carrying stuff

[Da Mule]

Maybe he's wondering where to stow lip balm like this.

[kman]

Weirdscience_ there's a great thread somewhere on the board called "things you wished you had known your first time" of something similar- find it. Read it. A lot. It will cover lots of your questions.

As for this question- in SF I use a bike messenger bag. On the playa you couldn't give me enough money to use anything with straps- no bag, no backpack, no camelback. I find them all hot & irritating and haven't used them since my first year.

My preference is a Pod Belt- I've been using one since my second year and will probably use one as long as I go.

If I could fit everything on a pod belt that I can in my camelbak (including fluids), I'd be all over it. Cool looking, but I require more stuff with me when out and about.

[Eric]

I carry a water bottle on each side, and my pouch has contact drops, power bar, kleenex, lip balm, ID, pen, paper, schwag, sun block, day goggles, night goggles......

I can seriously fit a lot into the large pouch.

Plus they look cool.

They are, however, an occasional pain to deal with in the JOTS....

[TomServo]

http://www.hessenantique.com/Y_Straps_p/hage015.htm

All you need then, is a german....or east german belt, and two 8mm rifle cartridge pouches....sets of 3. Pouches are greay for storing trash!

[junglesmacks]

My biggest thing with not carrying a backpack is that I get cold and then hot again depending if I've wandered into a bass camp and am dancing, or then wander back onto the playa and get starry eyed in deep playa. I need a spare fleece jacket with me at all time that I can take on and off. Also, I drink at least a gallon of water each night when I'm out. Having a gallon of water dangling off me is kind of annoying..

[some seeing eye]

Camelback-style bladders/sip units can fit into many commercial bags, packs.

Commercial backpacks, belt packs, leg packs, armpacks, even bikepacks can be covered with safety pinned on fur or other fabric. Unpin at home and wash and you can use the pack in normal mode the rest of the year, dust free.

Having traveled internationally, the pack never leaves my body, except in private, and never gets lost.

[theCryptofishist]

i guess ill shut up now since all i seem to get is snark no more questions from me

I'm sorry. While I am seeing a disproportionate level of snark, you do seem to be one of the few newbies on the board right now (at least who's asking questions), and most of us are cranky because we're getting over the event.
I offer it as explanation, not excuse. Maybe knowing that will make a difference.
In six more weeks, you'll be seasoned enough to dish out some snark too. Or at least engage in the teasing/bonding thing that goes on on this board.

[Bob]

[Elorrum]

I've got a belt sort of like this one that I've seen on dog training sites, and as a shotgun shooters pouch belt. Also I think the MOLLE system belts from military surplus are interesting as you can attach a lot of different things to them. lots cooler than a backpack. Still, I'm at war with pockets... too many locations for rummaging, and I haven't gotten a system down as to where things go specifically. pockets and ziplocks, friend or foe?

[robrob]

i was a at a party this weekend, and saw some crustpunk/raver hybrid chick wearing some homemade leather utility belt type thing with her tail clipped on it.

i immediately snapped a mental picture and stowed it away. it was real badass.

(she was pretty badass looking in general, but thats another thread...)

[Snow]

sounds hot, can you send me a copy of that pic?

[C.f.M.]

I hate wearing backpacks. I loved my belt last year, from Blue Moon, and this year I custom designed one to carry everything. It was awesome, I love it.

[kman]

I carry a water bottle on each side, and my pouch has contact drops, power bar, kleenex, lip balm, ID, pen, paper, schwag, sun block, day goggles, night goggles......

I can seriously fit a lot into the large pouch.

Plus they look cool.

They are, however, an occasional pain to deal with in the JOTS....

I carry 4 liters of water any time I leave camp for the day (or evening)... 3 liters in the camelbak, and a spare 1 liter bottle in the pack. That's the biggest issue.

Add in candy, snacks (cliff bars, etc), a knife, various flashlights, sunscreen and lip balm, a very compact toolkit, and sometimes a fleece jacket (at night) in case of cold, day/night goggles, camera, spare SD cards and batteries, a mug for gifted beverages, shade hat, and a small towel (of course) and misc other things, and I definitely have more heavy junk on my than I want swinging on a belt. I can dump my backpack on the ground and flop down next to it any time... after wearing an uber-multi-pocket belt for years at faire, and never being able to sit easily without dealing with junk behind me (remember my stool? I had a reason for it!), and I've grown leery of too much stuff on a belt. The 4 liters of water alone pretty much precludes belt-based gear stowage for me, let alone the rest of it.

It doesn't have to be an actual camelbak backpack, of course, but significant storage and a way to attach my camelbak bladder in a non-swingy way is pretty essential.

The ~1500 cu in cargo capcity of my CamelBak HAWG 500 is a starting point for me... I don't go smaller than that. (I attach my camera case to the molle webbing, so it's not even inside)



Nothing wrong with decorating your packs, of course. I have big EL wire plans for next year.

