22-01-14, 01:49 PM
With the progress of the new year, I thought it might be useful to start a thread on camping kit, tips and advice to help those who might be considering it for a first time, and also for more experienced people who are always looking to improve on their kit and technique for this hobby that often seems inextricably linked to the biking experience.
We have recently had a new thread on bivvys and bashas, but this method of stripped-down-to-bare-essentials won't be for everyone, although no reason why it shouldn't also be included here. My intention is for anyone with experience to be able to contribute their thoughts, kit reviews and suggestions, but also for would-be and novice campers to ask any questions they might have on the best kit and general how-to stuff.
My personal experience comes from first camping trips with my parents at a young age, car and trailer loaded up with everything including the kitchen sink, to weekend bike rallies and events, to longer bike tours, and also backpacking trips from a week to 2 months duration, using everything from cheap, heavy Millets gear, to light weight and expensive designed-for-purpose kit, developed by companies such as Rab, Vaude, MSR, Western Mountaineering, Mountain Equipment etc etc.
I have found that purpose designed backpacking and outdoors-pursuits items often transfer very well to bike-based camping trips, as the kit is often light, packs down small, and much is multi-purpose, further reducing the load you need to carry, and so allowing your bike to handle better when packed, and being far easier to organise with less specialist biking luggage, which can also be very expensive of course.
However, I think that we should consider here all price ranges, with their attendant advantages and disadvantages, because of course, not everyone who does the odd camping weekend will be interested in spending major bucks for kit that may only be used once or twice a year.
So, if you have a tent, or camping stove, or air mattress or whatever that you have found to be a great buy, or you want to get it off your chest about how crap it was and should be avoided; if you have a query about how to decide where to pitch your tent when the options seem limited; if you want to know what hydrostatic head is, and how it could be useful to you when choosing a tent; if it's pretty much anything to do with camping/bivvying in the great outdoors, why not pop it in here and help to build a shared knowledge-base for all Foccers - then, next time you go to a big bike meet where a tent is a requirement, you'll be able to laugh at all the other hapless goons who make a pigs ear of it all, without fear of being in that category yourself!
We have recently had a new thread on bivvys and bashas, but this method of stripped-down-to-bare-essentials won't be for everyone, although no reason why it shouldn't also be included here. My intention is for anyone with experience to be able to contribute their thoughts, kit reviews and suggestions, but also for would-be and novice campers to ask any questions they might have on the best kit and general how-to stuff.
My personal experience comes from first camping trips with my parents at a young age, car and trailer loaded up with everything including the kitchen sink, to weekend bike rallies and events, to longer bike tours, and also backpacking trips from a week to 2 months duration, using everything from cheap, heavy Millets gear, to light weight and expensive designed-for-purpose kit, developed by companies such as Rab, Vaude, MSR, Western Mountaineering, Mountain Equipment etc etc.
I have found that purpose designed backpacking and outdoors-pursuits items often transfer very well to bike-based camping trips, as the kit is often light, packs down small, and much is multi-purpose, further reducing the load you need to carry, and so allowing your bike to handle better when packed, and being far easier to organise with less specialist biking luggage, which can also be very expensive of course.
However, I think that we should consider here all price ranges, with their attendant advantages and disadvantages, because of course, not everyone who does the odd camping weekend will be interested in spending major bucks for kit that may only be used once or twice a year.
So, if you have a tent, or camping stove, or air mattress or whatever that you have found to be a great buy, or you want to get it off your chest about how crap it was and should be avoided; if you have a query about how to decide where to pitch your tent when the options seem limited; if you want to know what hydrostatic head is, and how it could be useful to you when choosing a tent; if it's pretty much anything to do with camping/bivvying in the great outdoors, why not pop it in here and help to build a shared knowledge-base for all Foccers - then, next time you go to a big bike meet where a tent is a requirement, you'll be able to laugh at all the other hapless goons who make a pigs ear of it all, without fear of being in that category yourself!