3 photos
POYEE
POYEE reflective shade cloth, 10 by 15
An open silver knit, 10 by 15 feet, with holes you can see through.
Buy this early
Often about $35
Opens in a new tab.A portable AC for a playa tent
Shade first. A fan second. The WAVE 3 is a different machine, with its own battery, and the small station cannot run it.
8 min read
Sits beside Burning Man camp power and solar/How to sleep in Burning Man heat/Best shade structure for Burning Man/Sleep kit
Shop the camp cart. Each piece is its own listing. We don't ship a kit as one box.
The way a tent stays livable at 2 p.m. is shade over it. The heat note is that setup: cloth, a fan, a mask if you are sleeping after the sun is up. This page is the machine people mean when they search for a camp air conditioner, and the reason it is not the first thing in the car.
We are an independent outfitter. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Burning Man Project. The event name is used so you know which week this gear is for.
Shade, then air that moves
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Read the note
A solid tarp traps heat. Open knit throws light and lets air move. The frame is lagged, or the cloth is a kite and the tent is back in the sun. A clip fan is the second step, aimed at the person on the cot, charged before the gate. Often $25–45. It is not air conditioning. A fan in a closed tent with no shade is a hair dryer with a blade.
A misting fan is the one people stand in once the shade is already up. The Shark we list is often about $70. Fill it with water you already counted. Mist is not a shower and it is not a reason to drink less. The nozzle clogs with playa. Keep it inside the shade, and do not aim it into a neighbor's tent. The maker's cooling claims are theirs. We are not repeating them.
The unit that is actually an air conditioner
The EcoFlow WAVE 3 is the compact unit on this site. It also heats, which matters on the night the temperature falls. The listing we opened includes a drain pipe. It does not include the add-on battery. The catalog range is often around $1,000 for the unit, battery separate. That is not today's price.
Our note says the 300 watt-hour station cannot run it. If you cannot find a watt number in the manual for the cooler or the AC you want, you do not yet have a plan. We will not invent one. The maker's runtime figures are theirs, and they assume the add-on battery. Read them on their page, then decide if the tent is worth that box.
What it does
- Shade and a full fly
- The afternoon, for the whole camp.
- A clip or mist fan
- Air on a person, once the shade is real.
- WAVE 3
- A closed tent, cool or warm, if the battery is the right one.
Power
- Shade and a full fly
- None.
- A clip or mist fan
- Its own battery, topped up from the bank.
- WAVE 3
- Not the Explorer 300. The add-on battery is a second box.
The failure
- Shade and a full fly
- No lags, or a solid tarp.
- A clip or mist fan
- No shade over the tent.
- WAVE 3
- Exhaust that stays inside, or a filter packed with dust.
| What changes | Shade and a full fly | A clip or mist fan | WAVE 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it does | The afternoon, for the whole camp. | Air on a person, once the shade is real. | A closed tent, cool or warm, if the battery is the right one. |
| Power | None. | Its own battery, topped up from the bank. | Not the Explorer 300. The add-on battery is a second box. |
| The failure | No lags, or a solid tarp. | No shade over the tent. | Exhaust that stays inside, or a filter packed with dust. |
The exhaust and the dust
The exhaust duct has to leave the tent. If it does not, you are stirring the same hot air and calling it cooling. Keep the intake out of a dust cloud and wipe the filter. A whiteout is a bad time to be proud of a clean machine. Park it where camp can hear it without aiming it at a neighbor's pillow. It is not a swamp cooler. We do not list a swamp cooler, because we do not have a unit we are willing to send you to.
When we would skip it
If the shade is not built, buy the frame, the knit, and the lags before you buy a machine that conditions a tent sitting in the sun. If the load you wrote down is phones, a fan, and a laptop, the small station is the box, and this page is not your cart. If you are flying, this is not a carry-on plan. The battery rules are the airline's, and the unit is a serious purchase even when the battery is a separate line.
Watt-hours, the bank, the station, and solar as a top-up are camp power. The cloth over the tent is the shade structure. The tent under it is a full fly. The sleep kit does not include the AC, on purpose.
EcoFlow
EcoFlow WAVE 3
A portable AC and heater for a closed tent. The battery is its own box.
Buy this early
The unit is often around $1,000. The add-on battery is separate.
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Sleep
Tent with a full rainfly
A tent that keeps dust and a surprise rain out. Shade still goes over it.
Buy this early
A tent you trust is often $150–400
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Jackery
Jackery Explorer 300
About 300 watt-hours for lights, phones, a fan, and a laptop.
Buy this early
Often about $200–300
Opens in a new tab.Questions
- Can a small power station run a portable air conditioner at Burning Man?
- Not the Explorer 300 we list. Our note on the EcoFlow WAVE 3 says the add-on battery is its own box, the maker's runtime figures assume that battery, and the 300 watt-hour station cannot run the unit. Shade is still how the open hours get survived.
- Does a camp need an air conditioner?
- Most quiet camps do not. A straight-leg shade with open knit, a full fly under it, and a clip fan aimed at the person on the cot is the setup we pack. The AC is for a closed tent you have already decided is a room. It is not a reason to skip the structure.
- What does the WAVE 3 cost on this site?
- The catalog says the unit is often around $1,000, and the add-on battery is separate. That is not today's price. The listing we opened includes a drain pipe. It does not include the battery. Read the page you open.
Shop the kit
A kit is the shopping list for one job. Each piece is its own listing. We don't ship it as one box.
