Over the years, we’ve seen a variety of structures that burners live in. I’ve also experimented with several versions of tents, layouts, shade and lots of frustration! At the end of the day, how much you want to spend/invest into your living quarters is up to you. RV’s are expensive and have their own challenges, but you can’t ever setup faster than rolling in with your home on wheels and cracking open a beer as soon as you land.
Since Black Rocks City is located on a dry lake bed, the soil is silt. Not sand, not dirt, but silt. This greyish fine dust has the consistency of corn starch, with lots of alkaline in it. The occasional wind storms, which can clock up to 70 mph, kick up the loose playa dirt; which of course, embeds into everything… every possible nook and cranny that has never seen the light of day! So, your goal is to minimize the playa getting into your comfy home.
RV’s
For those you have the resources to rent an RV, here’s a website link for that covers all that I’ve learned over the years with our former RV camp mates:
12 Tips for Taking an RV to Burning Man
Tents
Almost every tent sold at your local sporting goods store or the mart’s of the world are 3-season tents. Meaning that the upper structure is stiched with mesh, designed to vent a large volume of air – and on the playa, it will vent a shit ton of dust. One trick to minimize the dust is to safety pin the rain fly to the seams where the nylon and mesh meet. The goal here is to seal the mesh top, with the rain fly. Buy lots of large safety pins if you go with a 3-season tent.
Canvas tents are the way to go if you can afford to invest into one. There are 2 mfgs – I personally have a Kodiak tent and absolutely love it. Easy to set up, holds up well in the wind and keeps the dust out. You can find these here:
Hexayurt
A do-it-yourself structure for those who are ambitious. There is definitely some work involved in building a hexayurt and figuring out how to transport all of the pieces, however, they are becoming more popular each year. Nice and cool, strong, sturdy and spacious – all comfort features that we desire out on the Playa. Price is a bit expensive, but much cheaper than an RV.
Every year, we have a few campers that bring up these structures – Oli is a great resource for tips and tricks, especially on how to prepare for rain. As of 2019, Oli has retired his hexa-yurt after 8yrs in service and has moved on to a different structure…Shiftpod.
ShiftPods
Thanks to the burner community, the latest invention in tents is the ShiftPod. Insulated and sturdy for the wind and heat, these are becoming quite popular each year. They are much more expensive than canvas tents, but much lighter and easier to travel with. If you have a large budget to work with, definitely take a look at your options.
Yurts
This is my personal choice for home on the playa for my queen. I’ve made 3 frames over the years, and was inspired by my brother who first built his yurt. For those that are interested in building your own, I can certainly give you pointers and guidance.
Dome Tents
Another option that has found its way into our camp one year, is a light-weight geodesic / yurt hybrid type structure. These are expensive, and the main issue I have with them is the white fabric covering. These do not block out the sun, and not dark enough for most folks during hot days.
Shade Shade and more Shade!
To further improve your domicile comfort level, covering your living quarters with shade adds the finishing touches to a tent setup. The very best shade material we’ve used on the playa is called Aluminet. This lightweight material is quite durable and was designed to NOT catch air when the wind blows. This is a huge advantage when considering the minimal requirements needed to secure over a frame and staking down for the windy days.
The highest percentage shade we use was 70% and now they have 80% available. Please shop at this company…they have been really great to us over the last 14yrs and we like to keep them in business:
Frames
For those folks in the LA area, this place has all the parts needed for a steel-tube frame to drape Aluminet over, plus other shade options. They have a retail store in Paramount to pick up what you need directly: 7801 Somerset Boulevard, Paramount, CA
The Monkey Hut
These are super easy frames to setup, and can be sized to cover pretty much anything. One guy that camped with us created a 50′ length tunnel to fit 2 vehicles underneath (tandem). Lots of covering options to use once your frame is created. The Sweaty Betty’s (theme camp) use tarps to cover their frames, some folks use fabric, canvas and of course aluminet.
The Monkey Hut[/vc_column_text]
Thanks to an asshole, my tents were stolen (Kodiak and Shiftpod). I wasn’t too happy with the new shiftpod during the 2023 rain dump as the flooring wicked water/moisture straight up! Definitely an issue considering we have this on flat land and no where for water to flow away from the tent. For 2024, Oli/Cupcake and Zesty/myself are going to by using our new Avalon Bell canvas tents. The sizes we each picked are fairly significant – 16′ diameter.
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Hello,
I see there is no tarps allowed. i assume this is for shade? I always bring tarps to be stored at base of structures or under vechicles in case of a down pour can be easily placed over & secured. This is ok correct? Just not left up flapping in the wind loudly all night?
Cheersy form happy colorado people
Let me clarify – I do not want folks to attach their tarps to the frames used for our aluminet shade structures. If you have a frame and tie downs, by all means, bring it – no restrictions from the building & planning dept.