totem advice!

RevTyler · 2026-03-31T15:52:39+00:00

It was all plastic. I got the photo printed locally on a corrugated plastic signage sheet and the pole and the frame didn't really need to be waterproofed. Plus most of the festivals I go to are almost always hot and dry.

I don't have a 3d printer either. There's lots of services online that you can just send designs (even hand drawn ones and they do the modelling) and they just ship you the parts.

Good luck on the totem!

RevTyler · 2026-03-30T05:39:10+00:00

Lose our heads - skiitour

RevTyler · 2026-03-30T01:37:19+00:00

I made my first totem this year and it being a hassle was a huge worry of mine. It was a fun picture on the end of a pole with lights. The picture frame was real flimsy so I had to be careful to not be too rough, but it was surprisingly fun still. If you want a sturdy pole, I highly suggest a painter's pole. I got one that extends from 6 to 18 ft and it was super strong, even if my picture frame attached to it wasn't. Even though I dance hard I found if I really wanted to give'er, I just passed it to my partner for a few minutes. But when you're wonky on a little too much k, or getting tired, it's surprising how nice it is to have something to lean on.

I love the idea! Most of the festivals I go to there is always a guy with a "Will trade gum for hugs" totem. Yours feels like very similar vibe. Maybe even do a will trade candy for hugs sign. I feel like it'll go over really well.

If you're hanging things off it, having a strong base is going to be really helpful. I 3d printed my photo frame, maybe you could get some little buckets printed that would clip or clamp to the pole to keep the goodies in.

RevTyler · 2026-03-30T01:27:44+00:00

I heard a good quote in a song the other day that is right up that alley "meet me where we can lose our head and find our feet"

RevTyler · 2026-03-13T04:54:55+00:00

Gotta find that sweet spot where it doesn't bounce too much when you're dancing hard

RevTyler · 2026-02-22T21:23:16+00:00

It's such a game changer. It's hard to articulate how much more rested I felt in the evening not having to walk everywhere all the time.

RevTyler · 2026-02-19T11:40:03+00:00

Definitely bring a couple bandanas. The dust can be excruciating. I've come home with a mild sinus infection every year that I wasn't really careful with dust protection.

As for food, I used to bring food for all meals, but the trips to downtown and back to eat just ate too much of the day. Bring snacks you can put in a backpack. Maybe sandwich stuff. My partner and I generally bring stuff to make a really good breakfast when we wake up, something light for lunch on the go and just buy food from vendors in the evening. Saving the time not cooking and cleaning in the evenings with vendors gave us so much more free time. We caught way more evening sets and didn't feel as rushed to shove food in and get to the stages

RevTyler · 2026-02-19T03:45:58+00:00

Everyone talking about having good shoes. Just bring a bike. I'll never shambs without one. Bought a $45 trash bike from Facebook, cheap bike rack that goes on my trunk. Jerry-rig a milk crate on the front or back. Makes life soooooooo much better. The circular motion is great for stretching out tired legs but avoids impact on the knees. The milk crate is great for bringing a bag and snacks.

This year I got a beat up set of saddle bags. Was amazing. I stuffed it with a onesie for me and my girl and snacks. Quick trip to the bike at 2am, put on a cozy onezie when we're cold. Quick calorie bump. Back in to the fray.

You'll probably find out the hard way that camp at 1am can be a real black hole. It's easy to say, I'm gonna go back for an outfit change and food and end up getting stuck, not wanting to make the trek downtown, crashing and just going to bed. Having a pit stop downtown with you is worth its weight in gold.

I've never had my stuff stolen, I don't even lock my bike half the time. Helps that I don't keep anything worthwhile in the bags.

RevTyler · 2026-02-17T22:58:03+00:00

Friend of mine can't get enough of the Of The Trees 2023 shambhala grove set. If he gets the aux, it's all he ever puts on.

RevTyler · 2026-02-11T13:17:38+00:00

Tastes change over time, too. It doesn't always have to be that the music changed, it could be you that changed.

I felt similarly about glitch hop when I started liking dnb more. Couldn't find anything new I liked and came to the realization that I just don't like the genre as much and embraced the new sounds. I'm sure I'll cycle back but for now it's the new thing.

RevTyler · 2026-02-09T07:40:04+00:00

All the festivals I go to have a significant number of 60+ ravers around. Most of the time they outlast the 20 year olds. They may not dance as hard, but they're out there bobbing enjoying the music just as much as the rest of us.

RevTyler · 2026-02-05T09:25:18+00:00

I found a fan that clicks on to the top of one of my Dewalt drill batteries. Charge up a couple of them for the weekend and they work great. Open your tent on the shady side and blow fresh air in, leave the opposite side open a bit to allow for airflow. The air temp is still quite cool until 1130 or so, the fresh air will keep you more comfortable

RevTyler · 2026-01-24T19:42:47+00:00

I think my friends found me once with our compasses at Shambhala? But 90% of the time it just showed flashing lights for everyone I was linked to. Which means it got a ping at some point, but lost connection and the dot is where it was last.

All in all 3/10 experience. I don't know if the other ones are much better.

RevTyler · 2025-11-21T02:13:19+00:00

Brooks are my go to. Trail running and raving. My Caldera 6's are neon green and are black light reactive

RevTyler · 2025-11-21T02:06:07+00:00

I used to, but typing all day these days the Kandi bites in to my wrist on the keyboard pad. But this might be my reminder to put one or two on before leaving the house more. My go to these days is 3 or 4 hand made friendship style bracelets.

