A couple camping questions

[TheBigJT]

I was looking at one of the tent threads and a couple questions occurred. (I'm trying to sort out an approach to getting my gear.)

I will be flying in for the festival, and unlikely to haul any gear on the plane with me except a pack that I'll use as my luggage.

My current plan is to arrive a couple days early and pick up whatever I decide that I need in London or somewhere between London and Glasto.

I've saw the Joe Bananas site that offered festival pick up....is that a reasonable option, or do you pay a premium to use that sort of thing?

As far as my current questions...

Obviously, I need a tent...and a decent sized one. I'm thinking a 2-3 person for some elbow room. Which leads to the question...is it bad form for one guy to take up the space of 2-3 person tent? I mean, I don't plan on buying some huge thing that sleeps a family of 12, but is it frowned upon to take up the footprint that could hold three people for one? Maybe this is an obvious question, but having never been to festival like this I don't want to violate some unwritten rule and piss my neighbors off for taking up too much room right of the bat?

(Or, do I just worry way too much about strange and arcane things...lol)

Second question...cooking gear.

Do I bother? Do I just bring snacks and plan to buy hot food from the many stalls I've been reading about? I'd hate to buy (and carry) a stove and pans, and then find it really isn't necessary when just a bag of meal bars would hold me during the times I couldn't go buy a meal.

Lastly, do folks like the e-fest camping ground folks ever group up at a gate or the car park to share hauling the load in and so each doesn't need to bring everything? I'm think that way maybe each person doesn't have to carry a full compliment of cooking stuff. Maybe that's already done, or maybe it's not workable.

Just trying to figure out my approach to what I'll need to buy, what's critical and what might be shared to save on weight and costs across a group of people?

Thanks!

JT

[LusciousLucy]

I've saw the Joe Bananas site that offered festival pick up....is that a reasonable option, or do you pay a premium to use that sort of thing?

As far as my current questions...

Obviously, I need a tent...and a decent sized one. I'm thinking a 2-3 person for some elbow room. Which leads to the question...is it bad form for one guy to take up the space of 2-3 person tent?

Taking up room...its a case of first comes first. Plain and simple. Yes folk can get p'd off at size of tent but at the end of the day you can do nowt about it. If you are concerned about carrying shit in, go with the JBs option. You can obviously pick up something a hell of a lot cheaper at Asda/Morrisons but if you want to travel light in, then pre-arrange your stuff for arrival.

(Or, do I just worry way too much about strange and arcane things...lol)...YES you are worrying!

Second question...cooking gear.

Dont bother bringing equipment. Glasto is THE best food hall on the bloomin planet. Budget for up to £20a day depending on how big a meal you enjoy, average prices are around £5-7 for a decent nosh up. You can find much cheaper food around eg. the PTA stall doing cornflakes and tea for £2 next to the Growler stall if you cant face a super pricey brekkie.

Lastly, do folks like the e-fest camping ground folks ever group up at a gate or the car park to share hauling the load in and so each doesn't need to bring everything?

Only really if you end up camping with the Triangle Crew and more often than not even then we dont necessarily plan on helping each other out in the heading back to cars although it does happen sometimes. The assistance you recieve is generally more tent set up and then you could lend a hand with fire wood retrieval if arrival is early enough. The pre-planning that goes on months beforehand can lead to the reduction of gear needed to be brought in...just shout hard enough and organising who is bringing what can and does occur.

Thanks!

JT

Edited December 5, 2009 by LusciousLucy

[grumpyhack]

Lots of great food available but always worth having a single ring gas burner for a late night or first thing in the morning cup of coffee/hot chocolate. Also gets you warm water for a wash.

[soulmaster]

if like most people you`ll be arriving on weds the last thing you want is a one man tent, its will get really cramped in there for for five days with all your gear in there with you too, go for a three man matey, plenty of space for an air bed too then- believe me thats an almost essential luxury! Food wise i wouldnt bother with stoves etc unless there is a big group of you going,, you can get almost anything on site, my group only uses the camping stove for brews, coffees in the morning, and thats between 12 of us!

[TheBigJT]

if like most people you`ll be arriving on weds the last thing you want is a one man tent, its will get really cramped in there for for five days with all your gear in there with you too, go for a three man matey, plenty of space for an air bed too then- believe me thats an almost essential luxury! Food wise i wouldnt bother with stoves etc unless there is a big group of you going,, you can get almost anything on site, my group only uses the camping stove for brews, coffees in the morning, and thats between 12 of us!

