magid

Given my lack of serious advance planning, I spent the two weeks before Burning Man running around like a major American consumer who*e, hopping from shop to shop buying stuff, throwing money at the issues, as it were. Very weird feeling, not at all good, though pretty much necessary, given my lack of camping gear.

The challenge the night before I left was to condense all the stuff down to fit into two suitcases and a carry on bag, including all camping gear, all food, and clothes, plus some other bits and bobs of usefulness. I cut down on packaging, which helped, but I still couldn't fit everything I'd wanted to. [I'm sure there's stuff I didn't list here; this is my best approximation, given the list-making I did at the time.]

What I brought from home:

tent (a new one, with one practice setting it up beforehand; the windows all around were compensated for by the rain layer, though the dome was the more useful over-layer)
sleeping bag (in too large a stuff sack, because I had no clue; note to self to get a smaller one)
sheet (to put over the sleeping bag when I wasn't sleeping, to keep more dust out without putting it back in the stuff sack each morning)
five books (one read on the way there and liberated in Reno; I didn't end up reading fiction at all in BRC)
new teddy bear (in lieu of a pillow)
shower (a black 5-gallon plastic one, which worked great the one time I used it; donated to the Peeps, so not brought home (read: must buy another if going camping))
two bags of crocheted jewelry, one for gifting/barter, one to wear (plus a few other pieces of metal jewelry to wear, most of which didn't get used at all)
crocheting supplies (at least six rolls of thread, two crochet hooks (neither one the best size hook), plus jingle bells and beads for closures and decorations; most of these didn't get used, partly due to the crochet hook situation)
tweezers and nail cutters (listed here because they were packed with the crocheting; the latter implement acted as my scissors for crocheting thread)
first aid kit (chock-a-block with things like bandaids, aspirin and equivalent, antiseptic wipes, a variety of creams, and so on, but no cold meds, which is what I ended up needing, nor moleskin, which would've been useful to have around, nor aloe stuff)
knee brace (a just-in-case thing, which luckily I didn't need)
camelbak (a new 100-ounce one, since my old one was giving me problems, and the new one has a wider mouth, so easier cleaning. I wore mine all the time, and stayed pretty hydrated, modulo the electrolyte issue)
pocket-sized siddur (Rinat Yisrael)
postcard stamps (many of which were used; I'm annoyed at myself for not getting the rest of them over to the post office, though)
mini blank books (with a list of addresses, plus the intent to journal. Didn't happen, partly because when I was hanging out in camp with spare time, there were people around to talk with, and I couldn't focus.)
camera, spare memory card (courtesy of Rhya; I need to get the few photos I remembered to take off the cards and return his hardware)
goggles, paint masks (the ones I got turned out to be wholly inadequate. Next time, find goggles for welders, if possible to find ones for welders that go over glasses (I do not want to think about wearing contacts out there), and something much more designed than regular paint masks (not sure where to look for those))
eight pairs of earplugs (in case I needed them every night; as it turned out, I didn't use a single pair)
three blinkies (two the standard red bike ones, one rainbow one; not nearly as cool as EL wire to be seen at night, but they worked)
one headlamp (I'm glad I got the adjustable one, so I didn't blind people too much, but the one that has dimmer settings would be even better. Side note: wearing the head lamp at night meant I could see just how much dust was in the air even when it wasn't windy)
one flashlight (the kind that is recharged by shaking up and down)
four AA and four AAA batteries (spares once I'd put new ones in all lights)
a handle bag (not sure why I thought I'd need one other than my backpack; I never used it)
string bag (for drying things in; never used it)
a bath towel (very useful, both for the shower and the hairwashing)
two washcloths (didn't end up being much used, but could've been)
prescriptions: my usual and some antibiotics (having recently had dentistry done; didn't need the latter)
a little sewing kit, safety pins (unused this time, but definitely useful)
a little eyeglasses kit
two tea lights (not used for Shabbat after all; I lit LED-run things instead)
glasses strap (would've been useful had I made it to any yoga classes as I'd intended)
clothing
(general clothing note: I used almost everything I brought, and would've liked to have had more room for more, but clothing was packed last, being the least important (in that it could be reused, though that's boring). If I ship stuff ahead of time next time, not fitting in as much camping gear would likely give enough room for enough greater variety. Also, comfortable is good, but comfortable and hand made/eclectic is better.)
- yoga pants (again, had I made it to a yoga class...)
- three bandanas (used on my head or as another layer over a paint mask. My favorite one is so far AWOL, unfortunately.)
- larger white cloth (that I think of as the 'lemon cloth' because it came wrapped around some lemons. Used mostly over my head, larger than bandanas so easier to tie and also cover the neck a bit)
- belly-dancing scarf (used briefly for dancing, more as a possible extra layer that would cut down on sun or dust while letting me see through it. Also a light layer when needing just a little warmth. This turned out to be incredibly versatile.)
- bike shorts (unused until Portland)
- exercise shorts (useful under other clothes)
- leggings (useful warmth layer)
- underwear, socks, bras (bring more than one pair/day of socks next time)
- a salwar (used, though not optimally versatile)
- three tank tops (one colorful, one painted, one plain; all useful, though next time I should remember that if I am wearing a pack, stuff painted on the back won't be visible)
