Renting equipment-- help needed!

[Abs]

Hi I'm a first timer to Burning Man this year and coming from Oz so unable to bring all my camping gear with me. Can anyone let me know if it will be easy to rent appropriate gear in San Francisco if I am arriving only 3 days before BM starts?? Missed out on an RV so will be in a SUV and will need some sort of shade structure and tent. Can you get shade structures that attach to back of vehicle?? Any help much appreciated!

[MikeVDS]

If it has a roof rack, then a tarp, a couple pieces of rebar and a couple pieces of pipe or tubing will make a nice little shade area. I don't know about renting in SF though.

[mdmf007]

ABS - Suvs work good - but i would look at a van. There is much more room, and they are usually cheaper. You could also rent a small moving van and have a ton of room. weekly trates are less than you think.

With nice SUV's its har to clean the plaay out of all the nooks and crannies to please rental people.

see you on playa.

[Bob]

http://www.mulders.com.au/
http://www.urbanshade.com.au/diy-shades.htm

http://www.rei.com/gear/picnics/TOC/Sun+Shades?

[Thecatman]

My first burn was spent in the back of a Jeep Cherokee w/o any "shade structure". Being 5'6" can be of benifit. There are a few companies that make a tent of sorts that attaches to the back of "suv's" and pick up trucks, based on make, model, and year.

[PetsUntilEaten]

My 2 cents:

I think virgins have enough to do without creating their own large shade.

Plenty of neighbors make large shade areas, just make a small shade area.

For Austin, Texas fly in camping, I was able to fit a small tent & a large tent shell to cover it in a check-in duffle. You can also purchase this stuff at the huge KMart / REI etc, but then what do you do with it after? I'm sure someone will take it if you ask your neighbors early enough if they'll want it later. My set up gave me enough morning & heat shade for my sleeping tent & a small place to kick it when at my camp. You'll be so busy, you won't need that much other than a cool place to nap & sleep.

Rental places hate hate hate playa dust. Expect a cleaning fee. Better than that with an SUV use the inside of your vehicle as a "dust safe area" / lock box only once at the playa.

We've used cargo vans for the last 8 years & always pay the cleaning fee. If you disconnect the overhead light fuse, you can leave the sliding side door open when there's no dust storm & tarp over the whole thing to make shade.

Reno has tons of camping & building supply resources. Just figure out what to do with what you buy before you're trying to leave. I have some nice bikes that forgiegn burners gave me. People will be more likely to say "yes" to taking an extra cooler earlier in the week than when everyone is packing up, tired, and realizing that their vehicles are overloaded already. You'd be surprised how many people will say no even to a nice free tent on Monday after the event.

Also Bob has this neato desert structure info:
http://www.geocities.com/potatotrap/tech/bluetarp.htm