# Tell me about Burning Man! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 6, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204 "2014-06-06T14:56:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204/41 "2023-09-04T01:30:27Z")
This year, it’s Drowning Man. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204/42 "2023-09-04T02:23:24Z")
_“Who will save, Who will save, Who save this Dirty Drowning Man?”_ Too disinclined to post a link to the Primus song. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204/43 "2023-09-04T02:24:37Z")
> [@Common\_Tater](#): > > “Leave No Trace” is another one of the stated principles of the organization. Yeah. At Black Rock. 50 miles down the road, not so much. I got pictures… ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204/44 "2023-09-04T02:34:23Z")
My brother, brother-in-law, and cousin + offspring are there (all in different camps). Fortunately all are very well-equipped. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204/45 "2023-09-04T02:39:23Z")
I hope no one has appendicitis. ---
**Author:** ![3AxisCtrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/ecd19e/32.png) [@3AxisCtrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3AxisCtrl)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204/46 "2023-09-04T02:52:38Z")
> [@markn\_1](#): > > … with all that rain, what if they can’t light the Man? I’ve seen some reports that this event has been cancelled. Which seems strange, as it would add considerably to the amount of refuse that will have to be hauled away. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204/47 "2023-09-04T03:25:48Z")
It’s downright cold at my place tonight. And I’m not in ankle-deep mud. There is some suffering going on up there, I tell ya. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 9:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204/48 "2023-09-04T09:54:13Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Hell, men are prone to pissing all sorts of places in less than civilized circumstances Sure if it’s more convenient, I’ll just piss in my yard. If you can’t do that, your neighbors live too close. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204/49 "2023-09-04T13:29:09Z")
It occurs to me that they’ve been having this festival for decades; is this first time it’s ever had rain? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204/50 "2023-09-04T14:24:02Z")
I believe it is the first time they’ve ever had rain _on this scale_. It’s a desert. It doesn’t rain often, or much. Except when it does. The festival location is a “playa”. That means it’s a dry depression. If you get enough rain all at once they turn in temporary lakes until evaporation dries them out again. The location got a butt-load of rain all at once and turned into a giant mud-puddle. The festival has, in the past, also been canceled due to pandemic (covid) and sandstorms. I’m not sure how often. The remote location is why people are cautioned to bring everything they need to be self-reliant. Based on a very unscientific sampling - media interviews - some folks are horribly miserable and demanding rescue and others are seeing this as a grand adventure and having a good time. Well, sure, you have tens of thousands of people there will be a diversity of views. ---
**Author:** ![ParallelLines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/parallellines/32/3575_2.png) [@ParallelLines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ParallelLines)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204/51 "2023-09-04T17:37:28Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > It occurs to me that they’ve been having this festival for decades; is this first time it’s ever had rain? Not so much this, as this: > [@Broomstick](#): > > I believe it is the first time they’ve ever had rain _on this scale_. I mentioned that my wife had an experience with noticeable rain on a prior trip back in the very early 2000s. And it did in fact basically shut down the event for 24 hours due to the clinging mud. But, the quantity and repeated rains of this year were pretty unique to my understanding. And I’m going to repeat the earlier point. Most Burner’s are pretty well prepared with food, water, and supplies for the event, and most even do the + 10% or so as a good safety margin. But none of that is going to prevent your tent from flooding on the pancake flat ground (okay, yes, there are a few things that could help but most of them aren’t reasonable either) - so even with enough food and water, sleeping in a wet tent and soggy sleeping bag isn’t fun or healthy. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204/52 "2023-09-04T19:31:16Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > I believe it is the first time they’ve ever had rain _on this scale_. Yes, but if they got a little rain before, and it made a little mud, that would have served as a warning. It should cause someone to think “if we ever get a lot of rain during Burning Man, that would really suck”. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204/53 "2023-09-04T19:48:08Z")
I don’t think anyone anticipated landlocked, desert Nevada being hit with the remains of a _hurricane_, which is what happened in this case. It’s not that they didn’t consider rain, it’s just that, as I said, rain on that scale was unknown in that area up until now. In hindsight maybe they should have but hindsight doesn’t really help in the immediate aftermath. And, oh yeah - I hear they have even more rain on the way tonight. Bummer. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204/54 "2023-09-04T21:05:13Z")
You didn’t … um … _bring this weather on,_ did you? _“Burning Man 2023: Catfish’s Revenge”_ Also, safe to assume the dachshunds would have been literally immobilized in a few inches of mud?? I’m hoping the narcissistic bastards don’t trash your part of the world this year. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204/55 "2023-09-04T21:12:03Z")
I’ve definitely seen water that was labeled gluten-free, although that makes sense. It simply means that it was bottled in a facility that does not produce gluten-containing foods or other items. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204/56 "2023-09-04T23:29:47Z")
I heard a report that said they received 3 months worth of rain in a matter of hours. That’s a lotta wet. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204/57 "2023-09-04T23:48:25Z")
That could mean a quarter inch. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2023, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204/58 "2023-09-04T23:52:54Z")
The CBC story I quoted up above gave Friday’s rainfall as “More than 12 millimetres of rain”, which is just under a half inch. ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204/59 "2023-09-05T10:54:17Z")
why doesn’t it drain there better? … I mean its sand … you pour a bucket of water on sand and its gone in seconds ? has it to do with the saltseas or so? ---
**Author:** ![Common\_Tater](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/common_tater/32/13846_2.png) [@Common\_Tater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Common_Tater)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2023, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204/60 "2023-09-05T11:01:23Z")
It’s a type of lakebed, not sure of the geology but I bet it’s a lot of very fine grained silt, or clay like material deposited over a very long time. Deserts in general are kind of interesting, they are often easy to get around in when dry (other than deep sand) if the trails or roads are graded. Once it rains, it turns into “gumbo” or similar to Georgia red clay or other notorious sticky, nasty stuff. The Comstock Lode in Nevada was initially discovered because a very tenacious, sticky heavy blue mud was wreaking havoc with wagons and equipment and everything else. A savvy geologist became curious and sent off a sample for assay. It came back about 60% pure silver, and he started quietly buying up all the worthless “gold” mines, and eventually made a fortune. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-burning-man/690204.md?page=4)