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Alright here are two of my concerns that I want to address far in advance.
First off. I would like to make this trip easy as possible. What is the search like entering? I have heard a few horror story's about cars being ripped apart. I would just like to know your experience with this.
Who does the searches police or bonnaroo? What would help me get through them easier?
Keep in mind i am not asking for anything to do with smuggling anything in, not interested in stash spots or anything to do with that type of stuff.
One problem i have is it is easy to lose things during these searches, im not trying to cause any problems, just want to get in easy, fast and safe.
Which brings me to my next question. I either need to bring a way to charge my batteries. Its down to a power inverter or bring a small generator, I am open for other ideas on how to charge my batteries.
My question is can you bring a generator into Bonnaroo? Also I would need to bring gasoline. How is all this going to fly at the gates.
Any input on either of these two topics would help me Immensely, Thank You. Bonnaroo First Timer!
Post by Ian'sGotAFeeling on Mar 19, 2009 2:17:02 GMT -5
Searches are mostly done by Bonnaroo volunteers, they will look through, but not tear apart, your car for any glass or other unallowed items. They are often fairly quick and don't intrude too much. If you end up getting searched by the local PD or whatever is there, iv never had it done nor seen them searching, then it may end up being a while before you get back into your car. This generally isn't a problem for the majority of the population.
Generators are often shunned upon at roo because they cause so much noise. Use a power inverter or just buy a few packs of batteries. If its a camcorder battery or similar a power inverter would be best.
Regarding the vehicle searches: The majority of cars are searched by Bonnaroo staff. They are looking for glass containers, mostly. I've never lost anything during a search. To make it easy on them (and me) I have my coolers arranged so that they can be easily opened. I also put loose stuff in a box so when they open the doors/rear hatch nothing comes pouring out. Make it easy for them, they will make it easy for you.
There are also TN's finest doing random searches. One in 50 cars? It is totally random. It doesn't matter who you are or what you look like.... it's random. I've seen Wooks, professionals, and professional wooks get searched. Last year I saw a couple in their 30's get the search and a carload of who looked like teenagers get it, too. They were patted down and every single thing was gone through with a fine tooth comb. I mean everything. Boxes of cereal, shave kits, bottom of sleeping bags.....
Regarding power: I bring along a 1KW Honda EU generator. It's super quiet and powers everything I need: Box fan, radio, battery chargers, coffee maker, xmas lights, laptop..... and no one seems to mind. Take into consideration though that the Honda's are SUPER quiet. After about a minute the hum is hardly noticeable. The rules say that you can bring a generator into GA camping as long as it's 1.5KW or less. I figure that's so no-one brings something powerful enough to lightup a house.... and loud enough to drown out the headliners. I've never had a problem bringing in 5 gallons of gasoline either....
Looks like the search question has been thoroughly answered. A power inverter is the way to go. Last year I had a power inverter and an extra deep cycle marine battery. I charged phones, cameras, camcorders, and ran a fan whenever I was at camp and didn't even use 1/2 the charge over the the course of the festival. Monday morning I also gave 2 guys jumps off the same battery. It worked well. This year I'm going to step it up a notch by taking a 5w solar panel to recharge the batter as well. Don't do a generator. They are loud and emit lots of carbon monoxide and you really don't want that around other grps near ya, especially if someone is sleeping.
Yeah, a generator seems like overkill to me, but whatever floats your boat. I've never been searched by police when entering Bonnaroo, only volunteers who do a very light look-over your stuff. If you're worried about the police, then it's the highways into the Roo where you need to be careful.
If I wanted to buy a battery specifically to use at Bonnaroo/camping so that I didn't have to charge phones, play radio, etc. off of my car battery, what would you suggest?
Post by itrainmonkeys on Mar 19, 2009 12:39:58 GMT -5
Car searchers aren't that bad. I've never been one of the people to get the random "FULL SEARCH" and i've been lucky about that. Like it has been said.....most of the time they are looking for glass or large quantities of illegal substances. My car searches were usually done by a kid around the same age as me (22) who is a roo volunteer.
