Before gate
RV prep for a week in the dust.
Tick these on the phone, or print them and tick them on paper. The list is the door, the generator, the tanks, the gray water, and the state of the rig when you give it back.
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 is for. Event rules stay on the city's pages. We link them.
Gear links on this site may be affiliate links. If you buy through them, we may earn a commission. Your price does not change. Rental buttons on the rental guide open the company's page until a program approves a tracking link. Read the disclosure.
Before the contract
The number on a listing is not a plan until that company has said the Black Rock Desert is allowed.
Say Black Rock City, or the Black Rock Desert, in writing. A company that forbids the trip is not a bargain. RV rental guide
Cleaning, a destination fee, generator time, and what 'clean' means at return live on their page. Type those figures into the cost split. We do not keep a price list here. Cost split
A pass gets the rig through the gate and to camp. It does not let you drive the city. The amount and the cap are on the city's ticketing page for the year you are going. Ticketing
A rental RV is still a branded vehicle. Cover the logos before you arrive, not in an argument with a greeter. RV and car camping
Dust-proofing
Every open door is a shovel. The habit is small, and it is the whole week.
A towel on the threshold. The playa on your boots does not get a tour of the cab.
If the fan runs, recirculate. A whiteout is not the time to air the rig out. Cracked windows on a dust day fill the car.
You will put it back in the vents. Blow mats outside, downwind, goggles on. Vinegar is for the alkali film after that. Cleaning the dust off
A labeled spray bottle is for panels, the step, and the bike. It does not go in drinking water, and it does not get mixed with bleach. Vinegar
A closed rig in the sun is an oven. Power stations, tool packs, and phone banks live in the shade. Camp power
Generator
There are no hookups. The air conditioner is the generator, and the box still heats up when it is off.
Some contracts meter hours. Some include them. The figure is theirs. Ask before you run it all day and call the bill a surprise. City RV guidelines
Park so the generator is not aimed at a neighbor's tent. That is how you stay welcome. Shade over the camp is a separate build, and it is not tied only to the bumper. Securing a structure
We do not print a clock here. Read the generator note they publish this year, and the camp's own rule if you are in one. When a battery is the plan
The label on the can, and the rental company's rule, are the storage plan. Do not run a generator or a power tool in standing water. Survival Guide
Tanks
Level the rig before you trust a fridge, a sink, or a tank sensor.
Blocks go under a tire or a jack. Follow the stack limit on the label of the blocks you brought. Count them. A block left under the rig is moop. Leveling blocks
A week of dishes and showers in a small gray tank is how Thursday goes looking for a bad idea. Shorter showers are the plan.
The drinking-water hose is for a potable fill, before the playa or at a real spigot. Cap both ends. It never touches the sewer hose or gray water. Drinking-water hose
There is no dump on playa. Cap both ends before you coil it. Gloves on. Sewer kit
Gray water
Nothing from a tank, a shower, or a dish tub touches the playa.
The Survival Guide is the rule: no dumping station in the city, and the BLM cites dumping or leaking gray or black water. We are not restating a fine. Survival Guide
The city's RV notes name United Site Services for cash pump-outs. Pumping is removal of gray and black water, not drinking water. Leave a path so the hose can reach. Their truck does not snake through a shade structure. City RV guidelines
Lid on. The label has to be readable when you are tired. It never sits next to drinking jugs without that label. Strain food out of dish water first. Gray-water jug
Their wastewater note is the escalation: a spill you can fit in a five-gallon bucket gets dug up and hauled off. Anything bigger is a Ranger call. Do not invent a pit. Camping tips
Returning it clean
The clean they charge for is on their contract. The sequence that actually gets the dust off is short.
Mats outside and downwind. Goggles on. Then vinegar on the film. Water alone smears alkali into paste. A damp hope is how the dashboard stays chalky. After the burn
On the way home, at a station that takes RV waste. Not on the playa, and not in a town can you do not have permission to use.
Their guide says to check under the vehicle for fluids. At the end, stakes, screws, and a bottle cap hide under the step. A magnet finds steel. It does not find aluminum, glass, or ash. Move the rig only after that patch has been looked at, and look again after it moves. MOOP
If the rig comes back dirty, the fee is whatever that company publishes that day. Read it before you skip the vinegar. We do not print their number here. What each company publishes
Light items low, weight even, nothing that can blow off. A sealed bag of clean clothes in the cab is how the driver is not wearing the week to town. Survival Guide
A copy
Print it, or take the packing list too.
This RV list is already on the page. Leave an email if you want the packing checklist we send for the rest of the week: dust, water, shade, the bike, and a clean exit. We use the same signup as the rest of the site.
Questions
Can I dump gray water on the playa?
No. The Survival Guide is the rule: there is no dumping station in the city, and leaking or dumping gray or black water is cited. A pump-out, where the city allows one, removes water. It does not fill the drinking tank.
What does a clean return mean?
Blow the dust outside, then vinegar on the alkali film, and dump at a legal station before you take the rig back. The fee if you skip that is whatever the rental company publishes. We do not print their number.
How many hours can the generator run?
That clock is on the city's current generator note and on your contract. We do not copy a number of hours onto this list.
Are you affiliated with Burning Man?
No. Burner Supply is an independent shop. We are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to Burning Man Project.