TopTips
Glastonbury Survival Guide
Tips to help you survive Glastonbury this year
New Tip! Homemade tent alarm, if your worried about people breaking into your tent at night - click here
#1. Take hiking boots and wellies, why? Because if it's a complete washout then walking boots won't help as the watery mud will come in over the top. If it's just sporadic downpours with hot spells then wellies are useless, as when the mud starts to dry you'll end up loosing your wellies in the incredibly sticky mud!
If you're travelling by car you can always leave your wellies
in the boot. Lets hope you won't be needing them!
check these out:
Gelert, GAT015, Crag RS Gaiters buy now only £6.99
#2. If you only have a cheap sleeping bag take an extra blanket or buy one while you're there from one of the stores (usually cheap £3-£5). Even better, take a bed roll
to put underneath, this is where most of the heat is lost in the night, even laying down newspaper will help. Ideally you want a thin foam bed roll underneath and a blanket on top.
#3. Always empty your rucksack out into your tent and spread stuff around as soon as you get there. If someone tries to steal your stuff, don't make it easy for them by having it all neatly packed in your rucksack to be carried off.
#4. Only pack a very small amount of toilet roll with you,
say just enough for 2 visits, as this year Glastonbury is going even greener and free recycled toilet paper is being handed out probably at the gate.
#5. Get yourself some 'pee bags' nothing worse than after a skinfull, waking 4.30-5am and having to get out of the nice warm environment of your tent, especially if it's raining, and trudge of to a toilet. You can buy them here
#6. Don't keep all your money in one place
i.e. your wallet, if you loose this you've lost everthing.
#7. Take an old mobile phone and a spare battery,
queues for battery recharging are usually long.
#8. Always remember to take your torch with you when you go out for your evening session, even better take a small one and carry it with you all day. Even better still buy a wind-up torch no need for batteries that create extra weight.Or if you want to look like something from an episode of Dr Who try one of these babies!
19 LED Headlight buy now
Cyba-Lite NightVision Headtorch buy now
#9. As well as your main rucksack take a smaller lightweight one to carry bits around with you during the day i.e. your torch, small water bottle, wet weather gear etc.
#10. Apply your sun cream as soon as you get up and carry it in your backpack. You'll probably end up exposed to the sun for most of the day. Don't think 'oh, I'll put it on later when the sun gets hotter', even on a bright cloudy day, all day exposure will leave you burnt, that will mean a painful night's sleep. And nobody wants to trudge back to their tent to get their sunscreen in the middle of the day when all the bands are on.
#11. Camp on high Ground Tent Flooding can be a nightmare and as it always seems to rain over the Glastonbury weekend make sure you camp on high ground, avoid any dips or ditches where it is obvious that water will settle in a heavy downpour or flash flood
#12. If traveling by car take a spare set of clothes to change into if everything else gets soaked, if your going by foot or coach and you have room, take them and put them in one of the lockups until you desperately need them. A spare set of comfortable trainers left in the car also makes for a safer journey home
#13. Pitching your tent make sure that you temporarily peg
your tent down before doing anything else, I've seen far to many people chasing their tent because they erect the tent with frame poles first, it gets incredibly windy in the camping areas so pegs first then poles, you can always reposition later
#14. Cleaning your teeth Seen far too many long pointless queues at festivals over the years fifty or sixty deep waiting to clean their teeth, take as small swig of water stick a blob of toothepaste in your mouth stick your toothbrush in and brush away, you can do this next to your tent into a container if your worried about toothpaste polution
#15. Leaving the site in heavy mud When driving away from the site at the end of the festival the mud can be a massive problem, with lots of cars getting stuck in the mud.
One thing I noticed at this years festival on the way out was hundeds of abandoned wellies, so grab a couple and stick them under your back/ front tires depending on front or rear wheel drive. Also remember to put your car into 2nd or 3rd gear
not as lots of drivers were doing in 1st this just creates wheel spinning and get's you nowhere fast
#16. When you first camp, ask the name of the field you are in. That way when you are off your face and its 4 in the morning some good samaritan can point you in the right direction.
#17. Take sealable sandwich bags to keep stuff dry in your tent (and out and about) like skins and matches etc
#18. Get yourself a tripod seat. If it's muddy you will glad you have somewhere to sit
#19. Take warm clothing. Even if it's nice and sunny during the day, it can get very cold at night.
#20. Put Shazam on your mobile. Just dial 2580 and hold it up to the music and it texts you back with the song and artist. You will find yourself wandering past some stall in the market or in some tent in the early hours wondering what that amazing track is.
#21. When asleep in your tent, put your wallet (valuables) in the bottom of your sleeping bag. We have had friends robbed while they were asleep. Don't panic though, it's a lot safer than it used to be.
#22. If your worried about people breaking into your tent while your asleep, create a homemade alarm system. Simply atatch a peice of string (12 inches or more) to a clip ( keyring type clip) then attach loads of empty beer cans to the string, maybe drop a few tent pegs into a couple of the cans then once your into you tent for the night clip your DIY alarm system to the zipper of your tent flap and there you go!
