Bikamper bicycle tent?

[DebW]

But there's no fly or floor. If it rains you're SOL and
I don't want snakes huddling next to me for warmth

I was lucky I wasn't camping in the rain. My groundcloth was not much wider than my sleeping bag. I only saw one snake the whole trip, so wasn't too worried about that. It was sure nice to have light pannier.

[Tuckervill]

This is what I've done when I've car camped on long trips lately.

Put up the big dome tent. Move all gear and bikes into tent. Blow up the mattress. Put it in the back of the Element. Sleep warm and dry no matter what.

I even have reflective insulation for the inside of my windows, which I put up for privacy and insulation. I can turn on the radio in the car when I want to hear the weather.

Karen

[PamNY]

I even have reflective insulation for the inside of my windows, which I put up for privacy and insulation. I can turn on the radio in the car when I want to hear the weather. Karen

Do you have reflective insulation for the side windows? I like sleeping in the car when I arrive at the campground late. I've never succeeded in attaching anything to the side windows. I use rental cars, so every car is different, and the car seat cover (for dog) and other amenities are a new adventure on each trip.

Any tips on covering the windows would be welcome.

Pam

[Tuckervill]

I use this reflective insulation. It is kind of like a bubble wrap sandwiched between two pieces of tin foil, but it's stiffer.

I cut it to fit inside the windows of my Element, which has convenient sunken windows which allow the insulation to stay up there with friction. That would be hard to do with a rental car.

So I have another idea based on what I do with my sunroof. For my sunroof in the hot summer, I put a piece of window screen on top of the car and hold it down with little magnets. You could do the same thing on the outside of a rental car. Carry a tarp or even just fabric pieces, cover the windows from the outside and put a bunch of little magnets around them to hold them down. You'd likely want them to be waterproof, since it would be no fun to have soggy fabric to put away. There are some parts of some cars that magnets won't stick to, so that might be a drawback. But you should be able to at least hang them from the top.

Think that would work?

Karen

[PamNY]

Magnets! Great idea. That should work well; I can try it with inexpensive blue poly tarp which I have plenty of. The reflective material looks interesting, too.

Thanks!

Pam

[madscot13]

I was lucky I wasn't camping in the rain. My groundcloth was not much wider than my sleeping bag. I only saw one snake the whole trip, so wasn't too worried about that. It was sure nice to have light pannier.

ahh you make camping look so easy. I think I like this one: http://www.tarptent.com/squall2.html

[DebW]

ahh you make camping look so easy. I think I like this one: http://www.tarptent.com/squall2.html

The tarptents are very nice. But pay attention to pole options. Most of the tarptents expect you to have trekking poles along to use as tent poles. So add poles to the weight and and make sure the pole length fits in your panniers.

[madscot13]

The tarptents are very nice. But pay attention to pole options. Most of the tarptents expect you to have trekking poles along to use as tent poles. So add poles to the weight and and make sure the pole length fits in your panniers.

yep, you gotta have poles. they have optional poles that break down to 15- 20 inch lengths and weigh just a couple ounces. I had the same hesitation but for hiking I wouldn't want to go any distance without poles and for biking a few more ounces won't hold you back. The two person tent with optional poles is still lighter than other tents.