Tent camping essentails thread

[Flying Duck]

Somebody PM'd me asking for tent camping advice. Here's my advice:

There are 5 things that matter, everything else is fluff:

1) Tent (w/ footprint)

2) Sleeping bag

3) Sleeping pad

4) Flashlight

5) Emergency TP


1) TENT: Get something roomy. You want something that's roomy enough for you and all of your gear. There are endless tent threads scattered about Internet MC forums and I won't repeat them here.

It's pretty funny but what I've found works best for me is a cheap POS tent that I saw on sale while checking out at Big 5 one day. Until then I'd been using my backcountry 2-man hiking tent which was cramped with me and all of my gear in it. So I see this 7x7 "Prospector" tent set up near the door on sale for $20. (Retail price $30.) I figured $20, what the hell, I'll give it a shot.

Yeah, it's a cheap POS tent from China but it's the best $20 I ever spent. Sure it has fiberglass poles and cheap zippers but as long as you're careful with it and don't overstress either it works just fine.

The beauty of this tent is that it doesn't take very long until you're under the dollar/night mark and personally I get a good laugh out of the fact that I'm sleeping in a $20 tent every time I set it up but it does what a tent is supposed to do: keep the bugs away and the moisture off of you.

Also, always use a "footprint." A footprint is a ground cloth that you put under the floor of the tent. Buy a 8 ft. x 10 ft. Polyethylene Ground Cloth from Campmor and cut so it's slightly smaller than the footprint of the tent. The purpose of the footprint is to protect the floor of your tent from getting holes in it and you cut it slightly smaller than your tent because you don't want it collecting rain and making puddles between the ground cloth and the tent.

If it looks like the weather is going to really suck then I just get a cheap motel. Making/breaking camp in crappy weather is no fun and then your gear is still soaked the next day. If I want to deal with that crap I'll go backcountry hiking in the mountains. I will camp if there's a light rain or whatever but if there's a storm front moving in then it's just not worth it. There's no law that says you have to camp out EVERY night.

2) SLEEPING BAG:

Though a little pricey, down is the best for packing size and warmth as long as you're careful and don't get it wet. There's a variety of synthetic materials out there as well. Check the temp ratings/packing size and buy accordingly. For summer camping in warmer weather a fleece sleeping bag liner is cheap, light, packs small and may be all you need.

3) SLEEPING PAD:

Lots of people swear by Thermarest self-inflating and other inflatable types of sleeping pads. Having done a lot of hiking and camping in my life, I've learned one basic law: anything that's inflatable will eventually develop a leak. Therefore, I avoid anything inflatable.

Basic blue camping pads are pretty decent as is the eggshell stuff but If I were going to buy something today I'd probably go for something basic but decent like a Thermarest closed cell pad.

2 & 3 TOGETHER:

Ten+ years ago, I stumbled across a down sleeping bag made by Marmot where the bottom of it is an eggshell sleeping pad and the top is a down bag. The theory is that you're really only insulated on the top so you only need half a sleeping bag. And, since it zips to the pad, you don't wake up in the middle of the night slipped off of your sleeping pad. Did I mention it also has a pocket to hold your pillow in place? (Or stuffed full of clothes for a pillow substitute.) Better yet, the sleeve for the pad is machine washable so your sleeping bag doesn't get all stinky.

I've used this sleeping bag for everything and it's perfect. MC camping, backcountry hiking, trekking in The Himalayas, The Inca Trail, backpacking around third world countries, etc... and it's the best sleeping bag ever. Sadly, Marmot only made them for a year or two since it's kind of a novel concept so I don't think they sold very well.



I can even stick my feet out if it's warm:





The eggshell sleeping pad rolls up nice and small too:



Since it's only half of a down bag it stuffs pretty darn small and I can fit all of my camping gear in a waterproof duffel that I strap on to the back seat via the passenger grab handles:



Here's my whole camp in the waterproof duffel: Tent, ground cloth, lightweight nylon tarp to cover the bike at night, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, Thermarest pillow and pack towel. (A Pack Towel is a lightweight, small to pack, quick drying synthetic towel available from REI and other places.)



Though Marmot no longer makes this setup, there's a company called Big Agnes that makes similar bags these days and I've seen good reviews of those.

Here's a few pics from my Death Valley trip back in November:






Sidenote: Always pick up some visitor pamphlets along the way. Don't bother to read them though. What they're good for is starting a fire. You'd be amazed at how often you can scavenge around a campground and find enough wood to build a good fire. Camping: good. Camping with a fire: better.



4) FLASHLIGHT

Lots of choices there. My preference is a AA LED Maglite. For around the camp I have a Nite Ize headband that makes it a headlamp.




Take the top off of the Maglite and turn it over and it makes a table lamp:



Or hang it from the top of your $20 tent as a ceiling lamp:




And always carry a spare flashlight. Even it's just a little Photon keychain LED flashlight.


5) Spare TP

Ever been to a campground that's run out of toilet paper? 'Nuf said. Just enough for one or two uses in a Ziploc bag is all you need. Restock at restrooms along the way.


If you're planning a longer camping trip and you've never done it before, take a one or two night test camping trip before you go. You'll learn a lot from that. Anything you don't use don't take on the longer trip. Overpacking on a MC camping trip is dumb. Anything you really need can be purchased along the way.

[Flying Duck]

Make that six things.

6) BUTT PAD

This is a rectangle that I cut out of an old sleeping pad. It's just small enough to fit between the halves of a system case. I use it at campgrounds so I don't have to sit on campground table benches that are wet or covered in seagull poop. It's makes a metal or wood bench a bit more comfortable too.



