Burning Man appropriate tent?

[Sharon Bingham]

Not sure this is the right place to post this, but since it's gear related (just not ultra-light gear, necessarily)…

Anyone on these forums ever attended Burning Man? Anyone have any suggestions for a good tent for an event like that? Or at least what sort of features one should look for?

I've never been, but I'm going for the first time this year. Since I'm apparently the resident "expert" on camping gear in the group (forget that I only primarily know about ultralight gear, meager as my knowledge is…) – it has fallen to me to make a recommendation on a tent.

So, any thoughts anyone would like to share would be appreciated! Thanks!

[Art Sandt]

I don't know what goes on at a Burning Man, but if you're concerned about drunk passersby doing damage to your tent (i.e. you're looking for something cheap), then head on down to your local surplus store. I've seen new family-sized tents for $60 or so at these kinds of places. Granted, they will probably weigh quite a bit, but if somebody ralphs on it in the middle of the night, it will be less of a concern than if it were a $450 MSR tent.

[Daniel Strange]

Burning Man is very tough on tents. You can essentially plan to use the tent just that one time. Go Cheap. You will never get it clean again, the dust is like paint. You want decent room since you'll be there for a week or so and it's your refuge from dust storms etc. It's not the place to bring your $300 2 man mountaineering tent. Shop the "Big Lots", "Store 19 1/2", etc. They frequently have "refurbished" 4 person tents for $40 or so.

[Steve B]

I echo what he said above. While your tent will be your refuge, dust will get inside. Plan on putting all clothes and sleeping gear in bags every morning to keep them clean.

It can get very windy on the dry lake bed, and don't expect your vehicle to provide very much protection. Plan and/or modify your tent for guylines. Perhaps lots of guylines.

I camp on dry lakes quite a bit and almost never use a tent. Bring plenty of padding. If you can sleep in your car, it is much better.

Say hi to the kitefliers for me

Steve

[Sharon Bingham]

Yeah, looking into it, it looks like a lot of people sleep in their cars.

Is this just because it does a better job of keeping the wind and dust at bay?

[Dave T]

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