I wouldn't take the chance of being careless.....because the random searches of vehicles can be extensive. I've seen them empty just about everything from the car and look through stuff. But I guess it's all up to luck.
Went GA one year, the car in front of me, full of extremely clean-cut looking folks, got creamed by the cops, we got virtually nothing, so it is certainly random. Went VIP the next trip, and they basically glanced in my windows and said "have a nice time".
Regarding charging, I've never had to use it, but isn't there someplace in Centeroo where they'll charge stuff for you?
Our car was searched by the police back in 07. There were just three of us - two girls and a guy, and we drove a nice Expedition.
They tried to intimidate us and "feel" us out (asked the driver if she would be willing to go to jail for all of us, asked why my boyfriend looked nervious, etc), but we're cool and needn't worry about anything anyway.
All in all, it was actually pretty brief. Although they did dump all our stuff out of our purses and didn't bother putting anything back. But they were much nicer to us after the search.
And we're all pretty clean-cut looking. We definitely don't look like trouble. I suppose it was random, though I still believe we got searched because I made eye contact with an officer. We were immediately redirected once that happened....
Our car was searched by the police back in 07. There were just three of us - two girls and a guy, and we drove a nice Expedition.
They tried to intimidate us and "feel" us out (asked the driver if she would be willing to go to jail for all of us, asked why my boyfriend looked nervious, etc), but we're cool and needn't worry about anything anyway.
All in all, it was actually pretty brief. Although they did dump all our stuff out of our purses and didn't bother putting anything back. But they were much nicer to us after the search.
And we're all pretty clean-cut looking. We definitely don't look like trouble. I suppose it was random, though I still believe we got searched because I made eye contact with an officer. We were immediately redirected once that happened....
Please don't bring a Generator. They're loud and obnoxious and if you can't go 4 days without being "plugged in" then please re-evaluate what it means to go camping. your neighbors probably won't say anything to you while your there, but they will definitely be thinking it especially if its on every morning while they're trying to sleep. trust me I know from personal experience from the neigbors stand point.
Post by esprituptohere on Mar 19, 2009 15:25:47 GMT -5
Last year, the guy stuck his head in my window.
"Got any glass?" "Nope." (scribbles S on windshield) "Have a good time."
This was during the heat of the day, probably around 3 or 4...sometimes I think they pass cars faster when it's hot and there's a long line backed up. Had other friends come in at 10 that night, and their cars were ransacked...they were lifting up seat cushions, popping out cupholders, very thorough.
DON'T BRING A GENERATOR. That power inverter with a marine battery sounds cool, tunnelfly...did you run the fan at night or just wake up at eight, sweat-drenched, and turn it on? Maybe I could find a fan with programmable thermostat? hahaha
^^ I had the same thing happen to me last year and the year before. I never saw anybody get searched extensively. It's kind of scary. I'm not a fan of Johhny Law and his intimidation tactics.
Post by candyflippedaround on Mar 19, 2009 17:30:24 GMT -5
they didnt bother to ask me if i had glass never mind open up the car and look through it. im sure this doesnt happen to very many people, i was surprised it happened to me. i had nothing in my car for them to find, i bet if i had brought anything i probably would have been ripped apart.
Don't police searches fall under a different category than staff searches. I would think it would be important to distinguish the difference between the two.
Year one We had a car. Our van was so full the Roo volunteer did not even bother. He said "Hell no i am not going through this
Year Two in an RV: DTF search. (department Transportation and Firearms) we pulled in and I was in the back grabbing my cash out of my bag. I do not trust them. Dude started pounding on the window screaming at me to get to the front. Tried to freak me out and intimidate me. we had nothing. they tore the top part up. They went through bags, moved stuff and went through the coolers. The red haired mustache dude was the only dick.
