What should I get?

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Tyranade

Full Registered User
Right so I plan on doing Event security and door work once I get my SIA licence and I was wondering what I should get.

Right now I am planning on getting.
  • Boots
  • High Vis Jacket (Cant decided between a normal jacket or a bomber jacket)
  • High Vis Water Proof over trousers
  • SIA Badge Holder (Can't decide if I want an Arm Band one or a round the neck one on a ball chain)
  • Small First Aid Kit that has belt loops (Not sure which one too buy)

I was wondering if there is anything not on that list that I Should get, bear in mind the stuff I have put on the list now will be the stuff I am going to buy straight away as I am only doing the odd job hear and there I need the money for other things so I Wanna try and stay away from like £40-50 torches and things.
 
T

TMAC

Longterm Registered User
Don't buy a high Vis best, one will be supplied.
Don't buy high Vis trousers, you'll look like a twat.

You'll need the following:
-a black rain jacket,, breathable and the best you can afford. I have a Jack Wolfskin and I've never had better.
-black waterproof trousers, best you can afford.
-best tent and sleeping bag you can afford
-best boots you can get. I recommend haix or Lowa
-a blowup mattress
-waterproof hat, and wooly hat
-decent, warm gloves
-anti blister socks
-tight fitting, breathable underwear
-armband AND lanyard badge holder.
-covert earpiece with adapter for Motorola and ken wood.
-baby wipes
-talcum powder
-sudo cream or chaffing cream
-painkillers
-earplugs
-a day sack for holding supplies
-sunglasses
-sun cream

I'm sure others will add to this but those are all the items I swear by, or did when I worked events!

Oh, and if you don't have a sense of humour, you better find one, it's the only way to get through the day at many if these things.



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I

Ivan67

Longterm Registered User
I knew the SIA was bad with low low low low standard but is it so low that one can be operationally ready before they have even taken the course.

Starting to sound like ASG in the Ghan.
 
T

TMAC

Longterm Registered User
See, bet you feel all warm and fuzzy inside now?
Makes up for 24 hours of crappy weather!!!


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T

Tyranade

Full Registered User
TMAC said:
You'll need the following:
-a black rain jacket,, breathable and the best you can afford. I have a Jack Wolfskin and I've never had better.
-black waterproof trousers, best you can afford.
-best tent and sleeping bag you can afford
-best boots you can get. I recommend haix or Lowa
-a blowup mattress
-waterproof hat, and wooly hat
-decent, warm gloves
-anti blister socks
-tight fitting, breathable underwear
-armband AND lanyard badge holder.
-covert earpiece with adapter for Motorola and ken wood.
-baby wipes
-talcum powder
-sudo cream or chaffing cream
-painkillers
-earplugs
-a day sack for holding supplies
-sunglasses
-sun cream
Click to expand...

So I bolded all of the stuff I am going to buy online or I already have and all the stuff I have underlined I am going to pop down to a tescos and go and buy.

Tent I will be getting at some point but I can't decide between getting a pop up tent or just a conventional tent that you feed the rods in too.

As for the Blowup Mattress eh I've been camping before and I didn't use one so I am a little on the fence about that along with the Anti blister socks but I will look into those.

As for the Covert Earpiece what one of those should I get because I did a quick google and my brain just kinda went "eh o.0".

And I am having trouble picking what bag to get I was thinking about buying this Highlander Discovery 45 Rucksack - Black/Grey: Amazon.co.uk: Sports & Outdoors

And I still can't decide if I should get a small first aid kit or not that I can put on my belt or stick in this bag.
 
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niallyan

Longterm Registered User
Pop up tents have bad headroom, if your there for a while and the weather is similar to today's then you might need room to sit inside to do admin. I personally hate blow up mattresses as they always fail on me but some sort of thermarest will aid a good nights sleep, I'm guessing you want the best rest possible. Can't comment on the rest as I'm not in your field....apart from sudocream, the time you find you need it is when you REALLY want it....
 
