Start here: the essential Burn plan

Cover the essentials first

Make one pile that contains every item below before you shop for optional gear:

• entry documents and current photo ID;
• shelter plus independent daytime shade, anchors, and tie-downs;
• the full water allocation for your stay and a bottle you will carry;
• food you can safely store and eat when tired;
• goggles, a well-fitting particle mask, sun protection, warm layers, and rain footwear;
• personal prescriptions and health supplies for the whole trip;
• a headlamp, spare power, and lights for your body and bike;
• first-aid, hand-cleaning, toilet backup, and waste-containment supplies;
• a reliable way to remove every item, every drop of wastewater, and every piece of trash you create.

Official rule: There is no general garbage collection in Black Rock City. Pack in and pack out everything, including tiny Matter Out of Place (MOOP).

A simple three-pass plan

1. Survive: Prove water, food, shade, sleep, dust, medication, and sanitation work without outside help.
2. Move safely: Prepare entry documents, transport, bike, lights, a day bag, and an offline way to find camp.
3. Participate and return: Bring one realistic contribution, daily MOOP supplies, wastewater capacity, and enough vehicle or bus margin to get home.

Playa tip (community practice - not an official requirement): Sort packing into three marked groups: must stay on your body, must be reachable during transit, and may remain packed until camp is built. This makes a delayed arrival or missing bin less dangerous.

Common mistakes

• A gift is treated as a supply plan.
• Shade depends on the same structure used for sleeping.
• Essential gear is new, unopened, or impossible to assemble in wind.
• Food is safe only while ice lasts.
• One phone contains every ticket, map, address, and contact.
• There is room to arrive, but no room to pack wet, dusty, expanded gear out.

Test before departure

Spend one full hot day and one night using only your packed system. Pitch the shelter, anchor the shade, prepare meals, use your lights, find your mask in the dark, and repack everything. Write down every borrowed item. That list is more useful than another generic packing list.