Ambient Camper
Handbook

 

Welcome to
Ambient Camping

Welcome to Ambient Camping! This may be your first campout, or you may be a lifer- either way, we are thrilled that you are about to embark on your Ambient Camping adventure. This Camper Handbook was created to give you as much information about the campout, campsite conditions, and how to have a great time while Ambienting your face off (yes, it happens).

The Event

Ambient Camping is one of Texas’ longest running electronic music series EVER! Since 1995, we have been carrying on the tradition of blending the love of the outdoors with the best in ambient, downtempo, and chill music. And outdoor lasers! Woot! We pride ourselves on our community, and hold dear the aspects of self-sufficiency, teamwork, creativity, and intellectual exploration. We are so happy that you can join us. Some of our members have been attending for 15 years or more, so if you are new, introduce yourself and learn more about our history too!

Guiding Principles

Ambient Camping operates under the same guiding principles and ideas that steer the Burning Man community.  While we are NOT a “burn”, we have much in common in our mission.

Self Expression

We foster an environment of creative self-expression, where participants feel supported to honestly express their inner selves, through artistic creation, performance, and in their social interactions. 

Accountability

We foster an environment of personal accountability, where we hold ourselves responsible for our own actions, and take personal responsibility for meeting our own needs, for the event itself, and for the event's impact on the world at large. 

Cooperation

We foster an environment of cooperation, where participants work together to resolve potential conflicts between one another, to help mediate conflicts between others, and to create art, performance, and social spaces on a larger scale than one person could do alone.

Leave No Trace

Respect the Environment

Our community respects the environment. We are committed to leaving no physical trace of our activities wherever we gather. We clean up after ourselves and endeavor, whenever possible, to leave such places in a better state than when we found them.

So what does this mean for you? It means to come prepared, pick up your mess, and leave the campsite looking better than it did before you got there. It also means to pack it in, and pack it out. Inspect your campsite and rest areas for trash or spilled foods. Pack out all trash, leftover food, and cigarette butts before you leave.  YOU MUST HAUL AWAY YOUR OWN TRASH!


Tips and suggestions

  • Bring at least one trash bag for every day that you will be camping.

  • Reduce your packaging. Bringing less in, means having less to take out. Leave unnecessary packaging at home. Food items are a likely target with their many layers of plastic and cardboard, but also consider the toys and camping gear that you’re bringing. Unpacking them beforehand will spare you the hassle of bringing back extra packaging and useless shrinkwrap. Choose cans over bottles, and reusable containers over both.

  • Take frequent MOOP sweeps. As you’re packing out your camp, have campmates walk repeatedly around your site picking up anything and everything that’s not part of the natural landscape of the campsite. Doing this periodically, throughout the weekend will make it easier when you’re ready to head home.

  • Be Aware of Very Small Items.  No Trace really does mean no trace. Be conscious of spare nails or smaller trash particles that may be dismissed as too small for trash including: hair, matches, cigarette butts, feathers, plastic tie wraps. Remember that food waste such as peanut shells, orange peels and eggshells are also trash. While you're walking around the campsite, make an effort to pocket all trash, including cigarette butts, and then empty your pockets into a trash bag later. After you pick up your trash to carry home, do a last-minute check of your site for cigarette butts, gum wrappers, etc. because many of those will be hidden under tarps, tents and vehicles.

Don’t toss trash in the road on the way home. DUH! Please do not dump your trash along the highways where locals or highway cleanup crews will have to deal with it. Do not leave trash at local businesses or roadside rest stops – they have to pay for trash disposal and shouldn’t have to accommodate yours.

Camping Needs

What To Bring

  • Positive energy and good vibes

  • Friends!

  • Trash bags- one for each day you will be camping

  • Water! Water! And more water!!  You should have about a gallon a day per person.

  • Bug repellent, Sun Screen, tiki torches, citronella, OFF!

  • Camping gear: SHADE STRUCTURES, Camp Chairs, Tents, EZ-ups, Camp stove or BBQ grill, tarps, zip ties, duct tape, bungee cords, hammer or mallet, etc..

  • Sleeping gear: Sleeping bags, air beds, blankets and pillows

  • Lanterns, flashlights, Blinky lights, toys, El-wire, LED goodness (don’t forget batteries!)

  • Ice chest and ice

  • Food- enough for the whole time

  • Personal items: toothbrush/toothpaste, deodorant, hand sanitizer, etc.

  • First Aid Kit, towel if you plan to use the shower.

  • Clothes and shoes (bring warm clothes in case it gets cold at night!)

  • Chargers

  • Baby wipes, baby powder (for sand)

  • Fire poi, fire hoops, fire safety equipment (respective to burn ban restrictions)

  • Hula hoops!

  • Wet weather gear just in case… (Umbrella, rain jacket, galoshes, etc…)

  • The rain fly to your tent!

  • Phone chargers

  • Firewood if you are bringing an above ground fire pit

  • A small tub for feet rinsing before entering your tent

  • Hand broom for sweeping out your tent

  • Sun shower

  • Beach parking pass for the CURRENT YEAR if you plan to park in other places than the event! Find one at any convenience store on the island.

What NOT To Bring

  • Bad energy

  • Drama

  • Bullshit

  • Weapons

  • Illegal Drugs

  • Dogs (sorry)

  • Spray paint / sharpies

  • Jerk people

  • Feral cats

  • Balloons

  • Chickens

Law Enforcement

Ambient Camping abides by all relevant local, state and federal laws. Please avoid breaking laws while you’re Ambient Camping…it sucks for the rest of us to see you get carted off to jail during the campout because you did something amazingly stupid. If you see a law enforcement officer, be nice to them. We all share an interest in having a smooth event. We reserve the right to deny entry or removal of people that we feel will affect the safety of our guests.

Safety Tips

Heat and cold

It’s Texas! Drink lots of fluids. If you have not peed in the last hour, drink until you have to pee. Then drink till you pee clear. Beer is not water. Also, plan a shade structure of some kind, which will double as cover as we are expecting intermittent rain.

Critters

There are lots of critters in Texas, so keep an eye out for the kinds that will ruin your campout. Fire ants, mosquitoes and scorpions are common for this area. You may even run into a snake (not just the trouser snake variety), so be careful out there.