The Glasto Handy Tips Guide

[LusciousLucy]

Space blankets+clothes pegs. Space blankets to keep tent warm on inside at night and cool during day when its sunny...roastingtentsyndrome is NOT fun! Clothes pegs are for keeping space blanket attached to tent.

Also place at least one space blanket on base of tent to keep coldness coming through the floor. Keep spares for added warmth during night to wrap around you...can you tell I DONT get cold at the Big G anymore!

A lilo or two from Poundland, a lot lighter and expendable than those huge fuzzy blow up mattreses. Bring at least 2 cos they may deflate after a day or two Portable battery powered pump for blowing air mattresses up!

A decent travel mirror for doing hair/make up for girls / shaving for the boys that want to stay looking fresh, lovely and kissable!

A small washing up bowl for use in tent for washing of your bod rather than trailing to the showers.

Keep up to 50 quid in the car in case of mud cos the locals charge a fortune to pull you out with their tractors...and keep TWO sets of clean clothes and shoes in car in case of mud drenching when you first attempt to move car before being rescued by locals.

Put a bright ribbon onto car aerial so you can find car again.

A wind up radio so you can listen to everyone's misery of trying to leave the car parks and decide when to make your own move!

PACK YOUR BLOODY TENT UP AND TAKE IT HOME YOU!!! I have pics of the Pyramid Field taken at 8pm on Monday night last year and its as if most of the festy was still there!!! Shame on everyone!

And if you HAVE a gazebo...and it is windy on arrival. Leave putting it up til the wind dies down or else your brand new purchase will be in many brkoen pieces within half an hour of being set up!

If the gazebos DO fall down...recycle the poles as walking sticks/staffs...VERY useful for depth gaging large ominous puddles and helping you through the mud. Use the piece with the corner plastic egde as the handle...makes you look like a cool dandy too.

More will come folks.

[sadwitch]

Space blankets+clothes pegs. Space blankets to keep tent warm on inside at night and cool during day when its sunny...roastingtentsyndrome is NOT fun! Clothes pegs are for keeping space blanket attached to tent.

Also place at least one space blanket on base of tent to keep coldness coming through the floor. Keep spares for added warmth during night to wrap around you...can you tell I DONT get cold at the Big G anymore!

A lilo or two from Poundland, a lot lighter and expendable than those huge fuzzy blow up mattreses. Bring at least 2 cos they may deflate after a day or two Portable battery powered pump for blowing air mattresses up!

A decent travel mirror for doing hair/make up for girls / shaving for the boys that want to stay looking fresh, lovely and kissable!

A small washing up bowl for use in tent for washing of your bod rather than trailing to the showers.

Keep up to 50 quid in the car in case of mud cos the locals charge a fortune to pull you out with their tractors...and keep TWO sets of clean clothes and shoes in car in case of mud drenching when you first attempt to move car before being rescued by locals.

Put a bright ribbon onto car aerial so you can find car again.

A wind up radio so you can listen to everyone's misery of trying to leave the car parks and decide when to make your own move!

PACK YOUR BLOODY TENT UP AND TAKE IT HOME YOU!!! I have pics of the Pyramid Field taken at 8pm on Monday night last year and its as if most of the festy was still there!!! Shame on everyone!

And if you HAVE a gazebo...and it is windy on arrival. Leave putting it up til the wind dies down or else your brand new purchase will be in many brkoen pieces within half an hour of being set up!

If the gazebos DO fall down...recycle the poles as walking sticks/staffs...VERY useful for depth gaging large ominous puddles and helping you through the mud. Use the piece with the corner plastic egde as the handle...makes you look like a cool dandy too.

More will come folks.

[LusciousLucy]

Buy lilos that will break and throw them away instead of buying an airbed and repairing it if it breaks.

Tell everyone that you, and therefore potentially other people, hide cash in their cars over the weekend.

Don't listen to any official announcements from the organisers e.g. asking people to leave tents they didn't want so they could be donated to Darfur.*

*yes I know it didn't work out so well in the end but people weren't to know that.

