Surviving the Summer

[Nice_N_Soft_Tissues]

How do Aerobeds work in school gyms? They require to be plugged in, right?

[DrinkinOuttaCups]

Only to inflate it, but that's only if you're using an inflator that has to be plugged in (I had a batter-powered one). Aside from that, no, the bed itself doesn't have to be plugged in. There's a seal on the bed that you close once you're done inflating it, and that will keep it inflated.

[dbc03]

Bring a power strip. You'll be a popular person when you get to the housing site and lots of people want to charge stuff.

[AlexL]

Bring a power strip. You'll be a popular person when you get to the housing site and lots of people want to charge stuff.

Absolutely, this is a lifesaver. When you get to a site and someone's already grabbed an outlet, you can plug your stuff and their stuff into the strip and its all good.

[mellodramatic]

chop saver gold / DCT

take your horn in the shower after putting the pink goop on it

pillow

warm clothes for the bus

bus food that everyone likes so you can trade

GATORADE - gats are gold and can be used to trade for pretty much anything

[soccerguy315]

I recommend BullFrog gel for sunscreen... works great.

bring a pillow case for the bus. You can put it over the seat in front of you and fold it up at the bottom, creating a pouch to put stuff.

I come from the bum a spot on someone else's power strip philosophy. Obviously not as convenient as having your own.

[rootofthechord]

My tour lifesavers were:

- Weiman's Silver Polish. No water needed! Just bring a couple of junk beach towels to wipe off all the crud that comes off your horn.

- Dr Shade cap (as Kyle said earlier, whatever gets the sun off your face and neck makes it feel 10 degrees cooler)

- Tetris for my sanity.

[deloop]

Underpack. Having less stuff than most people really lowers your packing time and the occasional mile long walk from the bus to gym at 3 or 4 in the morning.

Clean shirts? Not that necessary, you're not wearing it during rehearsal so it doesn't get too dirty. Clean shorts? Nah, one, maybe two for every rehearsal all season and a pair you wear for after shows/freedays. Wear yesterday's show socks during the next day's rehearsal.

I brought a sleeping bag only my first year. A sheet or nothing was all I ever needed most of the time. It's usually super hot wherever you go. If they do happen to crank the AC just put on some sweats and you're good.

Find a small bus buddy. It's always more awesome to have more room on the bus.

Overpack underwear. You'll never be sad about the abundance of clean underwear when it's the middle of July and you're in Texas.

[AlexL]

As for sunscreen, agreed with others that spray-on works best. As with everything on tour, the quicker you can do anything effectively the better. You wont always have a lot of time to rub in sunscreen but a quick spray takes only a couple seconds. I used this, at least for awhile, until i mostly stopped using it after the first couple weeks:

Edited May 10, 2010 by AlexL

[Slides of Mass Destruction]

Ziploc Bags!

+ of all sizes....great for storing wet socks/undies, keeping electronics dry, organizing/separating things, etc...

Extra Socks

+ one of my favorite things about Tour is the feeling of putting on a pair of fresh, dry socks at lunch after a rough drill block on wet grass

Carabiner(spell?)

+ to clip stuff to ur backpack (horn towel, water bottle, etc) It's always nice to have a free hand when sprinting from drill to sectionals.

Duct Tape

+ The possibilities are endless.

Mortar

+ For the times when you need to craft brick walls.

Ruger SR9

+ Always better to be safe then sorry.

AR-15

+ Because an SR9 is just not enough when Velocioraptors strike.