Well, it's festival season, so I thought I'd gather some gear together that might help out. There's some decent camping offers around at the moment and I'll update here often with any better deals and price changes.
As per, I'll add any new items to the top of each category, so save you having to dig through. Also I already have LOADS of BBQs and fire pits that fall under the camping category, which you can find Right Here
Offers & Codes to be aware of
VERY have 3 for 2 on loads of Camping gear - Could be worth a look as prices seem to be dropping - You can see those offers - Here
20% off Camping & Tents at Millets - Code CAMPING20 - See Here They have some good offers on, with upto 50% off, spotted a decent 3 person tent, which I have added below
Robert Dyas have a 10% off EVERYTHING code at the moment STUDY10 Which can be used on the 4 for 3 mix and match promo - Here
Decathlon have lots of backpacks on offer from £1.99 at the moment. There are also some larger ones at 30L for £9.99 - Here they are
You probably need a bigger tent / bag than you think - Remember ALL of the things you packed? You'll need somewhere to keep it all!
If going to a festival with mates, form your tents in a circle, so if it rains you can stay dry and still chat with the doors open
Put a marker you can identify from a fair distance, so you and your friends know where to meet (Even after a couple of drinks) OR you could use a tent finding system like This one at £9.99 - no one wants to wind up in the wrong tent, right?
Keep valuables well away from the entrance at night, just in case you have a visitor
Take Paracetamol with because... do I need to say?
Bring bin bags just incase your old tent leaks, can help keepo clothing dry, also good for keeping your area tidy
Bring your power bank for charging your gear - Poundland sell them, although they are quite low power wise at 1200mah, so choose wisely - Haldords eBay do these Star Wars 2600mAh ones are pretty cool Here
An obvious one, but take sun cream! As soon as you start having a drink you'll probably not realise how long you've been in the sun (Assuming the weather is good, of course) Some good offers on over Here
Latest comments (39)
YolkiePolkie
23 Aug 17#37
Wax earplugs are better than the silicone ones Use an empty 2L bottle to piss in at night, maybe the one that was full of cider that you emptied. Funnel optional. Bring plenty of carrier bags to crap (in the privacy of your tent), tie the ends and fling it over the hedge when you are done.
geordie7 to YolkiePolkie
23 Aug 17#39
I can tell that you have a environmentalist or agricultural background. This comes across so strongly.
Cameron92
22 Jun 17#15
What about the beer/cider deals? Where can one get the best value crate?
tommyjw to Cameron92
23 Aug 17#38
Bes tthing to do is buy 4 packs of pint cans. Your usually not aloud glass and are limited to the amount of alcohol you can take in. It is a more expensive option but you get more in. (Technically)
us_agent2012
25 Jul 17#36
How would he scare the crows if he was invisible?
r104
24 Jul 17#32
Only coming to say please stop leaving your cheap camping trash at festivals - buy something decent that will last you, you really don't need to bring tons of stuff, just to leave it there. You are not a humanitarian you are just being lazy.
*Some* festivals may donate stuff to the third world but you are just telling yourself that to make yourself feel better about wasting time and resources. Why not just send them a tent now if that's what you think they are in such urgent need of? Even if it is great quality and not covered in rubbish or broken, someone still has to dismantle it, pack it down, potentially dry it out so it doesn't rot, check it's got all the parts, ship it off - - - probably more than the cost of just buying and shipping a new tent, and again, not that one person pop-up Argos tents are likely to be in such high demand in the first place. I would bet the majority of festivals DON'T actually do this, it is cheaper to go straight in the trash and I don't blame them for it.
razorwire to r104
25 Jul 17#35
Very true - it costs Glastonbury nearly £800,000 or so each year to dispose of the stuff left behind, money that could be better used going to their nominated charities. They did try a recycling scheme in 2007 but it was a disaster (due to all the tents full of rubbish and broken etc) - however people have been using that as an excuse ever since, despite the message not to leave your tent being everywhere you look. They still allow small charities to collect tents at the end but the truth is that, as with most festivals, nearly all of the tents left behind end up as landfill which is why they encourage people to spend more on a tent that you will take home with you and use again and again.
That same rule applies from Glastonbury right down to the smallest festivals (200 capacity) we go to - by leaving your crappy sub £20 supermarket tent full of rubbish you are just being lazy and ignorant. We go to a lot of festivals each year and I totally get why people do it - nobody wants to pack their tent down in the rain on a Monday morning, then lug it potentially miles to their car but then neither do the volunteers want to deal with all the crap (and it's quite often literally crap too - the stuff you find in tents on the clean-up crew is horrific) left behind.
