The camping essentials - I've found a bargain which you all need to know about thread...

[Lycra]

59 minutes ago, Stretlow said:

This makes no sense. I work and have worked in the card industry for a long time. What you're referring to is an interchange fee and is paid by card schemes to the issuers for use of the network, not the cardholders.

If i buy £1000 worth of purchases on my card and transfer it to a 20 month interest free, fee free card and pay £50 a month off it for the duration of the interest free period I pay £1000 back

So where exactly am I "paying for the privilege" ?

What you write does not make sense, please explain.

In simple terms when a shop accepts a payment by card that shop is charged a fee by the card issuing company. The recent fall out between Amazon and Visa concerning the fees charged by Visa is an example of this. Ultimately the fees charged by Visa to Amazon are passed on to the customer. Budge airlines have for years been more open with this by imposing card payment fees.

[incident]

1 minute ago, Lycra said:

Ultimately the fees charged by Visa to Amazon are passed on to the customer. Budge airlines have for years been more open with this by imposing card payment fees.

While that's true - literally every payment mechanism has costs associated with it either directly or indirectly, including Cash.

[the wonderwhy]

Just copped a new waterproof from Columbia (not the state). They have a bunch on sale atm and an extra 15% off with EXTRA15 ! 

[Jay Pee]

52 minutes ago, balti-pie said:

yeah, hard disagree on that - i do a lot of hiking, and if i spend a bit more on boots - £150 instead of £80 - i get better support, longer lasting, more comfortable, less blistery, all round better boots in every aspect. Expensive boots are absolutely not pointless at all. 

Scarpa and Keen are my preferred makes thus far, but ive got my eye on a pair of Meindl - they're next. i'm retiring my current boots after walking the Speyside way next month - then my proper hiking boots become festival boots, the circle of (hiking) life

Tru Dat.

Its known as the boot triage process in our house.  Hill Boot then Festival Boot then Dog walking Boot 🙂

See if you can try these on somewhere.  Fantastic boot.  Meindl Vakuum Men GTX : Men’s Walking Boots : Snowleader

I wore them through all of 2016 festival and never once "overtopped" despite the mud being a challenge.  Fell over a few times but that was the apples rather than footwear.

Edited February 24, 2022 by Jay Pee

[Smeble]

No matter what boots you end up buying , cheap or expensive you must do them up properly, all the lace holes, tight without cutting off feeling, blisters are caused by friction, loose boots cause friction, and wear them in before the festival, get them supple and fitting your feet. 

[incident]

4 minutes ago, Smeble said:

No matter what boots you end up buying , cheap or expensive you must do them up properly, all the lace holes, tight without cutting off feeling, blisters are caused by friction, loose boots cause friction, and wear them in before the festival, get them supple and fitting your feet. 

I've found that using Lock Laces (or similar) works well, and because they're elasticated gives a bit more margin of error.

[Lycra]

27 minutes ago, incident said:

While that's true - literally every payment mechanism has costs associated with it either directly or indirectly, including Cash.

Correct. That was my original point. Every business has a cost associated with taking payment and ultimately these costs are picked up by the purchaser. Just in the same way the purchaser picks up the costs of manufacture, warehousing, distribution etc. Some businesses are able to offer better prices by switching the method of payment because it takes the transaction into a more cost effective stream. 

[jimmillen]

3 hours ago, Smeble said:

No matter what boots you end up buying , cheap or expensive you must do them up properly, all the lace holes, tight without cutting off feeling, blisters are caused by friction, loose boots cause friction, and wear them in before the festival, get them supple and fitting your feet. 

Do them up properly & wear them in, absolutely agree. Even though fabric boots need a lot less "breaking in" than old fashioned stiff leather ones, a bit of adapting to your foot shape will always help.

Using all the lace holes though - possibly not! When I had my Meindls fitted they recommended window lacing (skipping one set of holes to leave a "window" in the lacing pattern) because I have quite high insteps - it reduces pressure over the top of your feet. Again definitely best to get expert advice on this if you can.

[blutarsky]

5 hours ago, Lycra said:

Correct. That was my original point. Every business has a cost associated with taking payment and ultimately these costs are picked up by the purchaser. Just in the same way the purchaser picks up the costs of manufacture, warehousing, distribution etc. Some businesses are able to offer better prices by switching the method of payment because it takes the transaction into a more cost effective stream. 

But that’s only on big ticket items really. If I pay for my Glastonbury ticket with a debit or credit card, it’s the same price. No matter how I pay for my weekly shop, it’s the same price. If I pay using an interest free credit card, then it’s cost me nothing to borrow that money, provided I pay it off within the given time frame. 

[Lycra]

3 hours ago, blutarsky said:

But that’s only on big ticket items really. If I pay forGlastonbury ticket with a debit or credit card, it’s the same price. No matter how I pay for my weekly shop, it’s the same price. If I pay using an interest free credit card, then it’s cost me nothing to borrow that money, provided I pay it off within the given time frame. 

That's because some businesses elect to have the same price no matter how a customer pays. For some businesses who can't take cash taking card payments is a matter of necessity. All businesses need a bank account for which they normally are charged. Accepting debit cards is normally an extra charge on the account. Credit cards are also an additional charge as they are run and administered by a third party,  viz: visa, MasterCard, American express etc. When buying big ticket items on credit, such as a car, kitchen or furniture, these are financed though a third party, again accruing a hidden charge. At the end of the day the customer pays for these tranaction charges.

