RV for your first burn
Is an RV the right shelter for a first burn?
An RV helps when you want walls, a bed, and a door between you and the wind, and you are not going to build a tent city. It does not delete the dust. Goggles, a mask, and water stay on the list. Survival Guide
The point of this page is the mistakes. Book the right kind of rig, on the clock a real fleet already printed, and know which fees that fleet stated. A nightly rate is not one of them. El Monte's Burning Man guide does not print one, and we will not invent one. El Monte Burning Man guide
Flying in with a suitcase
The rig is the shelter. The bulky fittings that are not the rig can wait in Reno.
Been before
This page is the first year. A return rig has its own note.
When a rig helps
- You are flying in, and the shelter has to be waiting at a counter instead of in a suitcase.
- You want a buffer when the dust picks up, and you will still be on playa. The event FAQ says an RV is allowed. The same answer says there are no hookups. official FAQ
- A group can split one contract. We do not publish a per-person price. The number is the company's, for the people sleeping in it.
Book by February
El Monte's Burning Man guide says popular pickup locations in the Reno area, Northern California, and Nevada can be fully booked by February or March. The same section says to book as early as possible, ideally in January or February for a late August departure, and to reserve the RV class and the Reno pickup between January and March. El Monte Burning Man guide
The FAQ on that guide says those same counters typically sell out 4 to 6 months before the event, often by February or March for a late August departure. A July booking, in their words, is likely to mean limited availability and fewer choices of size and class. That is their inventory. It is not a promise that every other fleet is empty on the same day. El Monte Burning Man guide
The Reno pickup
The same guide calls a Reno pickup the closest major counter: roughly 100 miles from Black Rock City, about 1.5 to 2 hours via NV-447 through Gerlach. Stock the rig in Reno before that drive. There is no fuel inside the city. Gerlach is the nearest services, about 10 miles from the entrance. El Monte Burning Man guide
Food and drinking water are that Reno shop. The Survival Guide's amount is still 1.5 gallons per person per day. An empty fresh tank does not count. Survival GuideEl Monte Burning Man guide
Fees that guide actually states
- Two amounts, both from the guide. Nothing else in this list is a price. El Monte Burning Man guide
- $1,000 non-refundable, non-transferable down payment for San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas pickups, in place of the standard deposit. The guide says standard payment terms apply at all other locations, and it does not print that other amount, so this page does not invent a Reno deposit. El Monte Burning Man guide
- $1,500 cleaning fee, offered as a pre-paid charge at pickup for Burning Man rentals. The FAQ on the same page calls that fee optional and says it covers the full post-event clean, with no additional charges on return. Both sentences are theirs. We are not choosing which one the counter will say when you arrive. The longer fee page they point at is Travel Extras. El Monte Burning Man guideEl Monte Travel Extras
- Every El Monte rental includes unlimited generator use. That is an inclusion they state, not a price. There are still no hookups. The generator plan is the contract, and the neighbor's night is part of it. El Monte Burning Man guideofficial FAQ
Mistakes that wreck a first rig
- Booking in the summer and expecting the Reno class you wanted. Their guide puts the reserve window in January through March. El Monte Burning Man guide
- Treating the cleaning fee as a surprise at the counter. Read both sentences they published before you pay. El Monte Burning Man guide
- Planning on hookups, or dumping gray water or sewage. The event FAQ says you do not. Gray water stays in the tank, leaves with a pump-out, or goes to a legal dump. official FAQ
- Leaving the lot without testing the tanks. The event's RV guidelines say to fill the fresh tank, run the sink, flush the toilet, check the caps, and look for leaks before you leave the rental center. Burning Man RV guidelines
- Counting on fuel or a grocery store in the city. El Monte says there is none of the first, and Gerlach is the last services. El Monte Burning Man guide
- Forgetting the vehicle pass. It is separate from the rental. The price and the cap are TBD — check the official ticketing page
- Flying in and guessing the licence, the passport, or a one-way. That reading is the abroad page, not a rule we are rewriting here. Flying in
Bike frame in Reno
Reno bike rental partner TBA. A rig does not include a playa bike, and this site does not invent a rental shop. Until a partner exists, the frame note is on getting there. Bike frame in Reno
Keep going
What we would open
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book your Burning Man RV by the February window. rent an RV from abroad. the RV week kit.