If a festival is having some sort of drive to collect tents to pass on they will make sure you know all about it in advance, and you will be asked to pack it up, label it and deliver it to a specified collection point but it's incredibly rare. Festivals make such a point of asking people to take their tents etc home that I doubt many of the people trotting out the "well they all go to charity" line actually believe it themselves.
pgilc1
25 Jul 17#33
Decent poncho?
My son and i got once of these each for a Guns n Roses outdoor concert. Absolutely brilliant as you could keep the sides open so you didnt sweat, it was waterproof and you could sit on it and cover your feet etc.
Looks like you could get some occasional work as a scarecrow too
HolyZarquon
17 Jul 17#31
I just went into my local Millets and they had inflatable beds on offer - double for £10, single £6. The 'luxury' ones were £14
quidditys_shore
7 Jul 17#30
Having just done Glastonbury & willowman (with wilderness to come next month!) I'll pass on some of my tips.
Take loo roll. Some toilets rarely get cleaned or refilled!
Most festivals have free water taps. Take empty pop bottles to fill up & drink regularly
The water can taste a bit funny so get some of the ultra concentrated juice from Aldi or home bargains
Search eBay for 222562190269. It's a solar powered light that inflates like a pillow. Great amount of light & lasts for days!
You know those foil car windscreen covers? I got one for £1.60 off ebay. Stick it under your sleeping bag for it to reflect the heat bag up to you. Couldn't believe how much warmer I was!
A waterproof bag is a godsend! I picked up an aldi duffle bag for £9.99 last year. Stayed bone dry during the wettest ever Glastonbury (which was also my first!)
Please don't buy pop up or single skin tents! You'll regret it! You'll be colder & wetter plus they don't tend to last. But you don't have to spend a lot to get a decent tent. Aldi are always good & halfords are selling alot off now. My £15 ultralight argos 1 man has lasted me 5 years & about 15 festivals with plenty of life left!
Don't take chocolate or stuff that can melt because it will! M&ms survive though lol
birdyboyuk
29 Jun 17#28
I have a request for camping...
I'm looking for a 2 man tent, that packs up small enough to carry on the back of a motorbike, ideally a pop up one too so I can pitch the tent last minute when its gets dark (wild camping in Scotland on the north Coast 500 is my plan!)
Cheaper the better obviously, but not too extreme! Less than £100! :grin:
esq3585 to birdyboyuk
29 Jun 17#29
A Vangoo banshee 2 or even a 3 man would be ideal , take a trip to gooutdoors to give u an idea of size. If on a motorbike the three man with that extra bit of room would be ideal , could even spend a bit more,I have a Vangoo nova three man which has. a great porch area and lots of room for comfort, if you are going to gooutdoors price match online stores and get an extra 10%off over the price match price
Proveright
25 Jun 17#27
I am not going to a festival either but I enjoyed reading the tips and hats off to the original poster for the work in putting it all together.
In the Tesco reduced camping gear, when I was last in store they have also reduced square head sleeping bags 5.99
Leonintelex
24 Jun 17#26
Some great tips, heres some to add to the list:
1: If your taking a trolley then make sure you get one with pneumatic wheels. Trust me the skinny wheels are a nightmare in mud.
2: Earplugs are absolutely essential if your a light sleeper. Strongly recommend the silicone ones which block out the noise. Costs about £1.99 in Savers/Wilkos for 6 pairs.
3: Take a roll of bin bags of whilst queuing if rain is expected. Last year at Glastonbury most people's stuff got soaked. Luckily I was able to use the bags for waterproofing so my stuff stayed dry.
4: Inflatable tents are awesome. Just don't let your mates know where the valves are or they will let it down at 4am.
5: Don't drink cider 2 hours before bed. Otherwise you will spend the night going for toilet trips. If you insist on having multiple magners at 4am then pack an empty Lenor bottle, perfect as a portable loo (blokes only)
6: Camping Matts are much comfier in my opinion. They also are lighter and don't go down in the middle of the night.
7: Take advantage of fruit and smoothie stalls. Trust me 3 days+ drinking and eating kebabs takes its toll, you need vitamins to live.
8: Tinfoil on the roof is really good at keeping your tent cool during the day. Without it tents can get unbarebly hot of sun is forecast.
9: Take good quality insoles for wellies and use Welly socks. Something I once forgot and my feet were gone by day 2.