[ivan]

if like most people you`ll be arriving on weds the last thing you want is a one man tent, its will get really cramped in there for for five days with all your gear in there with you too, go for a three man matey, plenty of space for an air bed too then- believe me thats an almost essential luxury! Food wise i wouldnt bother with stoves etc unless there is a big group of you going,, you can get almost anything on site, my group only uses the camping stove for brews, coffees in the morning, and thats between 12 of us!

[LondonTom]

Seriously for yourself defo go with the 3 man tent, I went with mate this year to titp we had a 3 man tent and it was cramped as hell and that was just for the 2 and half days we was there for that. So i defiantly thinking about upgrading mine because once you get inside with all your gear, its just to cramped and no room at all. Though saying that definatly would be room for one, one lot of stuff and one person could be quite comfy.

[grumpyhack]

Or find a friend who's going and get a decent sized tent between you.

[LusciousLucy]

Ask in advance if you can share with someone? Plenty of the Triangle crew take f**k off epic tents and its only themselves in them!

Ok so the thought of sharing with a stranger may be weird but if everyone actually did this...like car sharing...there may be a f**k load more space to go around!

Maybe this should be considered by Chez Triangle next year? Would certainly save on lugging and hauling.

[grumpyhack]

We had our mega four bedroomed tent a couple of years ago and my daughter had one of the bedrooms for the first night before moving across the site to join her mates when they arrived on the Thursday.

Two beautiful young virgins arrived Thursday afternoon and were trying with not much luck to pitch their tent next to ours. We were close to a road and the ground was very stony and they'd never put a tent up before. We offered to help and started trying to hammer the pegs in.

Then we realised that we'd now got a spare bedroom which was probably bigger than their tent so we offered it to them.

They moved in and we got on really well. The only problem was that they couldn't stand the pace and ended going to bed early most nights while us oldies were still up at 4am.

[Buddhafish]

We had our mega four bedroomed tent a couple of years ago and my daughter had one of the bedrooms for the first night before moving across the site to join her mates when they arrived on the Thursday.

Two beautiful young virgins arrived Thursday afternoon and were trying with not much luck to pitch their tent next to ours. We were close to a road and the ground was very stony and they'd never put a tent up before. We offered to help and started trying to hammer the pegs in.

Then we realised that we'd now got a spare bedroom which was probably bigger than their tent so we offered it to them.

They moved in and we got on really well. The only problem was that they couldn't stand the pace and ended going to bed early most nights while us oldies were still up at 4am.

Edited December 8, 2009 by Buddhafish

[mikeb]

As for cooking, imho everyone should own a Trangia. If you get the Swedish army version like this; linky, then they weigh next to nothing and you don't need much fuel. Just carry your coffee/dried milk/sugar and maybe a couple of packets of dried food for emergencies and you'll have enough.

Edited December 8, 2009 by mikeb

[HurrahBrother]

Joe Bananas is not the only company that has onsite pick up.

http://www.cosycamper.co.uk/index.php?main...692fa4764697a5d

Also Millets, a UK high street camping chain has a store onsite. If you are in London a few days before you head to the festival, they have several stores around greater London.

http://www.millets.co.uk/home.html

The stores normally have last years tent models at a heavy discount.

Something like their Dart (a 3 person tent at a push) or the Tamar (supposed to be a 2 person tent, really is good enough for one + kit). Solid, sensible, to me the best all round balance of ease of pitching, usable space, and size and weight when packed. An extra chunky pegs on the 4 corners, and that tent ain't going anywhere.

When it comes to cooking, there is fabulous food onsite. At best there is a possible need of a personal brew up kit for the morning cuppa and to provide hot water for a strip wash.

If your coming by coach, there is a lock up inside by the entrance where you will enter the site. It means you can drop stuff off, go find a place to camp and pitch your tent and then come back and collect the rest.

Us mob, there will be a few camps established, all will meet up at the blue cider bus Wednesday and Thursday evenings.

[HurrahBrother]

As for cooking, imho everyone should own a Trangia. If you get the Swedish army version like this; linky, then they weigh next to nothing and you don't need much fuel. Just carry your coffee/dried milk/sugar and maybe a couple of packets of dried food for emergencies and you'll have enough. You'll eat out anyway, there's too much good stuff on site to want to eat in your tent.

