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What to buy in Reno before the burn

Water and food in Reno or Sparks. Lags, goggles, and a cot should already be on the way. Gerlach is the last services, not the stock-up.

People under a shade structure with a white canopy and patterned fabric walls. One person wears a fur coat and white boots.

7 min read

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Sits beside How much water to bring to Burning Man/Burning Man cooler and ice/Ship gear to Reno/Flying in to Burning Man/RV rental from Reno/Trip plan

Shop the overseas flyer kit. Each piece is its own listing. We don't ship a kit as one box.

How we'd spend

Buy once, then the lighter pieces.

The buy-once piece is the one worth a real cart. The lighter spend still does the job. A usual range is a typical price, not today's.

Each card opens the shop. Amazon links are affiliate links. Your price does not change. How the links work.

Four hex-head lag bolts and a washer on a white background.

Buy once

Lag bolts, 3/8 by 12 inches, 25 with washers

Why this one

The city's securing notes describe lags on the order of 12 inches for the shade people worry about losing. The pack we opened is 3/8 inch by 12 inches, 25 bolts with washers, hex head, sold by Hromigry and shipped by Amazon. Twenty-five is more than one 10 by 10 if you place one at every foot and still keep spares. They are not 18-inch bolts, and they are not rebar.

Often about $35

Usual range, not today's price.

Lag bolts, 3/8 by 12 inches, 25 with washers. Buy on Amazon

Amazon affiliate link. Your price does not change.

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Dusty splash goggles with capped vents on a wooden crate.

Does the job

Pyramex G204 splash goggles

Why this one

We stopped buying goggles for the product photo. Open vents feel kind in a store and fill with flour-fine alkali the first time the wind stands up. A splash goggle with the vents capped keeps the lens in front of your eyes. Bring two. The spare stays in a zip bag.

Often about $8

Usual range, not today's price.

Pyramex G204 splash goggles. Buy on Amazon

Amazon affiliate link. Your price does not change.

Read the note

The photograph is people under a shade structure. That frame is the bulky piece you order ahead. It is not a Reno supermarket, and we are not naming the people under it. Reno hotels, flights, and rental cars are the beds, the planes, and the cars. Reno pickup is a locker. This page is the split between what you still buy in town and what should already be on a truck.

Four hex-head lag bolts and a washer on a white background.

Water and food, in town

Each card opens the shop. Amazon links are affiliate links. Your price does not change. How the links work.

Four hex-head lag bolts and a washer on a white background.

HROMIGRY

Buy once

Lag bolts, 3/8 by 12 inches, 25 with washers

Why this one

The city's securing notes describe lags on the order of 12 inches for the shade people worry about losing. The pack we opened is 3/8 inch by 12 inches, 25 bolts with washers, hex head, sold by Hromigry and shipped by Amazon. Twenty-five is more than one 10 by 10 if you place one at every foot and still keep spares. They are not 18-inch bolts, and they are not rebar.

Often about $35

Amazon affiliate link. Your price does not change.

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SpecSheet
Watts—
Wh—
Weight—
Dust rating—
Read the note

Buy drinking water and food in Reno or Sparks. The gallons are the water plan. We are not adding a store price, and we are not naming a market's hours. The jugs we list are the aqua-tainers, if you did not already pack them. The city's water page is the potable-water rule.

Ice is the other note

Ice is the cooler note. The 2026 city plan says where Arctica sells ice in the city. We are not pricing that ice. Melt that has touched food is not drinking water. That sentence already lives on the cooler note.

What should already have shipped

Lags, a sealed goggle, and a cot are miserable to hunt on the last afternoon. Order them from home. A locker or a hotel hold is the Reno pickup page. We do not ship the carton, and we do not meet you at the locker. A suitcase is the flying-in note. A shade frame does not become a carry-on on that page.

Lag bolts, goggles that seal, and the cot are the three we mean. Ship gear to Reno is the hold. Flying in is the bag that has to be on you.

Gerlach is not the grocery store

Two rectangular water jugs with spigots, stacked.

Reliance

Buy once

Reliance Aqua-Tainer, 7 gallon, two pack

Why this one

Bottles are heavy, gone by Wednesday, and the wind takes the empties. We choose jugs that stack in a car and pour from a spigot. Two of them is fourteen gallons, a serious start for one person's drinking water, not a camp's washing water. Do that math before you fall in love with a cute canteen.

Often about $54

Amazon affiliate link. Your price does not change.

Buy on AmazonOpens in a new tab.
SpecSheet
Watts—
Wh—
Weight—
Dust rating—
Read the note

The trip plan already says it: Gerlach is the last services El Monte names. Fill containers if that is the potable stop the city's water page describes. It is not the stock-up. An RV counter in Reno is a rental from Reno. The grocery run and the RV counter are two errands.

  • Water and food in Reno or Sparks. Gallons stay on the water note.
  • No supermarket hours and no water price on this page.
  • Ice on the cooler note. The city plan says where it is sold in the city.
  • Lags, sealed goggles, and a cot ordered before the last afternoon.
  • A locker or hotel hold on the Reno pickup page. We do not ship the box.
  • Gerlach is the last services, not the stock-up.
  • The RV pickup and the grocery run kept as two errands.

Questions

What do I buy in Reno before Burning Man?
Drinking water and food, in Reno or Sparks. The gallons stay on the water note. We are not naming a supermarket or printing a water price. Gear that is miserable to find on the last afternoon, lags and sealed goggles and a cot, should already have been ordered.
Is Gerlach the place to stock up?
No. We already say this on the trip plan: Gerlach is the last services El Monte names, about ten miles from the entrance. It is not a supermarket. There is no store inside Black Rock City you should count on. The city's water page is the potable-fill note. We are not adding a store price.
Is the RV pickup the same errand as the grocery run?
No. An RV pickup in Reno is the rentals-from-Reno page. The grocery run is water and food. Do both in town. Do not leave either one for the playa. The vehicle pass stays on the city's ticketing page. This note does not quote it.

Complete the kit

The rest of the job.

A kit is the shopping list for one job. Each piece is its own listing. We don't ship it as one box.

A small black power bank and a cable on a crate.

Ready to order

Overseas Flyer Kit for Burning Man

Suitcase on you, the bulky box to Reno

Open the kit
A dusty folding wagon loaded with water jugs.

01

Camp cart for Burning Man

What we'd put in the car first

Open the list
A clear hydration reservoir with a bite valve.

Ready to order

First-Timer Kit for Burning Man

What we would buy before the costume

Open the kit