Camp Manifesto

We are not a turn-key camp. Other Helioz campers are not providing you anything more than shade, grey water disposal, some cooking equipment, and art -- we have no employees and all camp services are run by free volunteers like yourself.

RADICAL SELF-RELIANCE:
YOU ARE INDIVIDUALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR SURVIVAL IN THE DESERT 

In camping with Helioz, you agree to

• Contribute to the camp by completing at least one task as listed on the masterspreadsheet. You also need to get a sign off from one of the camp leads.
• Cook dinner once with your group. Your group is responsible for all the ingredients needed for the meal
• Complete interactivity shift once to get people to interact with our offering. Make sure this is a different night from your dinner shift.
• Collectively help with building camp structures
• Cleaning up the whole camp, even not your mess
• Every vehicle needs to carry up to two bags of trash out from the playa 
• Tear down on the last day of the burn

These are the minimum things that you need to bring for yourselves
(These are only a subset of the essential items. For things that’d be nice to have, consult the official Burning Man Survival Checklist =):

• Water - 1.5 gallons per person per day.  This is a desert guys, don’t forget.
• 2 re-usable water bottles (you’ll need a backup because you might lose one)
• Food for lunch and snacks for yourself each day
• Food for dinner for the whole camp for one night (coordinate with your dinner group about this - if you don’t know what a dinner group is, contact Alli)
• Disposable plates and utensils for your lunches if you were to eat at camp
• Coolers to store your food in
• Dust mask
• Goggles
• Clothing for when it’s hot out (up to 100 degrees F during the day)
• Clothing for when it’s cold out (down to 40 degrees F at night)
• Headlamp and spare batteries
• Sleeping bag and bedding
• Lights to illuminate yourself at night, or else you will be in danger
• A chair to sit on
• Shelter (tent, yurt, RV, truck) to live in
• Bike for exploring the playa highly recommended. DEFINITELY get a bike lock! And keep your bike locked at ALL TIMES.
  

PARTICIPATE IN TEAR-DOWN:
EVERYONE IS EXPECTED TO HELP TEAR THE CAMP DOWN AT THE END OF THE WEEK

Tear-down will mostly be done on Saturday because our truck is leaving Sunday morning.  Everyone must help with that. Expect to be assigned tasks on Saturday, and you will need to make yourself available ALL DAY ON SATURDAY to help, except during the Man burn ceremony.  If you’re leaving earlier in the week, talk to the camp leads and we will tell you something you can do as an alternative to helping with tear-down. Otherwise, you are must help with tear-down and stick around until the job entirely complete, which means not leaving until the truck is fully packed, locked up, ready to leave. 

RULES REGARDING ILLICIT SUBSTANCES
Of course no one will bring illicit substances to Burning Man, but, should you happen to find yourself somehow in possession of them, there are certain rules you must follow if you want to camp with us.  

1. NO SMOKING WEED IN THE CAMP!!  Burning Man is crawling with undercover cops and police dogs.  I have personally seen people tackled by undercover police, have their faces shoved into the dust, get handcuffed, and arrested.  Don’t let this happen to you, and don’t let it happen to others in the camp! If the cops smell weed smoke and trace it to our camp, THEY WILL SEARCH THE WHOLE CAMP.  If you want to use weed, smoke it somewhere far away from the camp, or just use edibles--taking the risk is up to you, but please don’t spread that risk to other people by smoking at the camp itself.  Is vaporizing weed ok inside the camp? No. If you are using edibles or other substances, make sure to store them and use them out of sight. If a cop sees someone using something at our camp, they will search the whole camp.
2. ALWAYS CARRY YOUR ID!  If you are caught with something elsewhere on the Playa and you don’t have your ID on you, the cops may arrest you rather than just giving you a ticket. Also, most Playa bars will ID for drinks since the cops will bother them otherwise. 
3. NEVER LEAD THE COPS TO OUR CAMP AND NEVER TELL THE COPS WHERE YOU ARE CAMPING!! If you do, they will come and try to search the whole camp.  Again, take whatever risks you like yourself, but please do not spread your risks to others. The cops may tell you that you have to lead them to your camp--YOU DO NOT!!  THEY MAY BE VERY INSISTENT BUT YOU DO NOT EVER NEED TO LEAD THEM TO YOUR CAMP. THERE IS NO BENEFIT TO YOU IN LEADING THEM TO YOUR CAMP--it can only get you in more trouble if they find further evidence at your camp.  If the cops insist on you leading them to your camp, LEAD THEM TO THE RANGER OUTPOST AT CENTER CAMP INSTEAD--the Rangers will then deal with them on your behalf.  
4. NEVER GIFT OR SELL ILLICIT SUBSTANCES TO PEOPLE YOU DON’T KNOW FROM BEFORE BURNING MAN.  Again, the place is crawling with undercover cops who will try to get you to give/sell them drugs and then arrest you for distributing narcotics (that’s a felony). 
5. NEVER GIVE THE COPS PERMISSION TO SEARCH ANY PART OF THE CAMP! If a cop asks or demands to search any part of the camp, your answer should ALWAYS be “I DO NOT CONSENT TO A SEARCH”.  If any one person gives them permission to search the camp, then they can search it, so they will try to trick people into giving them that right.  DO NOT GIVE THEM THAT RIGHT! REMEMBER: I DO NOT CONSENT TO A SEARCH.  Those are the only words you should say to a cop who so much as suggests searching anything.  In any situation where you are being confronted by police, you can always say that you want to speak to your lawyer.  That puts the police under a constitutional obligation to stop interrogating you.
6. DO NOT SERVE ALCOHOL TO MINORS.  We will be serving drinks. Make sure you card EVERYONE you serve who looks under 60.

READ THIS PRIMER ON DEALING WITH THE COPS