space you need you probably will need a pretty heavy duty fan.

I chose the Endless Breeze that has been discussed endlessly (haha!) for oversized swamp coolers (2.6 amps for 920cfm):
https://www.amazon.com/Fan-Tastic-01100WH-Endless-Breeze-Stand/dp/B0000AY2Z6

Also, this one is a new one that I don't know how effective it is but moves a good amount of more air (2.8 amps for 1700):
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01JI0KOWG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Get a boat fan -- they're waterproof, 12V, and they put out around 200cfm. Also, they have mounting options that make it easy to connect a 4" duct to. If you use those 120mm computer fans, you'll have to make a duct and mount. Here's an example boat fan: https://www.amazon.com/Attwood-1749-4-Blower-Resistant-4-Inch/dp/B003EX02DA/

I thought I was posting to the main thread, my mistake. This is what I was referring to. It seems like this would handle the playa much more efficiently that a "hoverboard", but still just a fun item.
https://www.amazon.com/SWAGTRON-T6-Off-Road-Hoverboard-Certified/dp/B01NH2WD3Z/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500579131&sr=8-1&keywords=off+road+hoverboard

These are pretty good, batteries are replaceable: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075XGM1C7/ref=twister_B07MZTW96R?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&coliid=I1WBXC8KIOOXY&colid=3OU8NSXS09K2E

This is a great 12v fan: https://amzn.com/B0000AY2Z6

Here's a better link: http://www.amazon.com/Coleman-2000010387-4-Person-Instant-Tent/dp/B004E4AVY8/

I would be hugely skeptical of bringing a Coleman tent to Burning man, for several reasons:

Coleman has cheaped out excessively on their design and outsourced construction to China. Presumably to keep selling to Walmart who value cheap over quality. I very much doubt that a Coleman tent would survive a major wind storm.

Every Coleman tent I've looked at in the last decade could not be sealed against dust. They all have open mesh windows that can't be sealed.

Note that this isn't specific to Coleman. I couldn't find a tent at REI that could be sealed either.

Springbar and Kodiak make good tents for Burning Man. However, they're expensive and heavy.

I've been using a Eureka Equinox successfully for many years.

Someone gifted me these last year, and I really liked them. Kept the dust out, and could go over my sunglasses, so I didn't have to carry two pairs for day/night like previous years.

I've been using these fairy lights for a couple years now. The battery packs are much smaller but they still last just as long so they're easier to keep on clothing, hats, bikes, etc. They're a little harder to change the batteries because you need a screwdriver and specific type of disc battery but I highly recommend them.

I recently bought these transition lens goggles on Amazon, I read good reviews on there and ePlaya.

This stake puller is a game changer for getting rebar out of the playa. It uses simple leverage to instantly pop the rebar right out of the ground, no super strength required, no cut hands, no pulled shoulder muscles, no hassle. We've used one of these for years and it was the best 60 bucks our camp ever spent.

amazon has them for $21 and free shipping.

These are inexpensive and fit over glasses just fine in a pinch: DeWalt We dress em up a bit with decorations.

I recommend this tent:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004E4AVY8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Something to hold the tent down:
http://www.ironmonkeyarts.org/playa-staples.html

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00AU6AVLW/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469842553&sr=8-1&pi=SX200_QL40&keywords=coleman+queen+airbed+cot&dpPl=1&dpID=41AyH1aznUL&ref=plSrch

This is what we have used for the last three years and it is great. The cot gets you up off the ground and it comes with a battery powered pump. If there were to be a problem with the mattress you would still have the cot to sleep on also.

This one for me: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0054S92FW/_encoding=UTF8?coliid=I1L2M8K6J1HN35&colid=2IDBC7ZE307IX

this

I made my own large scale swamp cooler based very loosely on figjams unicooler. I made a box out of 1x2 lumber and lined it with plastic shower surround material then caulked the inside. Cut a hole on one side for the fan and cut a hole on the other side for the pad (air intake)

I used this fan

And this pump

and this pad

I think one place where figjam is just flat out wrong is that he uses too large of a pump. The entire premise of a swamp cooler is that the Ideal Gas Law states that as the phase change occurs and the gas expands, the temperature of the gas is lowered, however for this to happen you want rapid evaporation. If the pad is too wet, it will interfere with evaporation due to cooling the pad itself.