10: Waterproof hiking trainers are fantastic if light rain is forecast. Nothing worse than having wet feet at a festival.
11: Just because a food vendor has nice decor the food still can be awful. Look at people who are eating already, if they look unhappy then avoid.
12: Monster AC do a 25000ma power bank. A must if you vape or use your phone a lot. Don't bother with charging stations, you literally have to que for 1 hour for 10 mins of power.
13: Pace yourself and drink water between alcoholic drinks. If your plastered by 7pm on day 1 then unless your superhuman day 2 will be hell.
14: Do occasional trips back to the car with stuff you no longer need (clothes etc). You will then have less to carry on the Monday morning when you feel awful. I normally do daily trips.
15: Respect the festival, other people and leave no trace.
Enjoy yourself.. so jealous as due to a new arrival for the first time in years I ain't going a festival in 17.
paul10rc
23 Jun 17#25
Just picked up a Yellowstone Ascent 4 tent at Tesco for £36, 3000mm HH
percyrush
23 Jun 17#24
heat for effort cheers
Chiptivo
23 Jun 17#23
Need a warm sleeping bag. Thoughts?
squaredoggy
23 Jun 17#22
Slighty better tens at Millets with 15% off, was 20% this weekend look for HH hydrostatic head the bigger the better, also Winfields have some good deals on nice 2 man ridge tent double skinned! for £15
percyrush
23 Jun 17#21
how close do these proximity markers work though? the difficulty at festivals is spotting your now tiny tent when youre virtually next to it not which part of the site you camped.
gordo1964
23 Jun 17#20
We always freeze the bacon and milk before we go. Put the beer/wine in the fridge the night before. Then put all chilled frozen products in the cool box with a few bags of ice. You then have chilled drinks / ice for drinks / chilled bacon / chilled milk. Happy days. Or option B - reduced chilled option - buy tins of stag chilli / pre cooked bags of rice / tinned ale / crisps etc. Again happy days.
NeoTrix
23 Jun 17#19
There's a few ways, although I did also mention about taking a basic phone, just in case yours get lost/damaged. Just ideas, really :smile:
woopedeedoo
22 Jun 17#18
Some of the bigger festivals donate unwanted tents to the third world
nicejack10
22 Jun 17#17
thank you
horsepills
22 Jun 17#16
Don't need to get an app for this. Most mobiles have pre-installed maps that you can drop markers in, and label them up.
tinca
22 Jun 17#14
It amazes me that after a festival thousands of pounds worth of gear is just abandoned
woopedeedoo
22 Jun 17#13
Now you are being silly
tallica
22 Jun 17#12
Good effort! Heat
bojangles
22 Jun 17#11
Use an App to find your tent. ITTT will allow you to store your GPS position & guide you back when drunk.. or maybe use one of the many where did i park my car apps. Cheaper than £10 thing with flashing lights.
bojangles
22 Jun 17#10
Cheap enough to leave it there!
Roger_Irrelevant
22 Jun 17#9
Fantastic.
Do you also have all night benders next to a river and leave all your tins and bottles there? :stuck_out_tongue:
Gopher42
22 Jun 17#8
AWESOME POST DUDE thanks !
woldranger
22 Jun 17#7
Has anyone come across any good deals for 1 man tents?
NeoTrix
22 Jun 17#6
Depends what you want really, I've seem people take tents and sleep in the rain on the grass :grin: Personally I think single skin is fine for a few days at a festival, but I will be adding more higher end ones for family trips and stuff soon. :smile:
Zoea
22 Jun 17#5
heat for effort. wish I could festival this year :smile:
cdm22
22 Jun 17#4
Yet again I post to say all the tents are basically useless as most are single skin and all have a low hydrostatic head which won't be much use if the weather is bad.
FreeDeal
22 Jun 17#3
Heat for effort alone
toiletseatlicker
22 Jun 17#2
TheFury77
22 Jun 17#1
good effort here. there are some really cheap options. heat
Opening post
Well, it's festival season, so I thought I'd gather some gear together that might help out. There's some decent camping offers around at the moment and I'll update here often with any better deals and price changes.