[Deaf Nobby Burton]

1 minute ago, Lycra said:

That's because some businesses elect to have the same price no matter how a customer pays. For some businesses who can't take cash taking card payments is a matter of necessity. All businesses need a bank account for which they normally are charged. Accepting debit cards is normally an extra charge on the account. Credit cards are also an additional charge as they are run and administered by a third party,  viz: visa, MasterCard, American express etc. When buying big ticket items on credit, such as a car, kitchen or furniture, these are financed though a third party, again accruing a hidden charge. At the end of the day the customer pays for these tranaction charges.

It’s not really that simple is it, yes credit card transactions have a processing fee, but the vast majority of businesses would make far less money if they didn’t accept card payments and credit card payments. Cash is far less common place there days so if a business just relied on that they’d make far less money or maybe not even be viable, so it’s not that it’s an annoying additional cost, it’s a vital cost to help them actually be a viable business. In the case of American Express, they have the highest charge, but the theory is accepting it helps attract a certain clientele to your business who will spend more with the bonus for them of getting points back. Certain shops and services won’t accept Amex as there is no point for them, but for those who do they are only doing so because it’s a benefit to their business, not a negative that people are somehow subsidising.

[Lycra]

3 minutes ago, Deaf Nobby Burton said:

It’s not really that simple is it, yes credit card transactions have a processing fee, but the vast majority of businesses would make far less money if they didn’t accept card payments and credit card payments. Cash is far less common place there days so if a business just relied on that they’d make far less money or maybe not even be viable, so it’s not that it’s an annoying additional cost, it’s a vital cost to help them actually be a viable business. In the case of American Express, they have the highest charge, but the theory is accepting it helps attract a certain clientele to your business who will spend more with the bonus for them of getting points back. Certain shops and services won’t accept Amex as there is no point for them, but for those who do they are only doing so because it’s a benefit to their business, not a negative that people are somehow subsidising.

The discussion is going away from my original point which is that customers pay when businesses offer credit. Ìt is a fact that many business choose to offer credit because it offers a tangible benefit to the business. But the customer still picks the tab for it.

[Stretlow]

On 2/24/2022 at 10:41 AM, Lycra said:

What you write does not make sense, please explain.

In simple terms when a shop accepts a payment by card that shop is charged a fee by the card issuing company. The recent fall out between Amazon and Visa concerning the fees charged by Visa is an example of this. Ultimately the fees charged by Visa to Amazon are passed on to the customer. Budge airlines have for years been more open with this by imposing card payment fees.

You're missing the point.

If a shop / business advertises a product for £x, its irrelevant whether I pay in cash, by card or with gold i'm still paying the same amount irrespective of what card fees are attributed to the schemes (visa mastercard).

so your comment about paying on a card is somehow costing me more is nonsense.

Yes i have seen some merchants (usually smaller ones) add an additional fee to the transaction amount which they can do but its given to you pre payment so you can decline. Their other option is they have a minimum payment amount that they wont accept a card payment under this is because the fees involved in the transaction make the transaction worthless to them.. which is fine by me, why would you sell a product that doesn't make you money?

[gfa]

lightly used fresh and black tent steal here:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125176703561?hash=item1d251cea49:g:IfcAAOSw3WJiHpbl

TREAT10 code makes it £27 too!

Edited March 1, 2022 by gfa

[blutarsky]

32 minutes ago, gfa said:

lightly used fresh and black tent steal here:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125176703561?hash=item1d251cea49:g:IfcAAOSw3WJiHpbl

TREAT10 code makes it £27 too!

Added to my watch list despite the fact I’ve got a campervan - do I go for it…? 

[stuartbert two hats]

On 2/24/2022 at 11:15 AM, Smeble said:

No matter what boots you end up buying , cheap or expensive you must do them up properly, all the lace holes, tight without cutting off feeling, blisters are caused by friction, loose boots cause friction, and wear them in before the festival, get them supple and fitting your feet. 

Be very careful not to overtighten though. I've done it a few times where I've been worried about chafing, but ended up making my feet very sore and tired over the five days.

[gherkin8r]

Came for some tips on camp chairs and got a thorough education on the hidden costs of various payment methods. Now scared to spend money.

[waynewdk]

anyone used these before? Any good? Spend most my time looking at gadgets just lately.

[scatteredscreens]

10 hours ago, gfa said:

lightly used fresh and black tent steal here:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/125176703561?hash=item1d251cea49:g:IfcAAOSw3WJiHpbl

TREAT10 code makes it £27 too!

Thanks, I bought this one - was considering getting a fresh and black for a while!

[coma girl]

26 minutes ago, waynewdk said:

anyone used these before? Any good? Spend most my time looking at gadgets just lately.

Never taken one to a festival but used them at home and they are very handy. 

[the wonderwhy]

32 minutes ago, waynewdk said:

anyone used these before? Any good? Spend most my time looking at gadgets just lately.

What the hell is this? 

[coma girl]

20 minutes ago, the wonderwhy said:

What the hell is this? 

Boot remover

[the wonderwhy]

5 minutes ago, coma girl said:

Boot remover

Would never have guessed that

[gfa]

1 hour ago, scatteredscreens said:

Thanks, I bought this one - was considering getting a fresh and black for a while!

Awesome - they are great i would never get another tent honestly

[DareToDibble]

Bit of a random question here. I have pretty high arches which tends to end with pain in my feet by the end of the festival. I've bought fairly standard arch support insoles previously which have been pretty useless. Anyone else had similar issues and found a decent solution? I'm hoping the fact I have proper walking boots this year as opposed to some £10 wellies will help too 😄