[dvjj]

You can buy a lilo type thing in Millets that will stop this argument of Airbed VS Lilo

The call it a backpackers airbed and it is like a lilo on the sense that it's plastic and you blow it up in the same way as a lilo, but it has no pillow bit and 6 tubes instead of 3 or 4. I have had mine for 8 years now and have not needed to use the repair kit (that's tempting fate isn't it?) it rolls up to the size of a full toilet roll (maybe a bit smaller but that'll give you an idea of the size) and cost £19.99 when I got mine, but my mate got one last year and only paid £17.99

So get yourselves down to Millets (I can't find them on the Millets online shop or would have put a link)

[pezzypops]

Space blankets+clothes pegs. Space blankets to keep tent warm on inside at night and cool during day when its sunny...roastingtentsyndrome is NOT fun! Clothes pegs are for keeping space blanket attached to tent.

Edited May 4, 2008 by pezzypops

[sadwitch]

Aaah...sorry to rise to any bait here...but the lilo thing is a question of reducing weight and carrying! And noone would lug back a broken hefty big mattress only to have it break again in the not too far future.

[dvjj]

Pegs are the most usefull thing in the world..I usually end up using a whole pack of 30 during the festival, I peg clothes, bags, damp coats, anything small I think if I put down I might lose...

[sillybillygilly]

I pack everything into a plastic chest of drawers (Wilkos) wrap the drawers in bin bags and stick it on a trolley - keeps everything dry, easy to find, and an empty drawer doubles as a mini bath to stand in to get washed in the morning!

[laid back in the sun]

if ur tent has an inner and an outer skin (like all good tents should) put up ur tent, get inside n zip up the outter skin, reach under ur ground sheet n cut a small square of turf then a small hole, any 'supplies' n spare cash can now be put in tobacco tins n well wrapped up in plastic bags put in the hole n covered with the turf n kept safe from the average thievin twat who mite fancy a rumage thru ur stuff

[JennyMc]

Portable battery powered pump for blowing air mattresses up!

[JennyMc]

if ur tent has an inner and an outer skin (like all good tents should) put up ur tent, get inside n zip up the outter skin, reach under ur ground sheet n cut a small square of turf then a small hole, any 'supplies' n spare cash can now be put in tobacco tins n well wrapped up in plastic bags put in the hole n covered with the turf n kept safe from the average thievin twat who mite fancy a rumage thru ur stuff

[StormCrow]

Imodium You'll be really glad you have them if you ever get that rumble in the tummy feeling

Foot powder - it can be heavy going on your feet so look after them.

Gortex Walking boots - as above

Good quality socks - as above

Blister Plasters - as above

Packets of tissues - easier and lighter to carry than toilet roll.

Small re-sealable plastic bags - 1 for daily supply of wet wipes another for sterilising wipes enables you to sit with peace of mind.

Small Torch - a must for when it gets dark.

lots of pockets - spread your money around.

Sun Cream - we're all going to need that this year.

Bin Liners - clean up your tent rubbish each day

Travel Johns - absolutely friggin brilliant

Great big cuban cigar - for when you get back to the tent on the first night and sit and gaze upon the site and go Aaaah.

[Zedsquared]

Great big cuban cigar -

[Boris]

Loving this thread, but cannot resist replying before I've read it all!

1.) Hand sanitiser YES- Tesco do it in handy teeny bottles.

2.) Travel John YES- if you share a tent with a lady who disapproves of the fabric condtioner bottle technique! However the latter is cheaper- just buy Tesco's Value brand fabric conditoner and empty it out. Probably more environmentally friendly than a Travel John.

3.) Hiding stuff in car just in case: YES

4.) The idea of WRITING DOWN numbers is remarkably simple but a very good one I'd never thought of!

5.) Bring MORE booze than you think you need. The worst that can happen is that you give some away to a stranger.

6.) Army Poncho! Not only ace for all occasions, but superb for that 'I've been standing waiting for my fave band to come on and I'm not moving now since I'm near the front but I MUST PISS' moments. Simply bring a pint from the nearest bar with you and when finished, conceal beneath poncho, let the relief of wee expulsion take over your body.... and when done simply crouch down and re-distribute the lovely stuff into the mud

More tips to follow

WoW.... now I know how you slept so long at Dragon

Sillybillygilly... your tip is the WIERDEST idea I've heard yet! Are you completely HATSTAND!!!???

