gadgets for festing

Optics.

I carry a spotting scope (telescope for nature watching) and tripod which is fun if you're set up on a hill; one year I could hear and see the stage from my campsite. Tripod doubles for the camera.

You can survey the campground, at the risk of being thought a perv. If you and your friends each have one and semaphore flags, you don't need to worry about cell phone batteries.

Also small binocs--a left-over habit from concerts of my youth, before the screens, where I tried to learn some guitar licks. Still good for that even though the cameras no longer are required to show Phil Lesh grinning every 150 seconds. Great for finding your peeps in the crowd--or finding replacement peeps.