- a sarong (comfortable; next time check color fastness before washing, and find one without tassels at the end. Also, learn more tying techniques, so I won't have to pay as much attention to the clothes while wearing.)
- black stretch lace shirt (a clothing swap find that was a fun addition)
- Cirque long-sleeved shirt
- colorful long-sleeved button-down shirt (buttons still needing replacement; this was my one over-shirt for warmth, and I should've brought one or two other options for an over layer)
- two long, filmy tops (one got ripped in the biking accident, but these mostly worked as I wished, as an additional cover-up without much weight)
- painted peace long T-shirt (I ironed it so I could bring it without worries; it felt great to be wearing something I'd made)
- another long T-shirt
- two regular size Ts (both with stuff on them; when I got there, I realized that though the stuff was cool stuff, I'd've rather had something plain or something I'd made)
- straight black skirt (stretchy)
- power dry two-tone fleece skirt
- thin fleece hat (which worked well, but I wish I'd brought a way to dress it up somehow)
- sun hat (a new one, which was nice and crushable and washable and all, but tended not to stay on my head without the strap being quite tight (and not always then). It helped to have cloth on my head for the hat to grip, but even so, it wasn't nearly as stable as others' were; consider getting something else next time)
- velcro sandals (I wore these most of the week, through lots of miles, and my feet stayed happy)
toiletries
- two travel toothbrushes (which was serendipitous, since someone ended up needing one :-)
- travel-sized toothpaste
- implement for pushing at the gums (I have no idea what it's called, that rubber-tipped thingie that stimulates gums in places other than where floss goes)
- floss
- Qtips
- a barette and some rubber-band equivalents for tying hair back (mostly unused due to weird hair length, in that it was mostly covered already)
- two each of mini soap, shampoo, and conditioner (one of each would've been sufficient)
- creams: SPF 30 sport sunscreen, hand cream, foot cream (I didn't get a sunburn, and I attribute that to diligence with headgear and reapplication of sunscreen as necessary. I put on foot cream every time I changed socks (and kept my feet covered in at least socks pretty much all the time), and hand cream whenever my skin felt dry.)
- multiple lip balms (again, it was great to have a spare to give away)
- a lipstick sample (I never used it; perhaps if I'd brought more make up I might've.)
kitchen things
- flexible cutting board
- silicon bowl and cup (squishable, so useful, but hard sided would've been faster to clean, and I only used the bowl)
- serving spoon
- fork-knife-spoon implement (worked great; however, if it had gotten lost, I had no back up)
- green scrubbie (could've gotten away with using paper towels mostly, and one of the washcloths or something)
- extra gallon ziplocs (not enough once others were finished with last-minute packing, and I should've brought more of all sizes)
- measuring cup
- cloth napkin (unused)
- Indian spice tin that I used as a pot (since fairly sealable; worked great for solar cooking, but would not have been good on an oven, since no handles)
foodstuffs
(when sizes aren't mentioned, it's tiny bags for things like spices, and less than a sandwich bag full of something like nuts or dried fruit. Also, everyone said that you eat less on the playa, but I had no sense of how that would work for me, plus I didn't want to feel that I had only one option for a given meal (read: bringing extra choices good).)
- a large container of organic whole wheat couscous (too much, but I did use some, cooked by the sun)
- red lentils (the failed solar cooking experiment; not worth bringing)
- two mini boxes of grape juice (for kiddush)
- two vegan jerkies, one of seitan, one of mushroom (bring a lot more of the former, which had the right texture to me, and were pleasantly meat-like in the middle of a vegetarian week)
- a bag of crystallized ginger (which got et completely; a lot of people like ginger. Bring two bags next time (especially because it helped my 'must feed people' feelings.)
- dried cinnamon apples (some leftover)
- dried slab apricots (all eaten; the intensity without being too sweet was really good)
- raisins (untouched)
- almonds (some used)
- TVP (half used)
- sun-dried tomatoes (would've been more useful cut smaller)
- three pouches of Indian meals (Tasty Bite equivalents; none got used, but they easily could've been)
- five Lara bars (mostly used as travel food; all were used, though focus on the less sweet flavors)
- a package of powdered milk (unopened)
- the smallest grind of bulghur (would've been the next solar cooking experiment, but that never happened)
- crushed tapioca pearls (I had some idea of mixing them with milk powder, raisins, and almonds for some dessert-y thing; never got around to it)
- Swedish fish (labeled "not quite gefilte fish"; bought more for fun than eating; left in Portland)
- three pop-top cans of prepared food (white beans in tomato sauce, sauteed eggplant in tomato sauce, stuffed cabbage; the latter two were part of Shabbat dinner, while the first came back. Note that the cans are too big to eat alone, so share a meal or have a good way to store the leftovers)
- soy and flax breakfast cereal (some eaten; the flake parts lasted surprisingly well)
- multigrain flakes (ie, hot cereal; never got around to it)
- nine tea bags (three each ginger, mint, and masala chai; never got around to making sun tea, unfortunately)
- dried sliced garlic (used some)
- spices and powders: salt, pepper, cayenne, ginger, zaatar, nutmeg, cumin, yeast (I had the vague thought I might bake bread. Ha!), beet powder, spinach powder, lemon juice powder (I never got around to the lemonade I'd intended, sadly), maple syrup powder (also unused), freeze-dried soup veggies (used with the couscous; could've used more if I'd cooked more) (On the whole, I'm glad I brought the variety of spices, even though most weren't used.)