[TheBigJT]

Very great stuff!

I like the looks of the suggested cooker to give me a light weight option to have along without spending a bunch of money. I'm not a coffee drinker, but boiling some water may be necessary sometimes.

I've read about the water spigots...it that all drinkable, or does it need boiling? Is bottled water available, or is there some sort of refillable bottle plan? I've been on a weight-loss and workout program, because of that I drink 2 to 3 liters of water a day. So, I go through a lot of plain water in a week.

My plan is to arrive in London with a few days to shop and get stuff sorted. I just don't want to hassle bringing the gear on a long flight and paying the extra luggage fees as well. So, a place like Millets will likely be my best option. I have a "friend of a friend" in London that I could potentially ship stuff to in advance, but I think picking up myself will be the best plan and not be a burden on someone I only know casually.

One of the multi-bedroom tents like I saw in another thread could work for sharing...I think it might be odd to share a single room with someone you don't know. But, the two sections with a porch in the middle seems like it could work and still provide some privacy for all.

Right now, you folks on here are pretty much everyone that I "know" in the UK. So, I'm hoping to join into the group camp and have some folks to hang out with some of the time. I'm anxious to sample the legendary cider of which I see so many people comment upon...

I really appreciate each of you who have taken time to advise me here, it's very useful and really helping me figure out what I want to do. So, a big thank you to all who've posted!

JT

Edited December 9, 2009 by TheBigJT

[r0cky]

Also Millets, a UK high street camping chain has a store onsite. If you are in London a few days before you head to the festival, they have several stores around greater London.

http://www.millets.co.uk/home.html

The stores normally have last years tent models at a heavy discount.

[mikeb]

They've already had a major cull on the stores front, pulling the plug on a whole bunch of stores around the country fairly recently TBH, I've never particularly liked Millets/Blacks (or whatever they want to call themselves at the mo) personally for lots of different reasons but they were always good for emergencies or those last minute b*gger I forgot to get some ... moments if nothing else. Used to have 3 stores in the town all of which had been here for almost as long as I can remember - all gone apparently and the nearest is now several miles away. However, if they still don't manage to get their act together after years of mismanagement (IMHO) then I kinda doubt they'll be around at all for that much longer somehow. Years ago they used to be pretty reasonable in most respects but they just seemed to have lost the plot somewhere along the way unfortunately.

Edited December 9, 2009 by mikeb

[paulo999]

The simplest answer for camping & outdoor stuff in London:

Catch the Jubilee line to Canada Water, and go to Decathlon. It's the biggest camping store in the city. (And the biggest chain in Europe)

They sell everything you need, decent quality, decent prices. The tent range is all set up, so you can see what you're getting.

[r0cky]

TBH, I've never particularly liked Millets/Blacks (or whatever they want to call themselves at the mo) personally for lots of different reasons

Edited December 10, 2009 by r0cky

[cejx]

I've never been that fond of them either, the product ranges they stock are bizarre and very sub-standard in my opinion. I much prefer to use Cotswold Outdoor and Snow&Rock, my last minute emergencies tend to be from Oswald Bailey. My hopes expressed before about Millets, was just from the point of view of their stalls at Glasto - can't have too much competition for onsite prices. Who will supply all the wellies in the wet weather if Millets isn't there?

I just wished there was a Decathlon near me, or the next best thing, that they offered a delivery service!

I should be visiting Canada Water to get a popup tent for Glasto 2010. Waiting to see what new exciting models they announce in the new season. I know I say this each year, but I'm going to make that trip to Decathlon one of these years!

[r0cky]

Go Outdoors. Get on their mailing list, pay £4 for a discount card and you'll get brilliant discounts. They deliver the next day too.

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk

[ivan]

Ah, but I want a Quechua pop-up, and only Decathlon sell them.

[Kyelo]

Never understood the popularity of them ! , Are they not really hard to get back into the bag ?

[cejx]

Ah, but I want a Quechua pop-up, and only Decathlon sell them.

[Kyelo]

Good pop-up tent for cheap at the moment is the Outwell Jersey S

Option of 3 colours - only £29.95, were £74.99 as they are last seaons range. Not too cramped either!

http://www.yeomansoutdoors.co.uk/products.asp?partno=536108

Think I'll get commission?

Edited December 10, 2009 by BenchBuddah