T

TMAC

Longterm Registered User
3 Wire Pro Covert Acoustic Tube Bodyguard FBI Earpiece Headset Mic for 2-pin Motorola Radio CP040 CP200 XTNi DTR VL50: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

And get a proper tent, you could be on a site for a week or more and you'll need a little bit of space for hanging a towel, wet clothes etc. Pops won't keep you dry in torrential conditions, and they get wrecked. Sales will be on now as the season is over so get one at a discount for next year.
You need to be very aware that festival work is bloody hard, long hours in varying conditions, on your feet all day, sometimes very little food or water depending on the company/post.
You need to cover the bases with as little kit as possible or dual purpose kit, and small luxuries like a bit of space to read a book or stretch out in your tent can make all the difference.
As for the first aid kit, unless you're employed as a medic all you need is a few band aids, a bit of antiseptic cream, a couple of alcohol wipes and maybe a bandage or two, and bug spray. You'll only be self medicating minor scrapes etc, you won't be treating punters as there are dedicated personnel for that. In fact it's best not to, leaves you open to prosecution, or at least the sack......
 
T

Tyranade

Full Registered User
niallyan said:
Pop up tents have bad headroom, if your there for a while and the weather is similar to today's then you might need room to sit inside to do admin. I personally hate blow up mattresses as they always fail on me but some sort of thermarest will aid a good nights sleep, I'm guessing you want the best rest possible. Can't comment on the rest as I'm not in your field....apart from sudocream, the time you find you need it is when you REALLY want it....
Click to expand...

Ok so Pop up tent is a no go then thanks.

TMAC said:
3 Wire Pro Covert Acoustic Tube Bodyguard FBI Earpiece Headset Mic for 2-pin Motorola Radio CP040 CP200 XTNi DTR VL50: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics

And get a proper tent, you could be on a site for a week or more and you'll need a little bit of space for hanging a towel, wet clothes etc. Pops won't keep you dry in torrential conditions, and they get wrecked. Sales will be on now as the season is over so get one at a discount for next year.
You need to be very aware that festival work is bloody hard, long hours in varying conditions, on your feet all day, sometimes very little food or water depending on the company/post.
You need to cover the bases with as little kit as possible or dual purpose kit, and small luxuries like a bit of space to read a book or stretch out in your tent can make all the difference.
As for the first aid kit, unless you're employed as a medic all you need is a few band aids, a bit of antiseptic cream, a couple of alcohol wipes and maybe a bandage or two, and bug spray. You'll only be self medicating minor scrapes etc, you won't be treating punters as there are dedicated personnel for that. In fact it's best not to, leaves you open to prosecution, or at least the sack......
Click to expand...

The First Aid kit would be a personal only or if one of the other guys im working with kind of thing to just stash on myself or in my bag really like say you come off a shift and i cut my finger or something that kinda deal.

As for tents I am currently looking at 2x

Hi Gear Neutron 2 - 2 Berth Tent | GO Outdoors and Hi Gear Nucleus 3 Tent | GO Outdoors . and was wondering if the extra room on the 3 person tent vs the 2 person tent was worth it?
 
T

TMAC

Longterm Registered User
Always, always buy the best you can afford, or save up/bargain hunt and get stuff you can't afford that way.
Buy cheap buy twice is the way to go.
You'll end up with long lasting, quality kit that won't let you down, or it does has a warranty so you get it replaced for free!
So yes, get the 3X. You never know you might get lucky with a gymnast ;-)


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niallyan

Longterm Registered User
If you can afford it look at the outlander urban pop up tent, similar to Coleman but £99 cheaper. Was £100 at halfords a few months back. Seats 4 with nice headroom, quick pitch, single skinned though. It can be a bit of a bastard to pack up...hence me buying a metal plate to fix mine (I'd like to say a design fault on their part but I was just impatient)

Can't find it on halfords but here's the review

Halfords Urban Escape 1 Minute Tent Tent Reviews and Details

It might have been borked because it was a blatant copy.
 
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T

Tyranade

Full Registered User
TMAC said:
Always, always buy the best you can afford, or save up/bargain hunt and get stuff you can't afford that way.
Buy cheap buy twice is the way to go.
You'll end up with long lasting, quality kit that won't let you down, or it does has a warranty so you get it replaced for free!
So yes, get the 3X. You never know you might get lucky with a gymnast ;-)


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Click to expand...

Ok I'll go with the 3 person tent assuming they still have it in stock when I get paid next week :p.

Ivan67 said:
Coleman - Instant Dome 5

Coleman - Instant Tentâ„¢ Tourer 4
Click to expand...

