!8: Solar Charger Aa On Sale: December 2011

!±8± How to Prepare For Burning Man With EL Wire

Anyone who has been to Burning Man knows you have to glow. For those of you who haven't been to the see the man burn yet, here are a couple of tips. During the day, less is more. At night, make it glow. Anyone who already has their ticket to the show, make sure you plan ahead early this year, as a mad rush of people never plan ahead for their costumes and are left out in the dust without anything to lighten themselves up. First step is figuring out the theme of Burning Man and see how you can tie yourself into that theme. This year's theme (2010) is Metropolis. This year's theme opens the door for a vast variety of costuming ideas. Personally, I would love to see people build their costumes UP this year, as it would seem fitting. Without getting too technical, here is a checklist of what you need to do in order to prepare yourself to glow on the playa.

1. Plan your theme early. Whether you are going more organic or decked out this year, make sure you have your general concept in mind early. Nothing is worse than getting to the playa and realizing you don't have any idea what you are doing with the 200 feet of EL Wire you just bought.

2. Make sure you know how much EL Wire each battery pack will hold. A carefully thought out EL design is actually less important than making sure you have enough juice to power your wire. Most battery packs will power between 1 and 30 feet of wire. That being said, if you have a costume with 200 feet or more of wire, make sure you have enough places to store all your battery packs. Many AA-9v battery packs come with belt clips so it is much easier to store them in pockets or belt.

3. Recharge - Recharge. Burning Man is the largest pack-in pack-out community on the planet. Keep in mind that each battery you waste will end up in a landfill eventually. Rechargeable batteries are becoming very cheap and are a great alternative to wasting 50+ batteries on the playa. Solar panels are also cheap enough to justify bringing your own portable wire charging station nowadays. Charge your batteries with the power of the sun.

4. Order more wire than you think you will need, before it is too late. Almost every costume has more wire on it than originally anticipated. When planning out the design make sure you have more than enough wire to accomplish your goal. Nothing is more frustrating than having to cut your project short because you didn't order enough. Also, it is much easier to have one long strand of wire, than many short strands that are linked together with solder. Each time you try to connect the wire, it becomes more and more fragile. Don't have a partially glowing project because you used too many connections. A helpful hint to hide wire is with electrical tape, or dark heat shrink tubing. This will enable you to jump a gap easily without having to break the connection. Another thing to think about is making sure you don't use the wire on places that bend frequently like elbows or knees.

Whether this is your first Burn or 10th, proper planning, like with anything is the key to having the best time possible. As you are thinking about your costume design for this year, use the above hints to help make this the brightest burn you can imagine.