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A hackers guide to camping
Beware of a chaotic system encountered outside computer labs called weather.
The action is in tents
- As most tents are made of long carbon chains derived from crude oil you must remember that any open flame in a tent is dangerous. Keep a small knife at hand in the tent, you'll need it to open the tents emergency exit in case of fire.
- If you use fire or a heater in your tent as you sleep, there is a chance it will keep you warm for the rest of your life! If you're troubled by the cold at night sleep in a hat and bed-socks. As a field of nylon tents can so quickly turn into a pool on burning plastic don't pitch your tent too close to others and keep a bucket of water outside for anyone to use.
- Safety pins can be used to attach small fragile items, such as glasses, to the inner tent wall so they don't get crushed.
- A rug will make it easier to keeping mud & dirt out of the tent, alowing people to wipe their feet or remove shoes before entering.
Shopping for a tent
- If a tent says it's for n people, this is the number of people who can sleep in the tent with no equipment and with little regard for comfort. If you're sleeping on mats, multiply the number of people by 1.5 to 2 for the minimum tent size. If you're bringing folding furnature, two beds and two chairs, you'll probably need a six person sized tent. A tent should be able to store all your equipment and still give those living in it room to sleep and get dressed. You can live happily in a tent with a low roof, you don't have to be able to stand-up in it.
- You should put your tent up at least once before your travel, you may arrive at the site late and have to pitch at night.
- If it should rain will your stuff get wet when you open the door or will you have the cover of a small porch area?
- The edges of the ground sheet should be above the ground to stop water entering via the stitching. If you're bringing a multi-room tent you may need an extra ground sheet to cover the communial space at it's center if it should rain.
- Some larger tents come with openable air vents to make hot nights more comfortable.
- If you buy a used tent on eBay you may get your money back when selling it on eBay again after WTH :)
- At HAL2001 some people didn't peg their tents down completely, so they rolled across the site hitting people as soon as the wind picked up.
Note: If you don't mind insects crawling up your legs at night, leave the tent open all day. Otherwise keep the insect net closed.
Sleeping
- Getting a good nights sleep on the site can be easy. First you need to be cushioned from the ground. There are a vast array of inflatable matresses to seperate your sleeping-bag from the ground. As you'll only set-up camp once you don't need an expensive self-inflating matress, a simple airbed with six cells you blow-up yourself provides you with a comfortable base.
If you over inflate your air-bed it will be like sleeping on the floor. To test if it's inflated put the air-bed between your hands, you should be able to bring the palms of you hands together with very little effort. (Of course it has to be a little harder, If you use a full sized airbed for a child.)
Consider to bring one of those cheap foam-mattres too. It will protect your airbed from the ground (thorns, etc.) and if your airbed got punctured for some reason in the middle of the night, you can search the hole the next day when you are sober again.
Airbed:
- It might be quite noisy in the nights (and even quite bright), depending on where you put up your tent, so if you've trouble sleeping with 1000 people around you still awake you might consider bringing something to plug your ears and cover your eyes.
- As you'll be camping in July it should be warm, maybe even HOT, so you won't need an expensive sleeping-bag. A lightweight rectangular or mummy sleeping bag will do. If it gets too warm you can sleep on top of it with a blanket.
- If you want to travel light but also want a good nights sleep consider getting a camping hammock, they're only 1Kg and don't need a matress or pillow. They're also useful if you have back problem that stop you sleeping in a tent. The down side is that they don't provide any space for equipment.
- You'll also need a pillow, this can be as simple as your spare clothes in a stuff sack. If you coming by car you can even take the pillow from your own bed.
- A linen will keep your sleeping-bag clean and is easier to wash then the sleeping-bag.
- When you put your sleeping-bag away, just stuff it into it's sack, if you roll or fold it neatly the filling will compact and retain less heat.
Things to bring
See the Packing page for a lists of things to bring.
Campers and Motor Homes
If you arrive with a Camper or a Motor Home please visit this page.
Please Notify Us if you plan to arrive with a Camper or Motor Home
Lately we get a lot of emails regarding people bringing Campers or Motor Homes.
We got them on so many different email addresses that we lost count, sorry about that.
We would like you to come forward (even if you already emailed before) and to notify our
Camper Coordinator about your arrival.
Please email the following details :
- Your name
- Brand/Type of Camper/Motor Home
- How much space it needs in m² (square meters)
- When you plan to arrive at WTH (Day and Time/part of the day)
- When you plan to leave WTH (Day and Time/part of the day)
Do not worry if you do not have a specific time or you are not at WTH at your specified time,
we just want a feeling on how busy it wil be at any given time with new campers arriving/leaving WTH.
BUT -please- do email these details to our Camper Coordinator !
Thanks! Your are helping us a great deal as well yourself.
Getting food
Except for the excellent food in and around the What-the-Bar, some restaurants in the near area have a delivery-service. Check out the offsite food services
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