Touring Kit Advice

[barftone]

Another spanner in the works....If you have the space on your bike go for a slightly bigger tent as a bit of extra space is great for storage/comfort. Also a fold out chair is worth its weight in gold in my humble opinion. I use a Blacks own brand 3 man £35 special. Takes a while to get up and getting it back in the bag is a struggle but good waterproofing.

[barftone]

Cabby will recommend a good tent!!

[piguglyshandydrinker]

Originally Posted by smallfordsuk

Phil thanks for the reply - Appreciate what you are saying, what tent would you recommend and why no to a tunnel, thought I had this one narrowed down to a biker although a bit expensive seems to get good reviews but then in the wiki a tunnel gets a recommended - now I am confused hence the reason for the post to call upon the experience of eveyone on here and avoid the confusion Thx James

James, a tunnel tent offers more space than a dome, I would not buy a tunnel tent as I had to rough it once in the middle of Spain in an olive grove (long story...), a tunnel tent will only stand when well pegged down, try getting tent pegs into solid rock!!!
My Coleman X2 dome (40 quid ebay special) is waterproof and will pitch inner only if its V hot/dry or inner/ outer without pegging if needs be.
It is a tad cramped and the porch is quite long and low which means scurrying in on your hands & knees!!!

Like I say it's all down to personal preference, for simplicity & a quick errection (well somebody had to start it ) many one this forum swear by the Khyam's.
Oh yeah, a chair adds a touch of welcome comfort!

Phil

[smallfordsuk]

Phil
Thx for that prefernce would be the biker tent but a little pricey - the quick erection being an added bonus - as you started it I will carry on. Looking probably for a 3 man but primarily single person use - as usual suggestions welcomed Thx James

[fatowl]

I have just bought a Vango Sigma 3000. It's a 3 man, double skin dome tent, and various places are doing them for £39. I thought it was cheap enough that if it's crap it doesn't matter too much, but Vango have got a good name, so it ought to be OK.

[Dee Duble Yuh]

The decision on "inner first" and "outer first" might be affected by the kind of weather you think you are most likely to encounter. An inner-first tent can be useful in very hot weather - good ventilation! However if you erect or dismantle it in the rain the inner tent (and you) will get wet.

An outer-first tent allows you to create a dry work space while you fix the inner etc. Indeed in the past I've managed to load the bike with almost everything from the comfort (!?) of the outer tent, then fully geared up just had to dismantle the last bit, load up and be on my way.

[severs]

I won't recommend a tent, because all my tents have been bought mainly for lightweight cycle-camping/mountaineering and probably cost too much for a motorcycle-based valley-bottom situation. But here's a tip about pitching your tent:

When you get to the site and it's pi$$ing down, you want a waterproof cover up as fast as possible. So you will be tempted to buy an "outer first" model. You can always shelter under the fly (the "outer") until you can get a grip, no hurry as long as you are dry, etc.

But actually, with many tents, you can rig them to pitch inner & outer simultaneously. You won't see it in the instructions! It works best with geodesic type tents but there's no reason it shouldn't work with a single-hoop (I do it with my macpac tropical) or tunnel models.

First, use the tent for a while to get used to pitching it and taking it down. Maybe practice in the garden or a park? (Cue the funny looks).

Then figure out a way of attaching the outer to the inner. With many tents, the inner or outer or both are retained by putting the ends of the flexi-poles into aluminium "holes" - circular rivets in a piece of nylon tape, hanging off the "hem" of the tent.

Now imagine, if you can, the tent is up. If you could collapse the poles without the pole-ends falling out of the "holes", the tent would be exactly the same as it is when it is up, just a flat rippled mass on the floor.

Now, the next concept. You know how you remove the flexi-poles and then fold them by pulling them apart, lengthways? You can, in many cheaper tents (because the pole fit is not particularly tight), do this with the poles still in the tent. Most tents require you to slide the pole into a narrow nylon guide-way when you erect the tent, or through a series of loops, or something. You can often leave the flexi-poles inside the guides and still collapse them, if you practice. You fold the tent up in an unorthodox way as you go. It takes a bit of practice!
The folded tent will not be as compact as it is when you fold it "properly".

But how to stop the pole ends falling out of the aluminium rivet "holes"? Simply erect the tent and slide a washer onto each of the exposed pole ends, then squeeze on three or four tightly-fitting rubber or silicone rubber o-rings to retain each washer.

Try it! It doesn't cost much.

Now for the best bit: Take the unfolded tent in its "collapsed" state out of its bag and lay in down the correct way up. Grab one end and shake it violenty, like a blanket or a doormat that you are trying to get the fluff and grit off. The poles will slide together on their internal elastics and the tent will erect itself - often with a sudden "woomph" sound which is very pleasing.