Good god those are some expensive tents o.o.

So I know this is slighly off topic but I was wondering when your say working a festival for a week or how ever long I am assuming you have to pay for your own food but what about when it comes to washing your clothes say you take 3 sets but your working 7 days how would you go about cleaning your clothes and stuff.

Also if anyone else has any suggestions on things I should get that would be greatly appreciated.
 
I

Ivan67

Longterm Registered User
TMAC said:
That's some snazzy shit!!!!


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Click to expand...

The dome is the newest. I have had the tourer though for four years, so far I have only used it on kayak expeditions, bike expeditions, but they held up. My last Coleman was only a dome, I still have it as well, about 18 years old and still going good, the coleman before that was a 12 man cabin tent, retired it because it was from the early 70's and weighed a ton.

The tourer works very good, for me though. I built a small rack over the top of my BOB Yak trailer and it sits perfectly.

I am not saying Coleman is the best but I have run mine through some shitty bush (never war) and never once even broke a single piece of it, never a rip and never a leak. The coldest I have ever used mine in was only around 10 below, I would not suggest getting one for anything cooler than that. But they will hold up to hard storms.
 
J

JHD

Longterm Registered User
Hi Tyrande

Welcome to the forum.....it is good to see someone who is completing the introduction correctly (rather than leaving it blank) and is also putting up a post for advice.

Having read your post about also doing door work for the boss of the event security company at his bar, and when considering that by the time you get your licence the main festivals will be over, I feel that most of your initial work will be in clubs/bars.

With this in mind I would suggest you look at the following/seek advice from those who know about the following:-

1. A small and powerful torch
2. Covert stab-proof vest
3. Box protector
4. Boots that have good grip on slippery floors

Good luck.

JHD
 
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L

littlewoman

Longterm Registered User
As far as tents go, avoid the pop-ups like the plague.
Always go for outer pitch first as if you have to pitch in rain its far better. (pitch outer and throw all your kit inside the porch area before pitching the inner.)
Never buy anything under 3000hh, this is the water proof rating and anything under 3000 will only keep out a bit of drizzle or a light shower. However, note that it only rates the fabric and not the entire design or the workmanship.
You should need no more than a 3 man for one person. This should give adequate room for admin and stretching out. I do 8 weeks of working every single day/night sleeping in a "3 man" (men not included).
Look at the design (the Hi-Gear tent in your link looks fine), avoid anything that the rain won't run off easily, bigger tents often try to have more vertical sides and a less sloped roof. When it rains the tent starts to sag slightly and rain pools on the sagging roof, making it sag more until it starts to leak in.
Always have a porch, you'll need it to store muddy boots and wet kit.
Look at where the door is and avoid anything where the rain is going to run off the roof and in through the door as soon as you open it.
Bear in mind you could be on nights and sleeping in a tent during the day. Tents act like a greenhouse in the sun so check you can open the door and still have a big flyscreen closed (although you'll probably end up opening that too in hot weather).
One big thing for nights is to take silvery foil emergency blankets/shelters. You put these over your tent to block the sun, but think carefully about how you'll secure them. (That 3 man would be easy as its a tube rather than a dome and outer pitch first. You use clothes pegs (plenty of them) to clip it it the ridges made by the poles.

As far as sleeping kit goes I'll have to disagree with TMAC on a couple of things. Air beds are crap, they circulate the air between the ground, the edges and you, which won't help you keep warm at night. Self-inflating mats are much better. (Let them inflate then stick in a couple of lung fulls of air.) I've also used the cheaper form of camp beds and these are certainly better for day time sleeping than mats but are only good if you're not to big and bulky (otherwise they sag too much).

Good quality sleeping bags are good for night time sleeping but I've found in the day time its better to have two cheap ones. Use a mummy bag inside a square one. This means you can use both when its cold, and throw off the outer one when its a bit warmers, throw off both when its hot. If you get a good quality one you're constantly taking it off and on as the weather changes through the day (which it often does in our summer).

At the end of your first festival, collect useful kit others have left behind (there's a festival word for this, its called "tatting"). This means you can upgrade some of your equipment or at least have spares.

