Playa Survival Guides

Guides

Prepare for Black Rock City.

Detailed, practical help for the problems you can solve before you reach the playa.

Browse by topic

14 of 14 guides

  1. Start here

    Start here: the essential Burn plan

    Cover survival, entry, visibility, and pack-out before adding comfort or spectacle.

    Updated

  2. Camp & shelter

    Shelter, shade, cooling, wind, and rain

    Build two layers of protection and test every anchor before the desert tests it for you.

    Updated

  3. Camp & shelter

    Open camping: choose, measure, and build your site

    Arrive with a flexible footprint, confirm the space is open, and build a camp that works with its neighbors.

    Updated

  4. Camp & shelter

    How to find and evaluate a camp

    Find a camp whose culture, work, costs, safety practices, and logistics fit you, or confidently camp on your own.

    Updated

  5. Food & water

    Water, electrolytes, and heat

    Carry the official water baseline, pace effort, and recognize when heat symptoms need help.

    Updated

  6. Food & water

    Food and coolers that still work on day seven

    Keep the menu simple, measure cold storage, and design out cross-contamination.

    Updated

  7. Getting there & around

    Arrival, Burner Express, Gate, and Exodus

    Treat transport as a chain of timed handoffs with documents, water, and delay margin at every step.

    Updated

  8. Getting there & around

    Bikes, lighting, locks, and repair

    Bring a simple working bike, make it visible, and carry the repair parts it actually uses.

    Updated

  9. Health & personal care

    Clothing and footwear for heat, cold, dust, and mud

    Pack layers that protect skin and feet, then test them with the actual day bag and bike.

    Updated

  10. Health & personal care

    Dust, sleep, feet, health, and hygiene

    Keep protection on your body, make rest possible, and escalate dangerous symptoms early.

    Updated

  11. Camp & shelter

    Showers and gray water without a playa spill

    Reduce water at the source, contain every drop, and leave with more capacity than you expect to use.

    Updated

  12. Power & field readiness

    Power, generators, and communications

    Reduce the load first, keep combustion away from people, and preserve an offline information path.

    Updated

  13. Power & field readiness

    Day bag, emergency, and offline readiness

    Carry the next few hours on your body and keep critical instructions usable without a phone signal.

    Updated

  14. Culture & Leave No Trace

    Participation, consent, gifting, and Leave No Trace

    Arrive ready to contribute, ask clearly, disclose what you offer, and clean more than your footprint.

    Updated