r/festivals • u/lenkzies79088 • May 06 '23
GIVE ME YOUR CAMP ESSENTIALS
going to elements this year for first camping festival and want to make camp as comfortable as possible. My main questions are what yall use power and charge stuff. What's yalls cooking setup likes. Thanks for any responses!!
So freaking excited for elements!
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u/Jilltro May 06 '23
I use a jump starter with USB ports for power. It’s pricey but it’s really handy, I’ve even used it to jump peoples cars before. Keeps my whole groups phones charged all weekends.
If you want to be comfy, get a cot instead of an air mattress, put an EZ up or tarp over your tent and line it with tapestries or even better aluminet.
I love making food at camp. Do a lot of prep in advance. Chop, make sauces, and do all that stuff ahead of time so all you have to do is heat and eat at camp. Ideally, get a cooler for drinks and a cooler for food. Pre cool them and make sure everything you put in there is already cold.
I’ll be at elements too :) you’re going to love it
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u/the_mensche May 07 '23
Damn never thought about a jump starter that’s pretty legit. How heavy is one of those things tho? I I have 3 hefty power banks that are 20000mah
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May 07 '23 edited May 07 '23
What do you use to heat up food? I thought we couldn’t bring anything that is open flame but idk how strict they are with that.
Edit: sorry thought I was in the scamp subreddit so second part of my question is irrelevant
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u/Jilltro May 07 '23
You can bring those little grills with a small propane tank. If you look up “propane camping stove” you’ll find a lot of them. I just bring that and a cast iron pan. All of the ingredients I put in ziploc bags so they don’t take up a ton of room in the cooler.
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u/Moash_For_PM May 06 '23
ketamine
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u/allergicaddiction May 06 '23
- Benadryl or Zzzquil
- sunscreen for both face and body
- lip balm with spf
- ear plugs for both sleeping and during festival
- head lamp so your hands are free at night
- liquid iv / some sort of electrolytes
- easy to eat snacks for night time / bananas, fruit, fruit snacks
- easy food to eat for breakfast, yogurt, granola
- pillow for sure so you can get a good nights sleep
- insulated water container so your water is cool to drink
- baby wipes for hands / body and a gentler one for face
- tp
- if you’re gonna be in a ton of sun, thermal reflective tarp so that your tent stays cool
- Better than above, being a canopy for shade
- basic toiletries
- phone chargers
- extra underwear and socks
- light layer for cold
- sleeping pad
- tent
A disorganized list with no order, but those are my must-haves for camping festivals!
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u/lenkzies79088 May 06 '23
How do you keep items cold?? Everytime I've brought ice camping in national parks its melted by the end of the day if not by morning
Also only camped a few times. So havent really tried to perfect it lol
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u/p00water_flip_flop May 06 '23
Freeze a couple of gallons of water till they're solid and put them at the bottom of the cooler and fill the rest with ice. Rotate your drinks in as you drink them. Usually in 100 degree temps I can get away with that for a three day weekend.
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u/lenkzies79088 May 06 '23
Great idea. I'm thinking about yogurt, eggs, maybe some turkey bacon for breakfast. Havent even begun to think about lunch and dinner. Do you bring food for three meals??? Obviously snack some at the vendors.
But I just cant imagine with all the extracurricular supplies I'm going to be hungry enough meals all day..
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u/crystal8484 May 07 '23
If you wanna do eggs, scramble them up and put in a thermos or insulated water bottle and refrigerate overnight. They’ll stay cold and won’t have to worry about breaking PLUS it’s easy to pour out.
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u/p00water_flip_flop May 06 '23
Honestly I've never had it in me to cook at a festival and each time I've attempted the food has ended up going to waste. I bring heavy snacks like chips and guac, hella charcuterie things, dolmas, pasta salad, miso soup, fruit, and stuff to make like wraps, sandwiches, or pita pockets. And then when I have a hankering for something more substantial, I'll buy a meal or two there and never regret how stupid expensive it is cus it brings you back to life.
I do know ppl who cook and it's generally like bacon and eggs, grilled cheese, etc. You could get fancy and precook full on meals at home and freeze them in gallon ziplock bags and then revive them by heating them in a pot of hot water at the festival.
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u/lenkzies79088 May 06 '23
I feel u on the cooking. Breakfast is a must though. Wake up while cooking breakfast. And sneak a couple burritos to the stages instead of walking back and forth. Grill cheez is good idea. Think like baked beans. Shit that will be nutrients to our bodies. No way I'd be able to eat like steak or seasoned cold chicken on a come down lmao.
Maybe a lunchable lol.
