Festival fever: Top 5 gadgets for Glastonbury, Bestival, Reading, Leeds, V and the rest

Festival season is soon upon us. That means it's about time you start stocking up on those festival essentials (and no I'm not referring to drugs and copious amounts of booze). I'm talking about the essentials. OK I realise those items might be 'essentials' to some people, but I'm referring to items such as portable showers, chargers, peeing devices etc and other things that will make your festival adventure as pleasant as it can be.

Check out our top five festival essentials after the jump. You'll kick yourself if you get your ass to the place you've been looking forward to for months, after shelling out all that money on tickets and travel, only to realise you've forgotten something important.

1. Pocket Shower
Being filthy is all part of the festival experience (so I keep hearing) and if you do fancy a wash at some point you can always use the mank-infested port-a-showers. If you've ever done Glastonbury before, you'll know that these are a no no and you have to have some serious will-power to pluck up the courage to step in and take a wash. The pocket shower is better suited for hot countries, but a cold shower is a walk in the park if it means being clean. Fill up the pocket shower (it holds ten litres of water), the black fabric will warm the water up (providing it's a hot day), if the sun isn't on your side, fill it up and have a 7 minute shower anyway. It's better than scrubbing yourself down with wet wipes. When you're done, just fold it into a small neat package.

2. Wind up torch/radio
One minute of handle cranking gives you just over ten minutes of electric torch or radio time. The radio is supposed to produce a loud and clear sound and is very easy to use. There are two methods to charge it - either wind the handle or plug it into the mains. Fully charged it lasts for eight hours. So it's maybe a good idea to charge it to the max before you leave the house and save your energy for when it runs out. You'll appreciate this little device and the tunage when the bands are off stage. Another great feature, it also includes a variety of adapters for mobile charging emergencies.

3. Solar Charger
It's very important to have juiced up gadgets (camera and phone especially), so how handy would this dinky little solar charger be. That means no more having to beg and sometimes offer a cash incentive to borrow other people's phone. It's small enough to fit on your keys, so clip it somewhere safe and pull it out when need be. You won't even realise you're carrying it. Once it absorbs sunlight (good luck), charge your gizmos on the go.

4. She Pee
Ladies, how many times have you been on the verge of dying for whizz and thought to yourself, 'I wish I was a guy'. I know I have too many times. With the She Pee you can get a taste of maledom and take a wee standing up without the paranoia of it running down your jeans leaving you in a right old state. Or even worse having to squat (eww). It's a portable plastic device that can fit into your pocket. Just make sure you give it a rinse when you're done.

5. Loc8tor Lite
Are you one of those people always losing their stuff? And doesn't it suck when you're too drunk to remember where the hell your tent is? It comes with two tags to attach to whatever it is that could potentially get lost and one to stick in your bag or back pocket. If you find yourself a bit confused in the early hours of the morning, use the locator to make your way to whatever it is you're trying to find.

Don't complain if you're without your festival essentials. We told you - 23rd May 2008!!

For more festival and camping goodies take a look here