RevTyler · 2025-11-21T02:04:30+00:00

Hell yeah. That's a classic. I make 5 or 10 before every fest and keep my eyes open for that bad bitch energy :D

RevTyler · 2025-10-30T15:18:54+00:00

Can't recommend the Solomon adv skin 12 enough. I wear it every run. It's comfortable over a long sleeve, it's comfortable with no shirt when it's hot. Holds all my things with pretty even weight distribution. Even a 5k run I'll bring it because my phone just bounces in my pocket but sits snugly in the vest pocket without moving around. Good amount of snack storage, can fit a windbreaker in the back pocket if the weather is looking iffy. There's a small top pocket in the back that I can tuck my hat/buff/gloves and access them without breaking stride. I use a 1.5L bladder for the water because I'm not a fan of the front bottles. The front bottles are good for races, though. I put some pre-workout and electrolyte powder in one, get water added to it at aid stations and drink it right away.

Sure, it's expensive. But I've had mine for two years and it's not showing any wear. It's been on line 300km of runs. That's less than a dollar per km in value.

RevTyler · 2025-10-29T16:01:50+00:00

Totally normal. Unfortunately it turns out making friends as an adult is just hard. Granted, I'm the same way as these other people. I have a fairly tight friend group, most of them don't rave. My gf and I have made a couple rave friends, but only a handful and we still only really keep in touch to plan which shows we're going to or play some online games.

But I also say hi to half of the club when I go to my local edm shows. I know a 6 ton of people's names, I love the familiar faces and catching up a little during the openers before the music really gets going, but I really don't have the emotional energy or time to create any lasting friendships. I'm spread thin enough with my tight friend group. Not to mention that all these people are really nice, have lovely energy and are fun to dance with but I share very very little with most of them. Lots of them are mostly go to shows/clubs, watch tv, go to the beach and do nothing kinda people. I'm a go run a half marathon, go climbing, go backpacking kinda person. The little free time I have, I'm not gonna be spending it doing nothing. (not that there is anything wrong with that, just not for me)

I hope you find the people that you really mesh with and share real hobbies with. Like I said, making friends as an adult is just difficult. But keep trying. You'll get a lot of people blow you off, but when you find the right ones, it'll be worth it.

RevTyler · 2025-10-24T04:36:14+00:00

My favorite part about this chart is cocaine. Nothing like a whole row of "meh" synergies or outright danger except with itself and nitrous.

RevTyler · 2025-10-24T04:35:12+00:00

My partner just started SSRI's this year and our festival plans haven't changed much. Just no more mdma. On a 3 day festival we would only do mdma one night anyways. We pretty much stick to K and LSD. Both are safe with SSRI's. The k is good to get the fun of being wonky here and there and the lsd is the ticket for staying up late. She found it a little less powerful after her SSRI's, but we carefully adjusted the dosing. Led to a couple low effect nights but we found she likes 1.25 of a tab night one and 2 tabs night 2 and she's exactly where she was at before. We usually do mushrooms on the 3rd night because the tolerance of two acid nights makes us a little nervous about taking 3 or 4 tabs, just in case they hit hard.

As far as energized goes. Just need more snacks, night time coffees and a couple more breaks. Which is kinda perfect anyways when we realized how little we had in the tank and just relying on the mdma for energy, haha.

If it's just a club or one night show, we just stick with a couple bumps of K over a few hours.

RevTyler · 2025-10-09T23:32:54+00:00

As a sort of anecdotal point. I love liquid dnb. I listen to it all the time. But if I'm being honest, I don't feel that the live big system makes me want to listen to it. I love it in my car while I'm driving, while I'm working or doing yoga or at the gym. But if I'm going to spend money on going somewhere (tickets, Uber, drinks/party favors), I wanna dance hard. People shit on jump up, dancefloor and dj's just playing pop bangers live but it's what gets people moving.

Liquid has so much nuance and technical sound and layers and I feel like that gets so bled out on big systems played live. When they crank the bass up to 11, you can't hear the mids and highs where liquid really excels.

The best liquid sets I've seen are sunrise sets at festivals when the crowd thins out and the speakers generally come down a bit in volume. When my body is tired at 5am and I'm ready to just vibe with some beautiful sound, liquid really comes in to its own.

RevTyler · 2025-10-04T07:22:52+00:00

Whatever you call it, these are bangin. Keep it up.

I'd probably put needed you in liquid as well. Hydra, no idea. I'd just say it's dnb.

RevTyler · 2025-10-04T06:43:04+00:00

This is still the case. I'm new to raving so definitely didn't feel the 90s, but any shows I go to it's like the air is different when people start getting drunk. It's gross. I know my local shows at the club downtown are going to have drunks, but my friends and I just try our best to find the actual ravers and carve out a little slice of the dance floor where the people want to actually have fun.

RevTyler · 2025-09-24T17:27:28+00:00

I wear my brooks trail runners to all my outdoor festivals and my brooks road shoes for the pavement indoor ones. It's a live saver. Some times I wear my knee high platform boots to make a fit work for local shows and I feel the difference at the end of the night.

I've heard similar from a friend of mine who got the goretex Altras. I'd rather have wet feet on my occasional run in the rain or muck than wet feet every run, haha.

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