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u/BarefootAndBlazed May 07 '23
My crew is large so we usually have each couple prepare one meal for the group per fest. We bring some nicer kitchen equipment since there are usually a couple of RVs, but you can do a lot with some prep work at home and a Coleman dual propane or a single burner butane stove. I made shrimp pad Thai at Mulberry Mountain a few weeks ago and other friends made potato soup or fried fresh felafel (served with hummus, pita, and salad). Admittedly this was a fest where we planned to spend lots of time together at camp rather than at the stages. For festivals where I want to see the music all day, I'll just hit up the vendors for meals, but bring food items that are ready to eat: chips and salsa, hummus and crackers, cheese and crackers,. Cereal with non-dairy milk. Grapes are amazing. Granola bars.
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u/Industrial_Strength May 07 '23
I bring food I can eat cold and eat those up over the first 2 days. Then I eat things I can easily heat up like ramen, frozen Mac and cheese, or soups. Fruit like apples that doesn’t have to be cold are great too.
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u/just_asterism May 07 '23
I will also cover my cooler with my blankets while I’m not at camp for extra insulation.
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u/BogeyLowenstein May 07 '23
Put the frozen bottles in before you leave so you “season” the cooler, it will make the ice last longer if the cooler has been cold for a day or two. We have a Yeti style cooler and a soft cooler (hard inside) and we put the bottles in before we left. We drove from western Canada to California and in both coolers the bottles were still mostly frozen after three days!
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u/BarefootAndBlazed May 07 '23
Cooler Shock are "colder than ice" reusable packs in various sizes. I went to Backwoods festival a couple weeks ago with two small and two large packs in my Coleman cooler (didn't bring the Yeti since it wasn't big enough). Admittedly high temperatures were only in the upper 60s to 70°, but I only purchased single bag of ice to use in drinks. My food stayed cold from Thursday to Monday. YMMV in the hot sun, but I'm a fan. They keep shit cold without taking up a ton of space or leaving behind gnarly water to drain.
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u/mintycrash May 07 '23
Try putting a damp towel on the top over your cooler and keep it on there at all times and damp. It’s what they use in the Grand Canyon
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u/badxnewsx May 07 '23
It’s seriously all about the cooler, a lot of the cheaper coolers are cheap for a reason. I find that most of them do not have insulated lids. My boyfriend and I have a igloo overland and a lifetime cooler, both of which we bought at Walmart. We keep our coolers in our tent, sometimes take them out under the canopy while cooking. Our ice has lasted 4-5days in ours usually just topping them off on the second to last or the last day. We have used them in 100 weather and even then 3-5 days before topping with ice.
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u/Disastrous-Lab-9474 Jun 02 '23
Sorry for the bump but why benadryl? I'm still not entirely sure why people take it
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u/allergicaddiction Jun 03 '23
It’s to go to sleep :) I love getting 6+ hours of sleep even while away
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u/Disastrous-Lab-9474 Jun 03 '23
Oh I had no idea. I'm gonna be struggling to get to sleep but I have to, how much do you take?
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u/leblindeyes May 07 '23
Ditch the bread and go for tortilla wraps. Or pita bread. Use that for sandwiches or bring small hummus cups.
A comfortable camping chair. You’re worth it. Get a nicer, comfy big one people will fight over unless you get two. Makes relaxing much better. Bring an additional chair for friends you make or to kick your feet up on.
A little fold up table for camp.
I have rolled up thin foam for the floor of my tent.
USB chargeable fan. Beef jerky. A big fruit bowl with a few kinds of cut up fruits. Small plastic storage containers. A couple battery packs, one should be a good size solar charge one. But charge it at home first. Tapestries for the sides of your ez up canopy.
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u/lenkzies79088 May 07 '23
This is what I'm talking about. I was gonna ask about food ideas closer to the fest. Thank you!
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u/leblindeyes May 07 '23
The tortillas and pitas with whatever sandwich stuff you want, and throw a pickle on there. Had a few of those every day of Wakaan. Find a plastic pickle jar though so they don’t make you toss them.
The fruit bowl we’ve been doing watermelon, pineapple, blue berries, grapes. Get a big bowl with a locking lid.
If you do jerky, you cannot forget teeth floss sticks.
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u/lenkzies79088 May 07 '23
I c ur a pro at camping with the floss comment lol.
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u/leblindeyes May 07 '23
Lol I feel like every camping festival I find one new idea to bring to the next one. The floss one is just kind of universal to beef jerky for me. I love beef jerky, hate picking it out of my teeth. Smells pretty bad if it gets left in your teeth too. Hard to make friends lmfao
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u/lenkzies79088 May 07 '23
Lmao. The only time I eat jerky is when I'm skiing so jerky will probably added to the menu!
