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  • #1

    Cost of DefCon

    Hi everyone!

    Excluding your DefCOn badge, travel (airfare, gas, train ticket, hitcherhiker fees, transporter beam) cost, and hotel stay, what other expenses did you incur during your DefCon travels? I am planning to attend DC19 and would like to begin saving up the cash to do so! I'm interested to see what the trip cost you, and what ideas you have to save some $$ along the way!

    Peace out!
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  • #2
    Re: Cost of DefCon

    Cab, food, water, souveniers ($20 t-shirt a must), bribes (usually in booze form), booze (does rio have the equivalent of the ABC store?).
    --- The fuck? Have you ever BEEN to Defcon?

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    • #3
      Re: Cost of DefCon

      Originally posted by kallahar View Post
      Cab, food, water, souveniers ($20 t-shirt a must), bribes (usually in booze form), booze (does rio have the equivalent of the ABC store?).
      I typed out a long(ish) reply, but honestly kallahar covered it pretty well.
      "As Arthur C Clarke puts it, "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic". Here is my corollary: "Any sufficiently technical expert is indistinguishable from a witch"."

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      • #4
        Re: Cost of DefCon

        I have spent nearly a grand on one trip, and survived one trip under $50. It's all in how you do it.

        Food: leave the hotel. You can find cheaper food elsewhere, especially if you find a grocery store and have a cooler in your room.

        Drinks: Booze, yes. Non-booze, very very important. Have a couple cases of water and a case of some neon sports drink. Carry these with you so you dont die. (Camelback/generic versions are also awesome.)

        Transportation: To and from the airport, and if you leave the convention (many things, like the shoot and the BBQ, are really easy to get a lift to and from.)

        Swag: not necessary (but always fun). Swag can also be free. If you compete in some of the contests, they give fun toys away.
        Of course its fully cooked... we had it set on "linen".

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        • #5
          Re: Cost of DefCon

          just because i like mentioning this... two of the best meal deals in Las Vegas are at Mr. Lucky's in the Hard Rock.

          The 777 deal is a 7 ounce steak, with a side of mashed potatoes and (i think) some sort of vegetable all for $7.77

          They also have unlimited prime rib for like $9.99 or something. King Tuna killed about four of them in one sitting and got well more than his money's worth.



          There is also one other thing you can do... at the Sahara casino there's the NASCAR Cafe (as if the Sahara itself wasn't full enough of t-shirt wearing rustics bumbing around the gaming floor in garish belt buckles and dolly parton wigs, they put in that cafe) which has some crazy burrito challenge.

          Basically, you get served a burrito the size of a Duraflame fire log and the challenge is to eat all of it in one hour. If you do, it's free. If you don't, it's $20. Of course no one can eat it... but the burrito is actually really good, and you can take the rest home for free. So, if you want to basically have enough food to last a whole week in Las Vegas, make that your first stop. you're required to sit for at least 45 minutes or so to make the attempt, but if you do it with friends it just becomes a whole laughing event where you wind up making fun of the yokels who stand and watch the "amazing feat" in progress.

          when we went there to do it, we just sliced of a little bit to have a nice meal, then ordered cocktails and side appetizers to pass the rest of the time. the funnies part overall was the people-watching... we literally had folk coming up and asking if they could have our autograph and such, like we were some sort of heroes to them. it was surreal.
          "I'll admit I had an OiNK account and frequented it quite often… What made OiNK a great place was that it was like the world's greatest record store… iTunes kind of feels like Sam Goody to me. I don't feel cool when I go there. I'm tired of seeing John Mayer's face pop up. I feel like I'm being hustled when I visit there, and I don't think their product is that great. DRM, low bit rate, etc... OiNK it existed because it filled a void of what people want."
          - Trent Reznor

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          • #6
            Re: Cost of DefCon

            Most I've spent on a DC trip was about $900 not including gas hotel, and badge. Least I'd say was about $400. Best things you can do to save cash is bring your own everything. $100 of your own booze is a metric shit-ton more alcohol than $100 of the hotel's booze. It's fairly easy to talk your way into a room with a fridge, bring your own food, you'd be surprised what can be cooked in a hotel room. Water, water, water. you can easily buy a case of water for the cost of ~2 bottles at the hotel. If you smoke, know that you're looking at about $8/pack on the casino floor. It's obviously not practical to stock up ahead of time if you're flying out, but that doesn't mean you can't pack an empty duffel bag or some such and hit Sam's Club or the like.
            "You have cubed asscheeks?"... "Do you not?"

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            • #7
              Re: Cost of DefCon

              Guns and ammo for the Defcon shoot set me back another $3,000.

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