Brought by wearing: linen skirt (the one with pockets, so useful even though too large), fleece rain jacket (as it turned out, mostly too warm, and definitely too boring), another T-shirt, sneakers (mostly unused in favor of sandals, just because of the heat).

Gotten in Reno (where I knew I'd have a chance to get things that would have to fit on the truck, but not squeeze into my luggage):

a solid plastic plate (no idea why I didn't get this at home)
a sharp knife (folding kind; very useful)
tongs (on the theory that they'd make up for the pot having no handles; didn't get used, but would be useful if I try burn barrel baking)
Nalgene water bottle (used for drinking stuff other than water, which didn't happen much)
heavy-duty aluminum foil (used for putting around the pot while solar cooking, more to keep the dust out than to keep the heat in, though it worked both ways, I believe. I realized only later that I could've used it to make foil packets of food to cook in a burn barrel)
baby wipes (very useful, but drying; my hands felt the dust more after using unless I put lotion on; I should've used the oils Electrictruffle brought more often)
single-ply toilet paper (a four-pack, because that was the smallest they had at the store; three were untouched by the end)
a roll of paper towels
a pound of 'baby' carrots
a pound or two of sugar (for lemonade; didn't happen)
a package of individual cups of applesauce (a couple used instead of milk with breakfast cereal)
a small package of lox (eaten the first night on the playa, and the packaging sealed up in some solid trash to avoid smells)
honey-wheat pretzel sticks (to have something salty that I wouldn't eat too much of at any one time)
grape tomatoes (not the happiest I've seen, alas)
a pound of matza (for challah on Shabbat)

I didn't find hummus (now that I knew there was room in one of the coolers for me to have some food), and forgot to get an umbrella (which I thought I might use as an outer layer of headgear, as it were).

Gotten in Empire, the second-to-last town before the playa:

cheddar cheese (!!! this made me incredibly happy, having cheese as an option, though I wished I'd thought to buy crackers. In fact, the store there had four kinds of kosher cheese, because it's a brand they regularly carry (three cheddar variants and some fourth kind) *happy dance of cheese*

And there's the stuff brought as a group, or already part of camp, which didn't get onto this list, the most important of which was water (10 gallons in jugs, plus half a huge barrel with a plastic pump to get it out, for about three people; we had far too much, and I'm glad of that), also chairs and tables, the rest of what was needed for a shower (tarps, towels for grey water, kiddie pool, something to stand on above the water, a post to hang the shower water from, etc), a bin for washing kitchenware, and so on.

(Far too much detail here, I know; I'm hoping this will be like my Pesach lists, to refer back to when packing next time :-)