Burning Man - Water and Day Pack

This is by no means a definitive guide to how much water to bring to Burning Man, all I can tell you is my experience. I come from the desert, and even I was taken a back at just how dry things were. I averaged about a gallon and half a day and that was for cooking and drinking only (6 cups of water for food). I decided early on that too much water was better than not enough, so I wound up carrying 3L on me at all times. Being out and about for about 6-8 hours I would consume about 2-2.5L. I noted that this amount dropped a bit by the end of the week as I adjusted to the climate (and it cooled off). I used predominantly the rectangular 2.5 gallon jugs to bring water in, but also made sure to grab two 1 gallon bottles to be used as grey water/urine collectors. Note about the rectangle jugs, depending on the brand and jug construction they can be very robust, or very weak! If you find yourself with the less than rigid option, be careful with them, they will pop a seam and make a mess (but they also crush down nicely when packing up at the end of the week).

Don't forget a snack, a cup and dust mask!

Water Pack - I went with the traditional CamelBak style water backpack, but one with molle webbing so you can strap all sorts of stuff to it. It also has two pockets, which was perfect for carrying the essentials. I found this Tactical Hydration Pack on Amazon and while pretty cheap compared to it's name brand competition (Geigerrig) it worked out really well and I was able to use the webbing to attach another 1L water pouch to it. This pack comes with it's own 2.5L water bladder, but I used the Geigerrig 2L bladder I had instead. What makes the Geigerrig bladder attractive is the fact you don't have to suck on the end of it to get water out. It uses air pressure to force water out of the bladder. Just a few squeezes of the rubber bulb and water will be forced out the bite tube (which you can squeeze with your fingers or teeth). Super handy, highly recommended and a good conversation starter!

Goggles are pretty personal choice, but there are some things that you need to look out for no matter what you buy. Many anti-fog goggles actually have two sets of lenses, with a space for air between them. This air gap is great for keeping fog down, but bad for letting dust in, and when it gets between the lenses it's difficult to get out (compressed air is your best bet). Also, goggles like I purchased have air vents on the sides, again, great for anti fog, bad for playa dust. I wound up using black silicon to plug up these holes to resolve that issue and as you can see from the photos there was plenty of dust stopped by it.

Still working on getting these exhaust ports cleaned!                 2 days and 2 dust storms later . . . this is why we wear masks

Dust masks, the essential Burning Man accessory. Tons of options out there but lots of people are wearing the neoprene masks for good reason. It covers great, is pretty comfy and has lots of design options. I got mine in black with hopes of decorating it . . . next year.  Side note: having a mask with less coverage is totally understandable for general playa dustiness, and next time I'll invest in something less cumbersome for the mild dust that rolls by.

The Cup - a mandatory item . . .  bring one. This was the best little cup ever and lots of people commented on how handy it was. It is super lightweight, and the little top is very secure (great for bumpy bike rides). Now the issue with the tops like this, dust sticks to it badly. If you're into being hygienic, I recommend a baggie to keep it in. I on the other hand just used a carbiner to attach it to my hydration pack and got on with it! Picked it up at REI.

Head Lamps are pretty mandatory out there. A regular flashlight, and I brought several, will get the job done, but having hands free lights in the toilet is kinda nice at 3am. There are so many options out there and most of the time you can't go wrong. What I will recommend is getting one that has multiple power settings as well as having a Red light option. A blinking red light uses less batteries and is more than enough light when you just need to be seen when you're crossing the street. I was blinded a few times with people blasting 200 Lumens in my face inadvertently. Not nice. This is one of those times where I will also make a brand recommendation. While Petzl and Black Diamond make great products, for the money you can do better on Amazon. I picked up this Reivalo headlamp which worked out really well, and it is actually water/dust proof (with robust seals to prove it). My last good headlamp was a Black Diamond and it literally died from me sweating on/in it. At that point iI started searching for a cheap but good alternative that was water PROOF and found this. Here's a link. Reivalo Headlamp

Bike locks are important. There are nasty people in the world and Burning Man has a few of them. This style lock worked well, but after day 5 it started getting pretty sticky. I did not pre-lubricate it before I went out so maybe I will do that next time. Or, I could just ask for some wd40 while I'm out there as that seems to have fixed the issue.

Hand Sanitation stations at each porto area will run out, it's going to happen! Bring your own, and while you're at it gift some out to folks. I found a killer 8 pack of 1 oz tubes that I used to help all sorts of people out. The little lanyard was a big plus too (go molle webbing!). They can be found here on Amazon:  Travel Sized Jelly Wrap Portable Sanitizer Bottle

Toilet Paper . . .  Bring it! SINGLE PLY ONLY PEOPLE! Notice that is underlined, and CAPPED! It's important! Now, with that out of the way . . . Guy or Gal it doesn't matter, when you need some they will be out. Don't put yourself through asking around or suffering. I made a makeshift mini roll of TP with a Sharpie and kept it in my bag at all times. Was only needed once, but once was enough to prove the point that it's good to have a small amount on you at all times.

Eye Drops, I used them twice and I can't imagine what I would have done if I had not had them on hand. As anything in your eyes can be a real bummer, I can't imagine why you wouldn't have a few of these in your day pack. I like the single use ones and having 4-6 of these on nearby could really save a ton of time and discomfort. 

What I learned: 

The weight of all this was right on the edge of being too much. While it didn't slow me down, it did mean extra energy expended and there were times when I wish I had a way to drop all this off on the bike in a secure manner. I had a medium sized bicycle basket, but it was a bit difficult to get the pack to balance well and not tip the bike. Putting it on the ground was fine, but wasn't ideal. Next time I will find a way to distribute things a bit more. While the pack was just fine, a rear bicycle rack to place water and non essentials in would be great. Something secure would be great as well, so perhaps a Panniers setup would work nicely. A larger front basket would be great too, time to upgrade to a Large!