Food may be provided free or at a discount or you may have to fend for yourself. If you are having to cook for yourself, avoid trying to stick to your normal food and think of things that can cook easily on a stove. Also take food that you can eat as it is. Snacks such as nuts and dried fruit, cereal bars, and tins of spaghetti bolognaise etc. (Yes, you can eat it cold). Beware mice!! The little buggers get into everything, I recently had one somehow get on top of two plastic storage boxes, stacked on top of each other and each about 30cm high. I have no idea how it got up there!! It didn't even get any food. The thing is they leave a trail of meningitis infected urine everywhere.

Small first aid kit mostly of plasters, painkillers, etc. I always carry plasters with me and easy to get hold of. If a punter asks me for one, they'll get one, does wonders for good PR and creating an idea that you're there to help not to be nasty to people makes it much easier for you to do your job.

One additional, take a fold up stool. You may be on a position (especially at nights) where there will be a quiet time when you can take a short rest. Obviously, only do this if your company and you position allows this. Don't take a seat, you can fall asleep on both but if you fall asleep on a stool you'll wake up a second later when you fall off.

Two torches. One cheap headtorch for going to the loo, unless you fancy trying to fiddle with getting loo paper out of your pocket, keeping layers of clothing out of the way, stopping your radio falling off your belt etc. in the dark. One decent small hand torch, at the very least, one of the 9LED ones. These are damned useful for shinning in someones eyes if they're about to attack you.

Earpieces are essential for making sure you hear everything above the background noise. I've never seen Kenwood radios used at events, its always Motorola. But there's digital block, analogue block and two piece. The analogue is being phased out, and two piece are less common. However it is possible to get block adapters for the two piece earpieces, so get a two piece earpiece then the block adapter you think you'll need. Then get the other block adapter if needed.
 
C

colonel45155

Longterm Registered User
As always littlewoman is right on the money, I'll just re state the need for a torch, get one from Ebay the led 'creed' ones are brilliant, only a coupla quid each and I have loads. The torch will be a great help when you've landed to the site at 12am and you're trying to pitch your tent in the pouring rain and pitch black (get one that fits in your mouth) Do not listen to the wannabe security guys who say "I have a 4 cell" that's not needed and if they ever hit anyone with it they'll get a short trip for a long stay.

Don't pitch your tent at the bottom of a hill, always get the highest ground you can, water flows downhill, pick up left behind tent pegs when you leave, they're handy.

I use a two room tent, that's maybe not the best idea because someone always wants to bunk with me and they bugger off when it's time to take it down and go home.

As for blow up mattresses, I've never used one, I'm hard - or else too lazy to carry it lol.

Your badge holder, get a viper, it's leather and fits 3 ways, belt, lanyard and arm. I always wear mine on my belt if I'm on doors or wearing tshirts but i have to wear it on my arm if wearing a coat, I hate wearing it on my arm but that's just me, I always had a habit of taking my coat off and forgetting about the badge and had to go searching through the coats to retrieve it.

Bog roll, Bog roll, Bog roll, can't say it enough, it's needed. Baby wipes are handy too.

Cheap mobile phone, one of the old ones, they stay in charge for days but bring your charger too obviously, you will find there's only about four or eight sockets for 300 security guys, I'll never forget the look on a guys face who was massively built and quite a bit taller than me when I walked in and unplugged his phone, it was disbelief lol, I then took a double adapter out of my pocket and plugged both in, so bring a double adapter with you.

Painkillers, I got one hell of a toothache last time in London in the middle of the night, even if you don't need them someone will, (don't worry about the first aid kit)

Earpieces, as TMAC said get the covert ones, one for Motorola and one for Kenwood, the company may supply one but, 1 them cheap plastic ones are damn uncomfortable, 2 god knows whose ear it's been in before and 3 when you get suntanned you will look silly when you take it off having one white ear.

Everyone has given you good advice here but I'm gonna state the obvious... your SIA badge!!!, we had a numpty who forgot it once and couldn't work till it was posted to him, also had a plum who forgot his passport once too.

Now, if you're camping put any valuables, phone wallet etc at the bottom of your sleeping bag at your feet when you sleep, you will find out about tent thefts soon enough. When you are on patrol or deployed I always keep my passport in my combats, don't actually know if anyone else does that but when I'm not in the tent all my valuables are on my person.

One last thing, on patrol or response, help the good looking girls put up their tents, it pays off ;)

Good luck and welcome to the fold mate,
 
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