Any person who has been to Burning Man knows you have to illuminate yourself. If you have not been to the see the man burn yet, here are a couple of tips. During the day, less is more. Of course, we are talking about clothes. Do you have to prance around naked? No. But if you walk around in your street clothes, prepare to have some burners explain the guidelines of the playa.

As it turns to dark on the other hand, make it glow. Anyone who already has their ticket to the event, make sure you plan ahead early this year, as a mad dash of people never plan ahead for their costumes and are left out in the playadust without anything to illuminate themselves up. The1st stage is finding out the theme of Burning Man and see how you can tie yourself into that theme. The theme for 2010 is Metropolis. This year's theme paves the way for a vast variety of costuming ideas. Personally, I would love to see people build their costumes upwards this year, as it would seem appropriate. Below is a not so extensive list of what you need to do in order to prepare yourselves this year.

Package your theme beforehand. No matter whether you are going more pure or over the top this year, make sure you have your general thought in mind early. There's nothing worse than getting to the playa and realizing you don't have any idea what you are doing with the 500 feet of EL Wire you just got.

Be certain you know how much Electroluminescent Wire each battery pack will maintain. A precisely laid-out EL structure is actually less important than making sure you have enough juice to power your wire. Most inverters will power between 1 and 30 feet of wire. I will say this, if you have a costume with 200 feet or more of wire, make sure you have enough places to store all your inverters. Many AA-9v battery packs come with belt clips so it is much easier to store them in pockets or belt. Generally sound activated units are not as easy to store and are bulkier.

Recharge - Recharge. This is the most well known pack-in pack-out society on the planet. Keep in mind that each battery you dispose will end up in a landfill eventually. Reusable batteries are becoming very economical and are a great alternative to using up 50+ batteries on the playa. Solar panels are also economical enough to warrant bringing your own portable EL Wire charging station nowadays. Charge your batteries with the power of the sun.

Get more wire than you think you will need, before it is too late. Almost every costume has more wire on it than originally assumed. When arranging out the design make sure you have more than enough wire to accomplish your goal. Absolutely nothing is more aggravating than having to cut your project short because you didn't order enough. Besides that, it is much easier to have one long strand of wire, than many short strands that are connected together with solder. Each time you attempt to link the wire, it becomes progressively more fragile. Don't

Frank McGavin