Things to Bring

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Things to bring

  1. yourself and all your friends
  2. your printed ticket

Currency (=money)

The currency in Germany, therefore on the camp site, is the Euro. Other currencies are generally not accepted. You may be able to exchange them at a local bank, but your mileage may vary.

It's also not very likely you will get food for bitcoins...

Interactive packing list

An unofficial 'interactive' packing list for LibreOffice/OpenOffice is available on github.

for Camping

  1. toilet paper and babywipes
  2. a drinking bottle. Drink more water - drinking (water! not mate, not beer!) not enough is the most common DoS-Attack at camps.
  3. your own power cord (10m should be enough) and multiple plug sockets, as much as you need
  4. ethernet cable. the next datenklo could be away up to 50 meters (160 ft)
  5. a tent to sleep in. Please read our Camping-howto for more details.
  6. a sleeping bag and a mattress, and a sleeping pad - and a cosy cushion.
  7. a blanket to sit on and place your laptop on. You might want to sit on a morning-wet ground...
  8. penknife (peferebly one of those swiss-made multitool thingies)
  9. a cosy sun chair for hanging out
  10. chairs and tables
  11. default meal tools (like knife, fork, spoon, spork! plate, mug...)
  12. lamps (it's getting dark when the EvilDaystar falls)
  13. a rescue blanket: These are those silvery blankets you find in first aid kits. They are very good at reflecting sunlight away from your computer monitor, so you'll be able to hack during the day. Most tents let a *lot* of light in and rescue blankets are one of the cheaper ways to fix that.
  14. trash bags to collect your trash
  15. a fire extinguisher if you own one, or a bucket (to fill with water)
  16. Wet weather gear, or you could be trapped in your tent for a whole day.
  17. ashtray, if you're smoking
  18. Appropriate clothing: for warm and sunny, and for cold and rainy weather. It is better to have clothing you won't need than to need clothing you don't have. Although it is very warm during the day, it gets very cool in the evening. Pullovers are recommended.
  19. sun blocker. SPF 30 is recommended. If you haven't left your dungeon since the last camp use SPF-over-9000.
  20. a hat and sunglasses against the sun
  21. Insect Repellents
  22. ear plugs if you think you think you need them (you will. This is after all a big party.)
  23. a swimming-dress, not the Borat one :)
  24. Do *not* forget your towel! Be a hoopy frood who really knows where h{is,er} towel is.
  25. a toothbrush, toothpaste and soap.
  26. shampoo for your hair, shower gel for your body (and perhaps conditioner etc.)
  27. thongs (Badeschuhe) for the shower
  28. your allergy medication and NEEDED drugs. This is in the middle of nature.
  29. a rope...?
  30. your health insurance service card (Krankenversichertenkarte)/ European Health Insurance Card for residents of other EU states.
  31. If you arrive for buildup or stay for teardown, it could be a good idea to bring a game that does not require power and/or network, especially if you travel with children or hackers who get bored fast.
  32. Also, since you are already out there in the nature, you might bring stuff more suited for physical activities: balls, frisbees, javelin, light aircraft.
  33. and please take home ALL the stuff your brought!
  34. a micro-usb cable (you will find out why) (and not USB3.0, just the tiny little USB2.0 one)

for computer and infastructure

  1. your computer(s) - and basic tools you will need to repair it, including Operating-System's Install DVDs
  2. power cables (at least one quite long(really!) one), and more distribution sockets than you need for yourself, maybe adaptor to #german power sockets.
  3. a bunch of network cables (see EthernetCable) Preferably at least one long piece (50m / 160 ft).
  4. as many switches you might need for your equipment
  5. Equipment for 802.11a or 802.11n on 5 GHz,since 2.4GHz tends to get overcrowded.
  6. maybe a bunch of spare fans - heat and dust tend to kill cpu-/power supply-fans
  7. one or more locks if you think you need them and you still have any illusion it will help
  8. tools, toys (like a Nintendo DS for wireless multiplayer fun)
  9. a list of your trusted SSL keys (and check them beforehand!). Things can get pretty interesting otherwise...
  10. a configured ipfw, think about an IDS (just for fun)
  11. gadgets with all kind of blinky, geeky features as conversation pieces
  12. a DECT / GAP compatible phone (or GSM1800) which can be registered with eventphone ( see compatibility list). For details and up-to-date information be sure to visit the POC teams Wiki page!
  13. books. also those you no longer need/want. non-technical preferred. This is supposed to be your vacation, after all. Any eBook-Reader is a good choice too and will earn you additional Hackerpoints.
  14. Pinball machine(s)
  15. your GPS. This will be great fun to play with and let's you use up-to-date OSM maps of the camping area.
  16. a spare micro USB cable to charge your r0ket. Do not confuse with mini-USB (the most common one). Here is a pic Wikipedia link to micro USB photo (Bring the kindle style plug)

A Note of Caution

One issue concerning hardware in tent environments is morning dew. However this affects not only desktop hardware, but any kind of electric contact or conductor exposed to humid air. Since desktop hardware is generally not very tightly enclosured, it is relatively sensitive to dew. Especially when it is not running for a while and therefore cold, it attracts dew like any other unheated object. To prevent your hardware from damage, you might want to bring some plastic bags to put your power plugs, desktop switches, or even computers inside and tie them up carefully.