As per, I'll add any new items to the top of each category, so save you having to dig through. Also I already have LOADS of BBQs and fire pits that fall under the camping category, which you can find Right Here
Offers & Codes to be aware of
VERY have 3 for 2 on loads of Camping gear - Could be worth a look as prices seem to be dropping - You can see those offers - Here
20% off Camping & Tents at Millets - Code CAMPING20 - See Here
They have some good offers on, with upto 50% off, spotted a decent 3 person tent, which I have added below
Robert Dyas have a 10% off EVERYTHING code at the moment STUDY10
Which can be used on the 4 for 3 mix and match promo - Here
Decathlon have lots of backpacks on offer from £1.99 at the moment. There are also some larger ones at 30L for £9.99 - Here they are
Eurohike 3 man Tent £43.99 + £1 C&C or £3.99 Del
Kids Play tents £8 / Sleeping bags £6.40 / Camping chairs £8
4 Person Tent £79.99
Regatta Malawi 2 man Tent £24.50 - Free C&C
Yellowstone 1 Man Expedition Backpack Tent £15
Halfords 2 Man Dome Tent With Porch £12.50
Redcliffs 2 person tent £14.99 instore / £18.94 delivered at The Range
Halfords 2 Man Pop Up Tent £20
VonHaus Double Hammock £11.99 Domu
Intex Classic single Downy Full Air Bed £6.99 instore
Adventuridge Inflatable Sofa £19.99 delivered at Aldi
Camping Mat £5
2 Camping chairs for £10 with free C&C at Tesco (Various Colours)
Folding Picnic Table With Stools £25
Malloy Metal Camping chair £8
Halfords Low Folding Chair £4
Quest Traveller Morecambe Compact Chair £8.99 with code STUDY10 (Free C&C)
Urban Escape Folding camping table and Bench Set £40.00
Mobicool U22 Passive Cool Box £15.29 using code STUDY10 (Free C&C)
Other
Halfords Wine Glass (Acrylic) 4pcs set £5
20L Hi Gear Solar Shower £4.99 at Go Outdoors (C&C)
Blush Batiste Dry Shampoo 200ml £1.69 delivered at Aldi
Hi Gear Outdoor First Aid Kit £3.49 (C&C)
Adventuridge Tent Organiser £4.99 at Aldi
Lightway 12W LED Lantern £2.99 at Aldi
Avenue Festival Wellingtons £12.99 delivered at Aldi (sizes 4-7)
You probably need a bigger tent / bag than you think - Remember ALL of the things you packed? You'll need somewhere to keep it all!
If going to a festival with mates, form your tents in a circle, so if it rains you can stay dry and still chat with the doors open
Put a marker you can identify from a fair distance, so you and your friends know where to meet (Even after a couple of drinks) OR you could use a tent finding system like This one at £9.99 - no one wants to wind up in the wrong tent, right?
Keep valuables well away from the entrance at night, just in case you have a visitor
Take Paracetamol with because... do I need to say?
Bring bin bags just incase your old tent leaks, can help keepo clothing dry, also good for keeping your area tidy
Take a cheap phone with you, instead of your prized smart phone - Just in case you damage or lose it! Such as the Alcatel OneTouch 10.16G 79p + £10 top up or Vodafone Mobiwire Ayasha Mobile Phone £8.94
Bring your power bank for charging your gear - Poundland sell them, although they are quite low power wise at 1200mah, so choose wisely - Haldords eBay do these Star Wars 2600mAh ones are pretty cool Here
An obvious one, but take sun cream! As soon as you start having a drink you'll probably not realise how long you've been in the sun (Assuming the weather is good, of course) Some good offers on over Here
Latest comments (39)
Use an empty 2L bottle to piss in at night, maybe the one that was full of cider that you emptied. Funnel optional.
Bring plenty of carrier bags to crap (in the privacy of your tent), tie the ends and fling it over the hedge when you are done.
*Some* festivals may donate stuff to the third world but you are just telling yourself that to make yourself feel better about wasting time and resources. Why not just send them a tent now if that's what you think they are in such urgent need of? Even if it is great quality and not covered in rubbish or broken, someone still has to dismantle it, pack it down, potentially dry it out so it doesn't rot, check it's got all the parts, ship it off - - - probably more than the cost of just buying and shipping a new tent, and again, not that one person pop-up Argos tents are likely to be in such high demand in the first place. I would bet the majority of festivals DON'T actually do this, it is cheaper to go straight in the trash and I don't blame them for it.
That same rule applies from Glastonbury right down to the smallest festivals (200 capacity) we go to - by leaving your crappy sub £20 supermarket tent full of rubbish you are just being lazy and ignorant. We go to a lot of festivals each year and I totally get why people do it - nobody wants to pack their tent down in the rain on a Monday morning, then lug it potentially miles to their car but then neither do the volunteers want to deal with all the crap (and it's quite often literally crap too - the stuff you find in tents on the clean-up crew is horrific) left behind.