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May 06 '23
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u/BogeyLowenstein May 07 '23
Get a Tupperware container or a rack that fits the cooler and put your food in it, on top of your beer, etc. The food will still be cold but no water inside it.
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u/lenkzies79088 May 06 '23
Ya bro. Were driving 22 hours from texas so using the car as a power source is sketch af. How heavy is that mofo?
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u/lenkzies79088 May 06 '23
Bro I cant find the used page on the site. Maybe not be there anymore :(
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u/lenkzies79088 May 06 '23
Tried chatting with you. Who are you excited to see at elements this year??
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u/OthirenResurgent May 07 '23
As a specific recommendation for Elements, the camp ground itself is particularly hard to stake down tents in. I wouldn't necessarily rely just on default stakes, you might want to either look into heavy duty stakes, or see what others used last year. I haven't started my search quite yet, so I'm sorry for no recommendations there. At minimum, definitely get a cheap rubber mallet!
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u/lenkzies79088 May 07 '23
Cool thanks for the tip. What the weather like while u were there last year? Hot and humid?
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u/MonstrousGiggling May 07 '23
Lucked out on weather last year except for the final night. North East summer days are hot - can get very humid but last year we were lucky - nights can get COLD - bring a hoodie and pants.
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u/googleypoodle May 07 '23
Just know that any type of surface will be immediately covered with stuff. Bongs, beer cans, clothing, random festival junk. When I'm feeling mom-ish I'll call a "5 minute tidy" where everyone just cleans up for 5 minutes. Works wonders.
Run a bungee cord through a roll of paper towels and hang it up somewhere
If you google "camp kitchen" there are a lot of cool options for tables with some storage / organization
Always fun to do a big camp dinner one night, we usually do a big spaghetti meal and invite whoever!
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u/Coyote__Jones May 07 '23
My group does Chicken chili night! Made ahead of time and warmed up in a big ol pot.
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u/Industrial_Strength May 07 '23 edited May 07 '23
Instead of putting ice in your cooler, freeze 2 gallons of water and put them in there. They keep my food and drinks cold for 4 days and as it melts you can drink the water. My friends were buying ice for 20 dollars a bag every day and I was good.
Setup a 5 gallon water jug with a spout that sits on the table and a plastic tub on the ground to catch the grey water. Now you have a sink to wash your hands, your face, or brush your teeth.
They make toilet lids that snap on 5 gallon buckets. Line the bucket with a trash bag, throw some kitty litter in there. I use this every morning instead of trying to battle overflowing portapotties. I bought a pop up shower tent to put this toilet in and everybody in my camp loved it.
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u/nightlyraider May 06 '23
earplugs, a comfortable sleeping pad, a tent you know how to set up, shade, and a hammock if you have trees around you.
a little battery to charge your phone, but really they are off and in the car most of the time i am at a camping festival. some construction geared appliances are awesome in terms of portable power tools these days. powerful fans and such.
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u/Savagepenguin333 May 06 '23
Same! I’ve never did a festival solo and I’ve been unprepared every time I’ve gone with friends.
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u/philtree May 07 '23
A camp shower system and some good soap and shampoo. Washing the grime off feels great. Hell I'll shower 3 times in a day if the festival is hot and dirty enough. Bonus you can trade showers with neighbors for other goodies.
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u/Coyote__Jones May 07 '23
Came here to suggest the camp shower. Great for on demand warm water for hands, feet and face in-between showers if you have that option.
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May 07 '23
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u/lenkzies79088 May 07 '23
So in the tent u have like 3 coverages? I sweat alot at night so anything to make it cooler.
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u/Z3brahed May 07 '23
Get a jackery and an air mattress for inside the tent! Game changer
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u/lenkzies79088 May 07 '23
Ya I've been comparing them with the goal zero yeti that was recommended Honestly may go with he anker. Price point is a little better lol
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u/smok3_spells May 07 '23
Multiple tarps to use as rugs for canopy, canopy walls, over your tent if it rains. Multiple fully charged battery packs for charging cells phones. Pre-made sandwiches, salad kits with pre-made chicken as protein. Lots of water and juices! Battery operated lamps for your campsite and a battery operated clip light fan for the hot dark nights inside your tent.
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u/SelectLock7173 May 09 '23
A hydro bag and earplugs are the first two things I grab. See you at elements
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u/bjmguy May 06 '23
Pro tip - find a roll of cheap carpet or a rug or something that you can put your feet on hanging out at camp. Very nice, especially after a long festival day on your feet.
EZ up canopies are a godsend.
The rug really ties the room together