A rather good prevention technique is to make sure there will be no condensation possible. This means not letting you equipment cool down, so leave your PC/monitor on during the night... To make really sure, you may want to run you CPU/GPU-intensive tasks at night (like video encoding, projecting some cool demos or donating some CPU cycles to projects like Folding@Home). (Contradictory information below in "things to leave at home")

A few tips for placing your equipment:

  • don't place it in a poorly ventilated tent during a sunny day (too much heat; danger of fire)
  • don't place your PC on the ground, even a beer crate keeps ground water out
  • stand your pc upright, so the warm air raises through the box to the top and out of the back of the power supply.
  • Your most problematic equipment will be power connectors. Make sure you ALWAYS place them above ground and out of the rain.

If any electrical equipment gets wet, DO NOT TOUCH IT AND KEEP A SAFE DISTANCE UNTIL POWER IS TURNED OFF AT THE CENTRAL FEED YOU GET YOUR POWER OF!

If you are using your equipment when it gets wet, it may survive if you unplug it immediately. Most of the time electronics can get wet without a problem if there is no current flowing through it. It will probably work fine if you let it dry out entirely before powering it up again. (The same isn't necessarily true for mechanics, such as motors in a DVD-ROM.). You should also pull the battery (on desktop PC's, also pull the CMOS battery if possible).

Anyway, your biggest problem will be the really sunny days when it doesn't rain. 40+ Celsius (104 Fahrenheit) means that you have to make sure that your equipment gets good ventilations and check if your air filters and fans get clogged with dust. Bring spares... Besides, when it's that hot, you might want to shut down your computer and find a friendly neighboring village with a pool.

As long as you adhere to this basic rules, you will be just fine.

After all said; YES, BRING YOUR EQUIPMENT. Believe me, going to a hacker camp without computer(s) is like drinking alcohol free beer: It tastes the same but you miss out most of the fun :-)

--- (European) ELECTRICIAN NOTE --- Prefer outdoor rated IP44+ rubber extension cables (marked RR or RN, RN [with Neoprene outer jacket] is better) with socket caps. Use cables with adequate conductor area (like 2.5mm^2). Remember that longer cables need to be thicker even for same current (Watts of equipment connected), to achive same voltage. Undervoltage can cause malfuntion and / or damage in electrical equipment. Think about getting Residual Current Device (the thing advertised as helping to prevent electrocution) and place that to the beginning of your long main extension cord to the tent. If you wish, get inline surge protectors and overcurrent circuit breakers.

Available standard power outlets have this specs:

Things to leave at home

"Hotdog"
  1. Dogs and any other kind of pets. Dogs are not allowed at the camp. Besides, Camp is not a very dog friendly area. The reasonable exception here is any pet that can be swiched off and/or can be reprogrammed (Aibo, Furby, ...).
  2. your home directory and other data you don't want anyone else to see
  3. a microwave oven. It *may* disrupt wireless networks. A typical tent is not the ideal position to defend yourself against an angry mob of hackers.
  4. very power consuming devices (like fridges and plasma TVs). the power grid is always a problem on the camp. so please think twice if you really need all that luxury

Things to care about

  1. The Camp site is an open air museum. Please treat the exhibited planes and other objects nicely, some of the airplanes are very rare - no stickers, no damage, no modifications. More informations in german about the museum.
  2. No careless biking into plane wings at night. No, this isn't a joke: it did happen last time. While the plane remained mostly undamaged, the same couldn't be said about the involved head...
  3. No open fire /charcoal powered BBQ outside the designated fire area.
  4. Obey the Airspace control rules for any flying object. This is a working airfield!
  5. If you get too drunk, we have permanent marker pens.
  6. Drink more water. Dehydration is a common problem on this kind of events.
  7. The camp is a community event. If someone ask for a few minutes of your time to help at some task, please help.
  8. Keep to the hacker code of ethics!

Things to do beforehand

  1. If you have a new tent, build it at least once at home. When you arrive at the camp, it might be dark, raining or both. This makes putting up a tent a lot harder when you still have to read the manual!
  2. The same goes for sleeping bags, camping beds and everything else you might need to set up basic camp.
  3. If your planning to participate in a village, contact the organizers of that village as early as possible. That makes planning resources a lot easier.
  4. Print out maps of the area and/or update your GPS. You wouldn't be the first hacker we lost on the way to the camping site.
  5. If you have never been outdoors before, you might watch this NASA video about navigating in natural terrain.
  6. If you travel by train, bus, hitchhiking or by plane, you might want to pack your equipment a week or so before setting out to travel, to see if you haven't overpacked. If you can't carry it, you might have to reduce your equipment.
  7. Create a backup of your data (you did that already, right?)
The Earth
Archived page - Impressum/Datenschutz