Alternative to a rucksack?

[Dominoes]

Hi there!

I have recently hurt my neck and back preventing me from carrying anything heavy which has ruled out my usual camping rucksack this year.

Does anyone have any good alternatives to a rucksack that they have used at previous festivals?

I have a coach ticket so unfortunately I am unable to take lots of small bags, and although I know I could buy most things at the festival, Iv accumulated a lot of camping gear over the years so I'm reluctant to do this if I don't have to.

Any advice would massively be appreciated, sorry if this has been asked elsewhere!

[MilkyJoe]

I really don't know of any decent alternatives to a rucksack if I'm honest. Whatever you bring you will need to carry somehow and I should think carrying holdalls/suitcases would do more harm to your neck and back than a decent rucksack. By decent I mean a good padded back and proper chest/waist straps.

The only other alternative that I can see would be to bring a trolley and pop your rucksack on that although I guess you run the risk of the coach driver not allowing it on board.

Me? I'd use ibuprofen and rucksack with plenty of rest stops.

Shaun.

[incident]

I'm militant when it comes to shedding weight from my camping kit generally, and spent quite a lot of time looking into the various options..

In the end I went for the Arc'teryx Carrier Duffle 75 - which is fully waterproof and heavy duty, holds 75L so as much as a typical large rucksack, but is about a quarter of the weight at 540 grams and can be used as either a backpack or duffel bag. However it's also ridiculously expensive - I got it on sale, but normal retail price is over £100. However even though the bag itself weighs very little, you'll still have all the stuff inside it weighing you down.

The best option  would probably be to try taking your normal rucksack and just strapping it to a sack truck - the official policy is no trollies etc, but generally the coach drivers do their best to fit everything on. If they do have to leave stuff behind, it'll be the people taking the piss who get affected first ie the ones bring mountains of beer, so I would expect that you're most likely to be OK if it's just a rucksack strapped to a sack truck.

You can get a pretty heavy duty model for £15 from B&Q or most garden centres, so at that price it's not a disaster if you have to abandon it. I'd definitely say to go for something like that one though rather than the smaller ones from aldi etc, the amount of broken and twisted trollies that get abandoned before people even reach the gate amazes me every year.

[Dominoes]

A trolley might not be be a bad shout actually. If I can find a sturdish one that folds up maybe the driver might be more lenient letting me take it on the coach.

Thanks both of you!

[stardustjunkie]

I'm in a similar situation. There's something so wrong with my back that I was kept in hospital haha.

Ive bought the folding trolley that's on sale through eFestivals shop. It arrived the other day and I can highly recommend it. It folds up very small and if necessary I'd put it under my feet on the coach. 

[incident]

17 minutes ago, stardustjunkie said:

Ive bought the folding trolley that's on sale through eFestivals shop. It arrived the other day and I can highly recommend it. It folds up very small and if necessary I'd put it under my feet on the coach. 

Just taken a look, seems like it could be a pretty good piece of kit - and certainly better than my suggestion of getting a cheap builders style sack truck.

How durable do you think it'll be? Any obvious points of weakness bearing in mind that anything going to Glastonbury is going to be properly put to the test?

[dondo]

Do you happen to know anyone else that's travelling by car?  They could maybe take some of your stuff for you.  Don't necessarily need to lug it on site for you- could leave it in the boot until you get there or shove it in a lock up?

[Jennings74]

fold flat box trolley

 

these are a bit on the small side but you should be able to squeeze a rucksack inside but it does fold up like a briefcase for fitting on the coach and can be used as a table at your tent.

There is a property lockup near Gate A so if you can get your stuff to there, you can do multiple trips to where you are camped without anything getting nicked if its left unattended.  

 

Efestivals camping shop sell this design  

folding trolley

 

Edited May 22, 2016 by Jennings74
added Efest trolley

[kaytee...]

1 hour ago, stardustjunkie said:

I'm in a similar situation. There's something so wrong with my back that I was kept in hospital haha.

Ive bought the folding trolley that's on sale through eFestivals shop. It arrived the other day and I can highly recommend it. It folds up very small and if necessary I'd put it under my feet on the coach. 

I'm still thinking of getting one of these but taking the coach I want to be certain that I'll get it on there.

So you reckon it's small/light enough to carry on folded? Do the wheels stay on whilst folded too?

[stardustjunkie]

1 hour ago, incident said:

Just taken a look, seems like it could be a pretty good piece of kit - and certainly better than my suggestion of getting a cheap builders style sack truck.

How durable do you think it'll be? Any obvious points of weakness bearing in mind that anything going to Glastonbury is going to be properly put to the test?

I would say it's perfect for Glastonbury. It's probably sturdier than my last trolley. Only reason I got this one was because it's smaller (once folded) than my last one. 

I was on my phone earlier so couldn't link. This is the one I'm talking about: http://camping.efestivals.co.uk/off-roader-heavy-duty-festival-trolley-1035-p.asp

4 minutes ago, kaytee... said:

I'm still thinking of getting one of these but taking the coach I want to be certain that I'll get it on there.

So you reckon it's small/light enough to carry on folded? Do the wheels stay on whilst folded too?

The one above that I've linked to is definitely small enough. Wheels would be difficult to take off due to how they're put on but if you had a small pair of pliers you would be able to in seconds.

[musky]

FWIW I've used a shopping trolley for the last three years. Quite honestly it's more for the journey to the coach station than for carting my stuff across the site, so it's not really had to do any rough terrain - just from the festival coach station to Pylon, which isn't that far at all. I'll come unstuck if it's muddy on arrival as these things really aren't up to coping with poor conditions, but touch wood that hasn't happened since I've been bringing it along. I attach my rucksack with the straps outwards, so I can still wear it with the trolley still attached (something your back would probably prevent you from doing though). The whole thing weighs about 60lbs.

I've never had anyone from National Express even give it a second glance.