If a festival is having some sort of drive to collect tents to pass on they will make sure you know all about it in advance, and you will be asked to pack it up, label it and deliver it to a specified collection point but it's incredibly rare. Festivals make such a point of asking people to take their tents etc home that I doubt many of the people trotting out the "well they all go to charity" line actually believe it themselves.
My son and i got once of these each for a Guns n Roses outdoor concert. Absolutely brilliant as you could keep the sides open so you didnt sweat, it was waterproof and you could sit on it and cover your feet etc.
Excellent piece of kit.
amazon.co.uk/Aod…cho
Take loo roll. Some toilets rarely get cleaned or refilled!
Most festivals have free water taps. Take empty pop bottles to fill up & drink regularly
The water can taste a bit funny so get some of the ultra concentrated juice from Aldi or home bargains
Search eBay for 222562190269. It's a solar powered light that inflates like a pillow. Great amount of light & lasts for days!
You know those foil car windscreen covers? I got one for £1.60 off ebay. Stick it under your sleeping bag for it to reflect the heat bag up to you. Couldn't believe how much warmer I was!
A waterproof bag is a godsend! I picked up an aldi duffle bag for £9.99 last year. Stayed bone dry during the wettest ever Glastonbury (which was also my first!)
Please don't buy pop up or single skin tents! You'll regret it! You'll be colder & wetter plus they don't tend to last. But you don't have to spend a lot to get a decent tent. Aldi are always good & halfords are selling alot off now. My £15 ultralight argos 1 man has lasted me 5 years & about 15 festivals with plenty of life left!
Don't take chocolate or stuff that can melt because it will! M&ms survive though lol
I'm looking for a 2 man tent, that packs up small enough to carry on the back of a motorbike, ideally a pop up one too so I can pitch the tent last minute when its gets dark (wild camping in Scotland on the north Coast 500 is my plan!)
Cheaper the better obviously, but not too extreme! Less than £100! :grin:
In the Tesco reduced camping gear, when I was last in store they have also reduced square head sleeping bags 5.99
1: If your taking a trolley then make sure you get one with pneumatic wheels. Trust me the skinny wheels are a nightmare in mud.
2: Earplugs are absolutely essential if your a light sleeper. Strongly recommend the silicone ones which block out the noise. Costs about £1.99 in Savers/Wilkos for 6 pairs.
3: Take a roll of bin bags of whilst queuing if rain is expected. Last year at Glastonbury most people's stuff got soaked. Luckily I was able to use the bags for waterproofing so my stuff stayed dry.
4: Inflatable tents are awesome. Just don't let your mates know where the valves are or they will let it down at 4am.
5: Don't drink cider 2 hours before bed. Otherwise you will spend the night going for toilet trips. If you insist on having multiple magners at 4am then pack an empty Lenor bottle, perfect as a portable loo (blokes only)
6: Camping Matts are much comfier in my opinion. They also are lighter and don't go down in the middle of the night.
7: Take advantage of fruit and smoothie stalls. Trust me 3 days+ drinking and eating kebabs takes its toll, you need vitamins to live.
8: Tinfoil on the roof is really good at keeping your tent cool during the day. Without it tents can get unbarebly hot of sun is forecast.
9: Take good quality insoles for wellies and use Welly socks. Something I once forgot and my feet were gone by day 2.
10: Waterproof hiking trainers are fantastic if light rain is forecast. Nothing worse than having wet feet at a festival.
11: Just because a food vendor has nice decor the food still can be awful. Look at people who are eating already, if they look unhappy then avoid.
12: Monster AC do a 25000ma power bank. A must if you vape or use your phone a lot. Don't bother with charging stations, you literally have to que for 1 hour for 10 mins of power.
13: Pace yourself and drink water between alcoholic drinks. If your plastered by 7pm on day 1 then unless your superhuman day 2 will be hell.
14: Do occasional trips back to the car with stuff you no longer need (clothes etc). You will then have less to carry on the Monday morning when you feel awful. I normally do daily trips.
15: Respect the festival, other people and leave no trace.
Enjoy yourself.. so jealous as due to a new arrival for the first time in years I ain't going a festival in 17.
ITTT will allow you to store your GPS position & guide you back when drunk..
or maybe use one of the many where did i park my car apps.
Cheaper than £10 thing with flashing lights.
Cheap enough to leave it there!
Do you also have all night benders next to a river and leave all your tins and bottles there? :stuck_out_tongue: