Since the big fence, have you ever had your tent burgled or an attempted burglary, and if so where were you camped?

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

Does every camp site have a lock up ? I have these reallllly comfy pants but the pockets are rubbish so worried wallet my fall out dancing

[monkey1989]

Couldn't you leave your wallet in a lock up and just bring the cash you need out with you. You could spread it around these pockets, so that you reduce your risk of loosing it all in one go or having it stolen in one go. Or are these pockets seriously silly?

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

Oh yeah that was the plan just take out like 40/50 quid and put the rest in lockups on silly pants day

[Squonk]

Every day!

[esp]

Depressing thread but to add I was robbed at bushy last year whilst I was sleeping in my tiny 2 man tent at about 430am. Every other night I'd put everything in my sleeping bag, but this last night I left a cheap camera and a little cash in my day bag by my pillow (everything else was in the lock ups thankfully).I woke up as he was backing out if the tent. By the time I got out of the tent, I could see him and his thieving mates wandering towards other tents all individually though i knew they were my tent neighbours all staying 2 tents away from mine! so I shouted out to ask if they were robbing tents. Not the best idea -none of the rest of my group were back to camp yet so I was totally alone, accusing a group of guys of stealing. They weren't happy and got a bit aggressive and intimidating.

Nothing I could do. Reported it to stewards and went back to bed a bit scared.

Edited June 18, 2014 by esp

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

Maybe a highly sprung mousetrap placed in each of the pockets of a jacket folded casually at the bottom of one's bed. Hmmmm.

[progue]

Fortunately, there is pretty much always a few people from our group who are awake and TBH the rest of us are rarely asleep during prime thieving hours and so have never been unlucky in 20 years. Never used the Lock ups, but I can see why people would use them for sure.

I like the idea of bells on the zips!

On a positive note, I lost my Iphone there one year and my dad was contacted after the festival from my phone asking for my details. The kind lad who found it then posted it to me.....The vast majority of people at Glastonbury are very decent sorts I'd say.

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

A chemically sleep deprived friend of mine found a sw*nky mobile phone. He showed it to me and then two police officers on horseback appeared nearby. His response was to walk up to them looking very much like he might be on something and hand them the phone telling them he'd found it. I feared for his liberty but all went well.

[JWT]

This is from the program:

"Just like in the real world, it makes sense to keep your stuff safe. Sadly, 120 people had items stolen from their tents last year. If you’d rather be watching a band than watching your valuables, drop them off at one of 15 secure lock-ups across the Festival site. They’re completely free to use and will happily store anything from wallets to wheelbarrows. They're open 24 hours a day, from Wednesday afternoon till 12 noon on Monday. To find them, look for a keyhole symbol on the map (page 51) or on the flags flying outside. There’s also a lock-up for bikes near the Tipi Field. If you’re aged 18 to 21 – or look it – the lock-ups are also the place to get a “Challenge 21” wristband, which will be accepted as proof of age at Festival bars, letting you leave your passport or driving licence safely in the lock-up."

I think this figure seems very low. Is it due to people not reporting theft?

Edited June 18, 2014 by JWT

[stevieweevil]

My friend had his whole tent and everything inside robbed whilst camping on Big Ground but this was sometime in the 90's - the year the fence was pulled down and everyone poured in.

I also remember waking up at about 7am one morning that year to go to the toilet and there were empty discarded wallets everywhere you looked!

[Spindles]

looking at it from a different angle

has anyone caught someone in there or someone else tent?

and what did you do?

and what can you do if you see someone in someone else tent that you don't think should be in there?

obviously the norm oi what you doing? who are you etc, go tell the nearest police/steward but by the time you tell someone they are long gone and id feel sorry that someones stuff was long gone, especially when you could be on your own, im sure they wont work alone

[Craig_G]

I've actually got a megaphone we bought at the festival in 2010, that has a siren on it. I'm not thinking that I should take it and set the alarm of if I spot anyone robbing again!

[Vacant0]

Last year was the first time one of our group had their tent robbed at Glastonbury. She was in a one man tent and had her bag stolen from above her head on the Thursday night. We found the bag not too far away the next morning sans wallet.

And on the Friday night, another one of our group spotted a pair of very shifty looking blokes properly eyeing up some of our tents when most of us were away. They pretended to be lost and scarpered when she challenged them - not that they'd have found much of value with none of us being there - but still, scumbags.

We were camped in Oxylers.

To whoever asked if anyone had ever caught someone mid thievery before, yes but not at Glasto. At Reading a fair few years ago, on the Saturday night a group of three local lads (who had clearly snuck into the campsite) approached us whilst we were sat outside our tents and asked if they could borrow a phone. Now, we could sense that they were intending to do some sort of disappearing phone trick - and some of us had actually run out of battery anyway - so declined. It took a couple of minutes to persuade them that none of the 7 or 8 of us who were sat there were going to give them a phone, but they eventually gave up. Three or four minutes later, one of us notices that they're literally lifting a tent off of the ground about 20 feet away. One of our tents! The stupid thieving fucks clearly had no idea (why would they I suppose) that there were about 30 of us camped together and that they'd just been speaking to the pair of girls whose tent they were trying to walk off with. As soon as we shouted at them and started to stand up to move towards them they dropped it and ran off (not that we wouldn't have stopped them if it hadn't been one of our tents of course!).

[gooner1990]

In 40+ festivals over 15 years, I've only been robbed once and that was at Reading 2000 when I had had a small bag with my dirty clothes in. Unfortunatly I also lost a camera too.

My golden rule always is, no matter how wasted I am, my wallet and phone go inside my sleeping bag at the end of the night (And If I still have a large quantity of drugs I don't want to lose those as well)

[MoonBuggy]

Tent's always an absolute tip with nothing of value inside - didn't stop some right bastards checking for themselves, leaving the door open, and dumping my sleeping bag out in the rain. Was definitely in big ground - wanna say 2011... Easily solved the problem by not sleeping, though!

[Craig_G]

I've always been lucky but this thread is now making me a little paranoid. Thinking a rape alarm fixed to the zip might be a good idea!

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

I've always been lucky but this thread is now making me a little paranoid. Thinking a rape alarm fixed to the zip might be a good idea!

[Craig_G]

I'd only bother while we were sleeping. There will be nothing worth stealing from the tent. It's more the case of not wanting people in the tent while we're asleep.

[autoinflate]

One of the performers told an interesting story in the circus tent in 97 or 98....they'd caught some scumbag red-handed thieving from tents in their backstage camping area. The alarm was raised, various circus crew pounced on him, stripped him naked and threw him out front.

It was a proper muddy year.

Good.

[ceejaya]

I always camp in oxlyers and never had a problem *fingers crossed for this year now* I always camp one or two tents from the path. Those who have had problems there in the past have you been camped at the back of the field, out of sight of the footpath?

[LowerMead]

I've only been going since 2008, we camp in Lower Mead (hence username) and haven't persoanlly had any trouble there, but we do camp right by a security lookout point.

There was an incident of three blokes going round the field during the early hours of the morning last year, but security were onto them and caught them red-handed, fully loaded with cameras, smartphones and wallets.

[Joshuwarr]

Camped in Oxlyers at every Glastonbury since 2008, bar one, and we have never had a problem

[Jeremiah]

Kidney mead field, ironically sometime during Thursday (daytime) last year after I had passed out in my tent. Missed my wallet but took my shoes

But hey, awesome wellies for the rest of the festival!

Edited June 19, 2014 by Jeremiah