Edited May 4, 2008 by Boris

[la la]

Top tips from 10 years experience.

1) Don't drink your entire weekend supply of red wine (3 litres) on wednesday afternoon

2) Don't ever try to piss in the bushes when drunk - it can be slippy and result in falling into pissy wet mud.

3) Don't camp next to the toilets wet years have seen rivers of shite

4) You can never have too many wet wipes

5) Don't stare too long at Pete Dohertys bright white face - you'll go blind

6) Old ladies tartan shopping trolleys are the most genius way of carrying you gear across the site

7) Take a tent thats one person bigger than you need

Just to sound like your mother - take something warm for the evening

9) Don't expect to wash. It'll never happen

10) Flip flops don't work well in mud (much like converse and bin bags)

But most of all have fun

[cthulu]

6.) Army Poncho! Not only ace for all occasions, but superb for that 'I've been standing waiting for my fave band to come on and I'm not moving now since I'm near the front but I MUST PISS' moments. Simply bring a pint from the nearest bar with you and when finished, conceal beneath poncho, let the relief of wee expulsion take over your body.... and when done simply crouch down and re-distribute the lovely stuff into the mud

[LusciousLucy]

Top tips from 10 years experience.

1) Don't drink your entire weekend supply of red wine (3 litres) on wednesday afternoon

Have witnessed FAR too often...the same goes for your beer supply too!

2) Don't ever try to piss in the bushes when drunk - it can be slippy and result in falling into pissy wet mud.

Dont even THINK of pissing in the hedges...its nasty, bad for the creatures that live in the streams and the license partly relies on how clean the water is!...You will get pushed if witnessed being stupid and selfish!

[hulk mike]

has anyone ever tried to space blanket on tent thing? does it actually work in keeping your tent cool? if so i am going to invest, as i like to have a lie in without being baked!

[Krudler]

I always take my army boots, they're totally waterproof, practically indestructable and you can walk forever in them cos they're comfier than wellies.

They're REALLY hard to take off when you're spangled though...

[dvjj]

has anyone ever tried to space blanket on tent thing? does it actually work in keeping your tent cool? if so i am going to invest, as i like to have a lie in without being baked!

[mouth]

* In addition to keeping a change of clothes and some food /water in your car, I usually keep £10 or £20 hidden away in there in case my cards/cash get nicked and I need it for emergency petrol/food on the way home (although i only live an hour or so away).

* Also, if you're ever tempted to leave wellies in the car as it looks quite nice at the moment, DON'T!! I made that mistake in 2005 and had to walk the length of the flooded site in trainers for our wellies!

* I use football socks over normal socks in my wellies too.

* My old camera had labels you could put on your memory stick(s) which i wrote my phone number on (came in handy once).

[beergut100]

Gooner's 6th tip reminded me of one on mobile phones:

Write down the phone numbers of your mates. If you lose your phone/battery dies then you can ask a nice person to borow theirs to get in touch with people.

Also, if you do lose your phone and you're on contract you can ask for an itemised bill and it'll list the numbers you've called or texted in the last month, so you can get some of your numbers back, because I've never met ANYONE who has backed up their numbers!

[ButtonMoon]

buy spare batteries for your phone and charge them before you go so you dont have to enter the farce that is the orange charge tent

[HorseboX]

Eat mud every day for 4 months before you go to Glasto, then when you get there, free food

[Rusko]

Keep hydrated. Remember to drink water throughout the day and not just booze (obviously don't get too carried away, you wouldn't want to accidently find yourself sober).

I try to drink a bottle of water with a re-hydration sachet in it before going to sleep. They are pretty cheap from Boots. This replaces all the lost minerals, salts etc, and will hopefully reduce your hangover a little.

I'll be trying to follow my own advice this year after coming down with alcohol poisoning on sunday last time!! Great fun!

If you're taking a plastic lilo, i'd take a bed sheet to cover it with. There's nothing worse than waking up in the heat with your face stuck to the lilo.