Taking the tent down with the poles still in is a bit fiddly, and takes longer than normal. But imagine arriving at the campsite when it's slashing down with rain, grabbing your tent and "woomph!" - it's up! then dive inside.

This works with inner-first or outer-first tents.

It's even better with tents designed to allow you to put up just the inner, just the outer, or both.

And some tents are designed to allow the inner and outer to be velcro'd together and erected as one. They work really well. My macpac is like this and it goes up in about 5 seconds.

When it isn't raining, do it anyway at rallies - it's a fantastic "party piece".

[Lord Vader]

Originally Posted by severs

I won't recommend a tent, because all my tents have been bought mainly for lightweight cycle-camping/mountaineering and probably cost too much for a motorcycle-based valley-bottom situation. But here's a tip about pitching your tent:

When you get to the site and it's pi$$ing down, you want a waterproof cover up as fast as possible. So you will be tempted to buy an "outer first" model. You can always shelter under the fly (the "outer") until you can get a grip, no hurry as long as you are dry, etc.

But actually, with many tents, you can rig them to pitch inner & outer simultaneously. You won't see it in the instructions! It works best with geodesic type tents but there's no reason it shouldn't work with a single-hoop (I do it with my macpac tropical) or tunnel models.

First, use the tent for a while to get used to pitching it and taking it down. Maybe practice in the garden or a park? (Cue the funny looks).

Then figure out a way of attaching the outer to the inner. With many tents, the inner or outer or both are retained by putting the ends of the flexi-poles into aluminium "holes" - circular rivets in a piece of nylon tape, hanging off the "hem" of the tent.

Now imagine, if you can, the tent is up. If you could collapse the poles without the pole-ends falling out of the "holes", the tent would be exactly the same as it is when it is up, just a flat rippled mass on the floor.

Now, the next concept. You know how you remove the flexi-poles and then fold them by pulling them apart, lengthways? You can, in many cheaper tents (because the pole fit is not particularly tight), do this with the poles still in the tent. Most tents require you to slide the pole into a narrow nylon guide-way when you erect the tent, or through a series of loops, or something. You can often leave the flexi-poles inside the guides and still collapse them, if you practice. You fold the tent up in an unorthodox way as you go. It takes a bit of practice!
The folded tent will not be as compact as it is when you fold it "properly".

But how to stop the pole ends falling out of the aluminium rivet "holes"? Simply erect the tent and slide a washer onto each of the exposed pole ends, then squeeze on three or four tightly-fitting rubber or silicone rubber o-rings to retain each washer.

Try it! It doesn't cost much.

Now for the best bit: Take the unfolded tent in its "collapsed" state out of its bag and lay in down the correct way up. Grab one end and shake it violenty, like a blanket or a doormat that you are trying to get the fluff and grit off. The poles will slide together on their internal elastics and the tent will erect itself - often with a sudden "woomph" sound which is very pleasing.

Taking the tent down with the poles still in is a bit fiddly, and takes longer than normal. But imagine arriving at the campsite when it's slashing down with rain, grabbing your tent and "woomph!" - it's up! then dive inside.

This works with inner-first or outer-first tents.

It's even better with tents designed to allow you to put up just the inner, just the outer, or both.

And some tents are designed to allow the inner and outer to be velcro'd together and erected as one. They work really well. My macpac is like this and it goes up in about 5 seconds.

When it isn't raining, do it anyway at rallies - it's a fantastic "party piece".

WOW
Now the Obvious question of the morning would be
WHY HAVE I NEVER SEEN IN ALL MY YEARS OF CAMPING ANYTHING LIKE THAT AND WHY DID YOU NOT POST THAT AS YOUR FIRST EVER POST ON HERE
You just can not keep such "cool and vital" information to yourself for such a long time

[Snaphappy]

You say that you want to get out and about a bit, where?
The gear you require is dependant on where you plan to go how long for and who with, plan for the worst case scenario if your on your own off the beaten track and have on accident only good quality equipment will keep you alive till someone realises your not where you should be and asks for SAR. If you planning on road trips in the UK camp-site to camp-site you can scale down its easy to go over the top on your first exped get convenient gear and don't be too adventurous you might hate it then you've wasted good money, in the UK your not far from a B+B and with a mobile your not far from the AA.

I'd recommend a good kipmat and sleeping bag (if your warm and comfortable you will enjoy it more)
Double skinned tent BIG but Light and self-suporting.
Gas stove enough for a brew and bacon sarnie in the morning

[Dee Duble Yuh]

How about severs demonstrates how to put up his tent at the National? Or if he's not coming, maybe someone else can set things up and demonstrate?

And what about holding a tent-pitching competition? The winner will be the quickest to take down, pack and then re-erect their tent!