Which Tent?

[92kk k100lt 193214]

Garyboy

Advice if finances are tight, been there too.....

Go and use what you have and don't buy any new gear for now, better than sitting wishing you were off somewhere. As for tents, the one you have isn't bad but camp somewhere there is a campers kitchen and tv room and that makes up for it or wild camp somewhere awesome.

Bring some basic foodstuffs from home, even if its just the tea/coffee/sugar/seasonings and pick up some things to cook yourself and it cuts cost a lot. Can be fun if there are a few of you doing same thing.

Aldi do neat 3 packs of rib eye steaks that bbq really well....and some good wine to go with it.....

[garyboy]

Garyboy

Advice if finances are tight, been there too.....

Go and use what you have and don't buy any new gear for now, better than sitting wishing you were off somewhere. As for tents, the one you have isn't bad but camp somewhere there is a campers kitchen and tv room and that makes up for it or wild camp somewhere awesome.

Bring some basic foodstuffs from home, even if its just the tea/coffee/sugar/seasonings and pick up some things to cook yourself and it cuts cost a lot. Can be fun if there are a few of you doing same thing.

Aldi do neat 3 packs of rib eye steaks that bbq really well....and some good wine to go with it.....

thanks 92kk .. very good advice !! (thumbs)

yeah !! .. will plan to go to some good local places this year B)

thanks for that

[ipswichbiker]

Msr hubba hubba. Buy right and buy once. I've had mine around 6 years and it's been faultless.

oh god sorry, i'm not answering these posts correctly am I!!!

Yes, I hate faffing around with shit stuff that doesn't work (thumbs)

I've got tha basic hubba hubba. They now sell one called hubba hubba nx

[parabiker]

hiss2015a4.jpg (78.15 KiB) Viewed 2213 times

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What's the fascination with poxy tiny tents Big is better, much better. (thumbs)

[AlanHolt]

Its a bivvy bag for me, or a Vango Hydra 200.

[chunky butt]

Hi parabiker, I recognise that tent and bike from Aragon hiss .....5 star camping that tent...all best steve in France

[TriumphTart]

hiss2015a4.jpg

FB_IMG_1485897526024.jpg

What's the fascination with poxy tiny tents Big is better, much better. (thumbs)

looking good

[TriumphTart]

Its a bivvy bag for me, or a Vango Hydra 200.

(thumbs) just been checking out the Vango range on line

[TriumphTart]

just thinking aloud .. :blink:
all this talk of tents and France n stuff is getting me itchy, tho I can't really afford to scratch at the mo.
just got out my vango tempest 200, bought 90£ ex demo, I notice they are twice that now.
had it a few years but never used it .. well except in the lounge
the shape is good and so is the space, but it is too low in head height I think, so would go for a taller one next time? it is also quite heavy and bulky and not all that simple-easy to put up? but I got it now.

when I went to north wales I took a huge-ish and very heavy tent and all the gear, and on a pan 1200 :dry: god it was all so heavy and cumbersome, took ages to re-pack.

for Salisbury I took the minimal .. a tiny one man low tent I could hardly get into, let alone sit up in it was a nightmare. size and weight were great but room and convenience were bad. (and it was freezing)

I suppose this is the dilemma .. size v weight/bulk .. which is why us bikers have a perpetual interest in tents?

I suppose it all depends on
place going to (warm france, wet Scotland, cold Iceland?)
level of comfort required (room,, air bed, self inflate, mat?)
weight/bulk willing or able to carry
time spent there
amount of time divided into camp/hotel/rough camping


years ago I used foot pump and double air bed, but these days can't find one that will stay up, even the self-inflate ones let me down and I end up wiv a cold butt.
so now I bought some cheap ground mats and hope they will do the job, as they will not deflate my ambitions.

I got a load of gear now .. perhaps I may even get to use it this year? :laugh:

some good questions, thank you

Used it in the lounge, lol, that's about as far as I'm gonna get at this rate

[92kk k100lt 193214]

One of the times I was in France a bunch of guys came to the camp site. Strung up a few tarps and set themselves up under it. Camp beds and sleeping bags and gear but no tents.

Fine if you get the warm weather we were having there. But not in this part of the world where you get bugs, midges, wind and rain.

I am not afraid to admit I like my space in the tent and creature comforts because I will quite happily ride all year and camp in bad weather and in winter. Waking up in winter wild camped in a beach or coastal spot on a sunny frosty morning and the condensation inside the tent frozen like a board is quite amazing. Open up and cook breakfast there, just can't be beaten. I did do the small tent on a bicycle where weight really mattered but once I found you needed space with bike gear especially if its wet things changed.

But I also weighed up all my camping gear and I was quietly surprised to find it below 20 kilos all in. I did it to see I balanced the panniers reasonably evenly.