Five essential gadgets for Glastonbury 2007
Have you seen the weather forecast for Glastonbury this weekend? If you missed out on tickets, you really should check it out – you’ll be riding the schadenfreude wave for weeks. Which, co-incidentally, is the same amount of time Glasto-goers will be washing Pilton mud out of random orifices.
Yep, it’s going to be another wet one, so you might think gadgetry would be the last thing to stick in your rucksack, alongside your glow-stick, spare pair of pants, and 16 Scotch Eggs (they’re binding, innit). But no: here’s Tech Digest’s pick of five gadgets that could make your Glasto weekend great.
1. Millets Wind-up Phone Charger. Believe it or not, people still managed to meet up at Glastonbury in the days before mobile phones. So a flat battery by Sunday won’t necessarily leave you socially adrift. But just to be sure, Millets’ wind-up charger doesn’t just provide juice for your handset – it does it in eco-friendly fashion, since it’s made entirely from recycled and organic materials. More info
2. MiniCat Catamaran. Don’t laugh. You might think you’ll look stupid turning up to Glasto with a two-person catamaran boat packed down into a rucksack, but you’ll have the last laugh when you’re happily anchored by the Pyramid Stage watching the Killers, while everyone else is swimming about in muddy slop. They should sell these things at Joe Banana’s blanket stall. More info
3. Hi-Gear Super Solar Shower. After a day at Glastonbury, you’ll stink. Accept it. You’ll whiff of a heady cocktail of dung, beanburger, and extra-strength Special Brew. Even if you haven’t been drinking it, weirdly. But if you really must remember your personal hygiene, try the Super Solar Shower. It’s a 20-litre bag that you fill with water and then leave in the sun for three hours. Hang it from a tree / tent rod, and it’s a warming shower, complete with its own shower head. Genius. More info
4. Bill Wyman Metal Detector. People drop all sorts of things in the Glasto mud. Money, jewellery, drugs… Admittedly, you won’t be able to sniff out the drugs using a metal detector (unless they’re those brand new metal drugs we’ve heard about), but for the other stuff, a Bill Wyman Signature Metal Detector is just the thing. The added bonus is that if a blinged up mate falls asleep and gets buried in a mudstorm, you’ll be able to mount a search and rescue mission. More info
5. Wireless Outdoor Solar Speaker. When you’re not loafing about your tent-circle screaming “Bollocks!’ at the skies (and you will), you’ll be wanting to drown out the party of pesky kids next door blasting out My Chemical Romance tunes from their portable stereo. How? This solar-powered outdoor speaker gives you big volume using sunlight alone, with the added benefit of throwing would-be robbers off the scent by looking a bit like a watering can. More info
