Camping Festival Essentials

It’s that time of year again, music fans: festival season. With the warm summer winds come endless possibilities for adventure—and bottomless opportunities for epic fails. No doubt you’ve got your outfits planned and your must-see schedule mapped, but even seasoned festivalgoers can fall victim to unforeseen pitfalls or acts of nature.

Wherever and whenever your camping festival is going down, you’ll need a few essentials. Follow these tips to ensure the best time possible for you and your mates, and learn from our mistakes. Be the master of your own destiny, and come ready for anything.

Rain Boots

Whatever your weather app tells you, the sky is an unpredictable beast. It doesn’t care about your weekend plans, and it takes only about 30 minutes of drizzle for that open field to mush under stampeding hoards into a near-unrecognizable warzone. Mud is the enemy, but you don’t have to fight it—because you’ll always lose. Bring your rain boots no matter what conditions you expect, and you’ll find yourself unscathed while the rest of your peers wade ankle-deep in filth.

Duct Tape

Do not underestimate the power of this simple bonding agent. It’s like carrying around an emergency toolkit, except the whole box fits in your fanny pack (also essential).

Say you get a hole in your tent; patch it up. Your silly friend didn’t bring rain boots? Embarrass and save them at the same time by taping plastic bags around their shoes. Some doofus broke your GoPro monopod? Wait, you don’t even have a monopod? Duct tape that sucker to a stick!

With all the fun colors and patterns, you could even work it into your festie outfit. Preparedness never looked so good.

Toilet Paper/Baby Wipes

Relying on the TP provided by festival organizers is a rookie mistake. The Port-A-Potties are absolutely going to run out, and you don’t want to be stuck in a dark plastic hell with dirty hands and a wish. Toilet paper is worth its weight in gold. If you want to promote even more comfort and hygiene, bring baby wipes (thanks, Mom!).

Towels

Anyone who’s watched enough South Park or dutifully read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy knows how imperative it is to “always bring a towel.” These multipurpose tools can be useful in a variety of situations. Is it hella hot outside? Wet it, and wrap it on your head. Did your overly excited buddy just puke everywhere? No biggie. Need a place to sit, but everything around you is absolutely disgusting? You packed a portable seat ready for any solid surface. It could also double as a great lounge spot on the festival green, and if the wind is too heavy to light that cig, you’ve got an instant shield. The possibilities are limited only by the imagination.

Tent Tarp/Rainfly

Far too many times have we seen poor, unsuspecting friends laugh at the hole at the top of their tent, only to later attempt to sleep in a puddle created by the midday downpour. The discomfort and damage to personal property could have been avoided with a tent tarp. Don’t forget to check that it’s in your bag before hitting the road, and in the case that you lost your little topper, find a way to buy or fashion a new one. You could literally duct tape (see above) a garbage bag to the top of your tent. In the case of a natural event, your towel won’t be enough to sop up your drenched life.

Flip-Flops/Shower Tent

Relive your college hygiene heyday, and bring flip-flops to the onsite showers. Pro tip: Shower before you think you really have to. Come day two, that place will be crawling with more mud-covered human stink bombs than a crust-punk house party. If you really want to be king of the grounds, invest in a shower tent with its own toilet. You’ll be everyone’s #festiebestie.

Bacon and Instant Pancake Mix

The power of cooked bacon is undeniable, but this trick works best if you bring enough for the class. People will come from all corners just to get a whiff. Plus, the amount of bartering power a choco-chip instant pancake gets you is incredible. If you find yourself needing that last-minute hookup for anything, throw these babies on your cookware—a simple pan is enough—and watch the goods come to you.