[Eric]

... after wearing an uber-multi-pocket belt for years at faire

Ha! I think you just told me why I like my belt! I actually loved having all my crap hanging from my hips at faire. Especially when it made lots of noise. Hmmm. Need to make my belt noisier next year......

I also only carry 2 liters of water on me- one on each hip. Sometimes I rig a 3rd on the bike. My booze cup hangs from the belt as well.

and now I'm outed as a faire geek. Oh, the shame! *heh*

[Fire_Moose]

... after wearing an uber-multi-pocket belt for years at faire

Ha! I think you just told me why I like my belt! I actually loved having all my crap hanging from my hips at faire. Especially when it made lots of noise. Hmmm. Need to make my belt noisier next year......

I also only carry 2 liters of water on me- one on each hip. Sometimes I rig a 3rd on the bike. My booze cup hangs from the belt as well.

and now I'm outed as a faire geek. Oh, the shame! *heh*

Plus, you kinda like sitting on stuff...

[Bounce530]

... after wearing an uber-multi-pocket belt for years at faire

Ha! I think you just told me why I like my belt! I actually loved having all my crap hanging from my hips at faire. Especially when it made lots of noise. Hmmm. Need to make my belt noisier next year......

I also only carry 2 liters of water on me- one on each hip. Sometimes I rig a 3rd on the bike. My booze cup hangs from the belt as well.

and now I'm outed as a faire geek. Oh, the shame! *heh*

Plus, you kinda like sitting on stuff...

HAHAHA!
Gotta pull out the booyah kid again, for that one-
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGIo8oaMHfY[/youtube]

[Savannah]

Ha! I think you just told me why I like my belt! I actually loved having all my crap hanging from my hips at faire. Especially when it made lots of noise. Hmmm. Need to make my belt noisier next year......

I know this joy.

On the way two and from the burn I criss-cross layered two brown leather belts, one with the truck's keys caribeenered to the buckle, the other with the buckle turned to the side, with a small (12 oz) stainless canteen similarly clipped on. Sometimes the sanitizer got clipped on there too, etc . . .

Once I was onsite I had to carry my larger canteen all the time, but it was way more fun than is seemly to carry some stuff on the hip. I felt so functional.

[RichieRiot]

velcro covered clothing

[lucky420]

use your teeth

[brushfire on the playa]

well i forgot to say no back pack but i guess if you wanna carry a lot of shit i guess its the only way i found a bad ass one with a camelbak already in it , also i have bought el wire to light me up real good , and to the person who asked in a dust storm at night if i could find my way back... yes i would for one i have a great sense of direction and two i would have a compass always have one of those and three i would walk my happy ass to the man figure out which way camp is and if my tent blew away... eh screw it ill sleep on the floor http://www.dakine.com/snowboard/packs/s ... o-dlx-20l/

i guess ill shut up now since all i seem to get is snark no more questions from me

i don't seem to think before i post also its not a good idea for me to post something at 328 in the morning while im sleep deprived

To clarify, the person writing you about the dust storm is probably referring to a dust storm where you can't even see your hand in front of your face, let alone locate the man from deep playa. Also, I hope you don't think that if your tent blew away you could just leave it and forget about it, letting it become moop for someone else to have to hawl away.

Sorry, didn't mean that to be rude, just thought it would be good to clarify what the other poster was most likely referring to.

[gaminwench]

I have 3 camelbaks, different capacities; 2 pod belts and a bike basket.
In a small, zippered, carabinered bag, I put the 'necessities' (chapstick, smokes, lighter, gum, ashtray) - then switch this from pack to belt as needed (keeps from having to go 'in' the pack for quick stuff).
Each backpack,/pod belt/bike basket has one-time or back-up supplies...
power bars, one-ply, notepad/sharpie, flashlight/blinky, playa cup, gift patches, scarf tied on(for dust mask), lighters, sunscreen(which I never need out there?), gift ashtrays...

I find that this enables me to be ready quickly when something shiny/blinky goes by that I want to chase...
and I also have fashion choices!

[Fire_Moose]

All that work just so you don't have to dig...

/roll eyes

[gaminwench]

no work, really!
I'm ready to roll, right NOW!

[lambert13]

I just bought a cheap waist pack. Never thought I would do that. It is relatively small, has a few pockets and I can attach carrabiners to it. I figure that wearing it with the pack on my rear instead of front will make it easier on the bike.

[baconqurlyq]

I'm playing around with an idea I got from a friend who has been burning for about 10 years now. He took an old pair of jeans and cut them so just the waist and the front pockets remained. So, no matter what you're wearing, you can have pockets.

I just had my favorite jeans wear out in the crotch, so I cut them up and I sewed some nice fabric on them. We'll see how that goes!

[lucky420]

does he wear anything else underneath? just curious...

[theCryptofishist]

You are skirting awful close to having to say TMI, you know.

[Snow]

Wow y'all carry a LOT of stuff, how about less stuff instead of a bigger bag?

[lucky420]

Come on now Fishy, you know I can't be the only one thinking along those lines...I just aked the inappropriate question out loud.

[theCryptofishist]

*displays chagrin*