Year three in an RV: DTF search. I think it was the same crew. I was sleeping in the back. My crew thought it would be funny to let me sleep. I wake up to MR. Red haired Mustache DUDE saying "we got a live one here!" They had hands on guns and were searching me in two seconds. I was barely awake with hands up and hands that were not mine going through my pockets. They kept saying I am huffing? Who in their right mind would be pulling balloons while entering the park. Once again we had nothing for them to find.
Year four: In my truck. Volunteer came over said you got anything. We said no and that was all.
I am a 38 year old professional, clean cut.... Life is so entertaining. BONNAROOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Year one We had a car. Our van was so full the Roo volunteer did not even bother. He said "Hell no i am not going through this
Year Two in an RV: DTF search. (department Transportation and Firearms) we pulled in and I was in the back grabbing my cash out of my bag. I do not trust them. Dude started pounding on the window screaming at me to get to the front. Tried to freak me out and intimidate me. we had nothing. they tore the top part up. They went through bags, moved stuff and went through the coolers. The red haired mustache dude was the only weiner.
Year three in an RV: DTF search. I think it was the same crew. I was sleeping in the back. My crew thought it would be funny to let me sleep. I wake up to MR. Red haired Mustache DUDE saying "we got a live one here!" They had hands on guns and were searching me in two seconds. I was barely awake with hands up and hands that were not mine going through my pockets. They kept saying I am huffing? Who in their right mind would be pulling balloons while entering the park. Once again we had nothing for them to find.
Year four: In my truck. Volunteer came over said you got anything. We said no and that was all.
I am a 38 year old professional, clean cut.... Life is so entertaining. BONNAROOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
I have never heard of DTF. Are they a local department?
DON'T BRING A GENERATOR. That power inverter with a marine battery sounds cool, tunnelfly...did you run the fan at night or just wake up at eight, sweat-drenched, and turn it on? Maybe I could find a fan with programmable thermostat? hahaha
A cheap deep cycle marine battery from walmart is what I have. It's not super duper heavy duty or anything. I think it was 70 bucks. At night I used my tent fan...runs off 4 d batteries and lasted the entire festival no problem. I have this one that I also picked up at Wally World, it was 20 bucks:
Our car was searched by the police back in 07. There were just three of us - two girls and a guy, and we drove a nice Expedition.
They tried to intimidate us and "feel" us out (asked the driver if she would be willing to go to jail for all of us, asked why my boyfriend looked nervious, etc), but we're cool and needn't worry about anything anyway.
All in all, it was actually pretty brief. Although they did dump all our stuff out of our purses and didn't bother putting anything back. But they were much nicer to us after the search.
And we're all pretty clean-cut looking. We definitely don't look like trouble. I suppose it was random, though I still believe we got searched because I made eye contact with an officer. We were immediately redirected once that happened....
Never look them in the eye!!!! Lol
I know, right??
I forgot there was a dog also - but they didn't use him on us. And by the way, I'm a 28 year old professional myself, and they treated me like I was a tweaky wook.
We had a volunteer search our car. He checked for anything glass which we didn't have. He also questioned us on the amount of beer. We had 6 - 24 packs for 3 girls. Two of them were for our friends, but we talked him into letting us pass w/ them. They made us take out most of our crap from our trunk - but they didn't go through bags etc... I didn't see any doggies or officers.
yeah, i didn't see any of these officers/dogs the last two years. this is starting to scare me a little. which entrance are they located? what time during the day? i'm really reluctant to bring any favors with me this year if this is a possibility.
I think we arrived between 7 or 8 in the evening on Thursday in 2007. We were way out in BFE, but we also camped out there in 2006 and didn't see any police that year. However, we arrived around 4 or 5 in 2006, so maybe the later you arrive, the better chance you have of being searched by the po-po's.
It doesn't matter to me because we're not bringing any "indulgences", but I really don't like being treated like a criminal; I paid good money to be there, I am respectful towards the law and officers in general, and damnit, I'm a tax-paying productive citizen!
;D
