Late nights are strange at Burning Man. People may walk
or ride thru your campsite in the absolute darkness, possibly crashing into
things (like your tent). A simple waist-high fence of visible, springy rope
directs visitors toward
the public areas where the fun is, and away from danger.
Advantages:
HIGHLY VISIBLE, NO SHARP CORNERS, LIGHTWEIGHT AND EASY TO SET UP, LOW COST.
Parts Needed: (Per pole)
A four-foot piece of 1/2" PVC pipe, a "Tee" connector, a one foot piece of
rebar, some florescent rope (hollow-core poly type is lightest).
To Make: Pound the rebar into the ground, slip the 1/2" PVC over
it, top with the "Tee" connector. Wrap the rope around & through
once. Attach to supports at the ends
Place the Poles at 10 to 20 foot Intervals. This 40' section was tested for
months with good results.
Add a Doorway: The rope enters through T-connectors on the sides, and
goes UP, OVER, AND THRU the door. Tension on the rope actually pulls the door
parts tighter together! Add a tensioner (bungee cord) somewhere in the line for best results.
A Taller Rope Fence
For those who prefer an overhead rope-fence, you need tall, strong poles. There is a product
available at home building stores called Chain
Fence--Top Rail. It is a steel pole with one end a little smaller so it fits
into the next pole in the line.
Take a ten foot long piece and cut it in half, you now have two easy to carry five foot
pieces which slip together to make an instant ten-foot pole. Costs about six dollars US.
A series of 11 tips prepared by an E.E. and alternative energy freak. 1. A
battery is a reservoir. Whatever you drain out, you have to fill up later.
Yes, you can fill it up by charging it from your car, but a car is not made to
be a generator. It will probably cost you ten times the
gasoline to recharge from your car compared to charging from a real generator. 2.
You will have to run your car 4-5 hours a day to fully recharge a car-sized
battery that has been fully drained the night before. 3. A car battery is really made to give a quick burst of power for a
few seconds when starting, it is not designed for running heavy loads for hours on end. For that you need
a deep cycle battery, often called a "marine", or "trolling"
battery. 4. How much power can I get out of a , deep cycle battery
(car-battery-sized) before it runs out? About 700 Watt-hours,
which means
700 watts for 1 hour (a tiny hair-dryer for one hour), or,
70 Watts for 10 hours (3 strings of Christmas lights for 10 hours), or,
7 watts for 100 hours (a small CD boom box for 4 days).
It's not a lot. 5. Never discharge your battery really low (below
11 volts) then leave it like that for a long time...a battery will only sustain a
few over-discharges before becoming very weak. If you accidentally run
your battery really low, recharge it immediately! 7. Overcharging, (or even normal
charging) can cause a battery to produce bubbles of hydrogen and
oxygen. Keep away sparks and flame, or it may explode! To avoid sparks, turn the charger off,
before you either connect or disconnect. 8. Keep a box of baking soda
on hand. If the battery ever tips sulphuric acid will spill out! Throw the baking soda on it right away
to neutralize the acid. 9. If you have a generator, try to always use it's full capacity.
Generators use almost the same gas whether fully loaded or lightly loaded. So if you
are running a 5,000 Watt generator, you might as well use nearly the whole 5,000
watts. Charge
people's batteries, make sno-cones, run power tools, whatever, while the
generator is running. Use it or lose it. 10. Regular incandescent lights
waste power terribly-- avoid them if possible. Fluorescent and compact florescent use only 1/5 the power for the
same light. 11. Sound equipment uses far less power than the wattage on the nameplate would
indicate. A "100 Watt" sound amplifier only draws maybe 20 Watts of power on
average. It is only for a few milliseconds at a time--when a musical
"peak" comes along--that an amplifier ever draws the full 100
Watts.
When driving from the East, there are a few spots we have found hospitable... 1. Aurora, Nebraska. There is
a public park in the center of town where visitors can camp, FOR FREE, for up to
three days. There are toilet facilities and free water there too. Talk about
friendly.. 2. West Wendover, Nevada. Right on the Utah/Nevada border, it is
about 8 hours out from Burning Man. Stay overnight in a plush casino hotel for 30 bucks,
eat at the cheap buffets, get free drinks if you are gambling. On the way out, you can leave Burning Man mid-afternoon and still
make it there by midnight. 3. The rest area near Elko, NV has clean, fresh,
free water to fill your containers.
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