It's also useful on the road for sitting on guardrail posts when I'm changing into/out of my rain gear.

[drikko]

HUH!! Bourbon/Scotch/Rum.........

[Flying Duck]

HUH!! Bourbon/Scotch/Rum.........

OK, eight things.

Crown Royal and a Sierra cup.

[mnb]

Inflatable objects can be patched. I've found non-inflatable and even your top of the line thermarest pads to be inadequate unless you're lucky enough to pitch camp on grass. On rocky, hard ground, you'll notice it. I sleep very poorly when camping and I don't sleep if I feel rocks in my back.

I used to pack an 8" tall queen size mattress with a battery powered pump. It could inflate/deflate in 60 seconds and I slept pretty well on it. But the mattress took up most of one saddle bag and was on the heavy size.

I'm trying out an overpriced inflatable, but it's 3" thick yet rolls up about the size of a liter bottle.

SMALL IS KING. Packing space is limited. Get the smallest you can. Pack at little as possible. Good, small stuff is not cheap. It's worth it.

My current sleeping bag is a Mont Blanc. It rolls up about 1/3 the size of my old bag and is better in colder weather.

Gear designed for backpackers often does well for motorcyclists. It's light and small so it can be hiked into remote areas. That also makes it light and small, taking up less space on the back of your bike.

[carp]

I have a Big Agnes sleeping bag and really like it. Its cut bigger than most mummy bags, I am 5'10 250. I used the cheaper air mattress that goes in a sleeve in the bag. You don't slide off the mattress as its part of the bag. If its colder than 30 i sleep with my joe rocket ballistic on and it plugs the top snugly. I have used eureka timberline 4 person, preferably 2 door. Recently been sleeping with my cpap machine that runs all night on my odyssey pc680. Don't need to pay high price for electric hook up if I can park next to the door of the tent. I love my two liter camelback for camping as well. I did sit on it in the tent with the valve open and made a puddle. Have been fortunate to ride with my son on some trips the last three years. He loves the riding and the camping.

[Shoganai]

HUH!! Bourbon/Scotch/Rum.........

+1

In general, do NOT go cheap on sleep.

By that I mean, get the best, driest, warmest you can afford.

Poor, wet or cold sleep will suck the living hell out of a trip not to mention endanger you due to riding tired or sleepy.

[Shoganai]

One more thing, I recommend this >>> http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___20069

It's super light, tough and very difficult to puncture, shake it dry and stuff it in a tiny sack.

You'll love it!

[Freedom45]

Motorcycle camping changes the entire trip for me and I prefer it to motels when possible. The challenge is to pack the gear and not make the bike look like a refugee barge. I enjoyed Mr Duck's list, however, I find my ThermaRest has done well for the past decade.

Wiggy sleeping bags are among the most thermal effective on the market and come with a compression sack that wads them up into a very small package that includes the Wiggy pillow. These are made in Grand Junction. Colorado and worth consideration. I use an AlpineLite tent for solo camping and a Eureka when accompanied by my sweetie. The Wiggy and the tent will fit into one saddlebag. The ThermaRest and cooking gear go into the other saddlebag, along with whatever else can be fit.

I would add a ground cloth to the list, a good protection for the tent and handy for sleeping when a tent isn't needed.

LED flashlights have replaced many of my bulb style lights; they are more compact and can be had in many different lumen ratings. And, they don't need batteries nearly as often.

[HoosierStu]

I highly recommend the Fenix LD20 flashlight. It is regarded by many as the world's best. It is rather expensive but is super bright (up to 180 lumens), has cool extras like a strobe light and SOS built in. It runs on two AA batteries. The clip cat attach to a baseball cap bill.

http://www.amazon.com/Fenix-Performance ... B001H4MW7W

Speaking of batteries, Eneloop are by far the best. They are the only rechargeable battery that I know of that holds a charge (without loss over time).
http://www.buy.com/prod/sanyo-sec-mqn06 ... 89841.html

[Jim]

My fav flashlight is the Proton Pro - only one AA battery - and brighter than you probably need for most stuff - but it is dimable.

Also does strobe, SOS, etc in red or white. All the Proton lights come with white and red and SOS. http://www.amazon.com/LRI-PPRO-Proton-2 ... 896&sr=8-9

I always use NIMH batteries with it.

[old guy old bike]

Boy, I must be a cheap bastard! I use the $6 LED flashlight from the checkout counter at the farm store. Can't imagine paying $32 for a penlight let alone $54.
Jeff

[Jim]

Boy, I must be a cheap bastard! I use the $6 LED flashlight from the checkout counter at the farm store. Can't imagine paying $32 for a penlight let alone $54.
Jeff

I'm cheap, too. But sometimes you need a really good light - the $6.00 one just doesn't cut it. $40.00 (at Amazon) isn't bad for a really bright light that runs on one AA battery - they retail for as much as $79.00.

The Streamlights I use for work cost $140.00 - but they are worth it.

[joeangi]

Take a look at "4 Sevens" lights. Designed and sold to "Flashaholics". Great lights at reasonable prices. The Quark series is fantastic. Use code CPF8 for 8% off at checkout. (CPF = Candle Power Forums)

Joe

[old guy old bike]

I'm cheap, too. But sometimes you need a really good light - the $6.00 one just doesn't cut it. $40.00 (at Amazon) isn't bad for a really bright light that runs on one AA battery - they retail for as much as $79.00.

The Streamlights I use for work cost $140.00 - but they are worth it.

This guy is all aluminum, has 6 white LED's around the outside and 1 red one in the center. It is uber bright. It won't throw a beam for a long way but I am not using it to read street signs a block away. Working around the bike fits it perfectly.