Tents on Bikes

[SadieKate]

Have you considered a bivy bag?

By the way, we loves our BA bags and pads. We have semi-rectangulars and can actually breathe. Sweet dreaming! In a stuff sack with the girdle, it is one small package.

Campmor sometimes has screaming deals on tents and bags. We've bought several through them.

Also, these trips are supported with a vehicle to haul your gear? If you haul your own gear on one of these, your speed will be significantly impacted which will significantly impact everyone else. Don't take me wrong, I think loaded touring is way cool but everybody has to be doing it. It affects everybody's schedule and if the vehicle hauling gear is also the SAG wagon and can't pass the slowest rider, uh, unhappiness happens. Just a thought.

[pkq]

SadieKate makes an excellent point.

I have only owned free-standing tents as an adult. They are great for me.

I looked at the BA and don't remember why I shied away from it. Maybe it a hiccup in the old brain.

[Nanci]

Well, I'm hoping it will be small enough to put in a handle bar bag. The one I like the most, for example, is 4x15 inches. It's so warm here I won't need a sleeping bag. I have a decent sized trunk bag with small panniers, but am thinking about an actual frame-mounted rack as opposed to seatpost-mounted which I have now which has a weight limit of 20#. OTOH, I'm not going touring (yet) just an overnight as part of a double century.

Nanci

[DeniseGoldberg]

Well, I'm hoping it will be small enough to put in a handle bar bag. The one I like the most, for example, is 4x15 inches.
Nanci

Nanci -
I suspect that you won't like the way your bike handles with something like a tent in the handlebar bag. That's a pretty hefty bag that you're talking about to hold a tent, and it's more weight than I would put up high over the front wheel. Is there some reason why you plan to carry it there?

--- Denise

[DebW]

I've been trying to decrease pack weight while backpacking and have gone from a 3.5 lb solo Kelty tent to a hammock to a tarp. Current minimum is a 14 oz Integral Designs SilShelter floorless tarp tent. Hiking equipment is getting really light, so I think you'd be advised to look at ultralight hiking gear for bike camping. I've made my own hammock and tarp and it's pretty easy if you can sew - comes to about 2 lb, or you can buy the Hennessey and go even lighter. Hammocks are cold on the bottom unless you use a foam pad or an underquilt, but they're COMFY. Guess the good thing about bike camping is you'd seldom have to carry more than 1 days worth of food.

[pkq]

I love floors sewn to sidewalls. Don't want no night crawlers on me. Call me cream puff!

[annie]

I love floors sewn to sidewalls. Don't want no night crawlers on me. Call me cream puff!

Okay, if you insist........ Cream Puff!

don't they call those "bathtub floors?" I love 'em, too.

annie

[Pedal Wench]

Oh! That's right. The North Face Pebble came from Campmor - I completely forgot.

Have you considered a bivy bag?

By the way, we loves our BA bags and pads. We have semi-rectangulars and can actually breathe. Sweet dreaming! In a stuff sack with the girdle, it is one small package.

Campmor sometimes has screaming deals on tents and bags. We've bought several through them.

Also, these trips are supported with a vehicle to haul your gear? If you haul your own gear on one of these, your speed will be significantly impacted which will significantly impact everyone else. Don't take me wrong, I think loaded touring is way cool but everybody has to be doing it. It affects everybody's schedule and if the vehicle hauling gear is also the SAG wagon and can't pass the slowest rider, uh, unhappiness happens. Just a thought.

[MomOnBike]

One other thing you might think about, if you are sure that there will be trees at your camp site, is a hammock. The people who have the Hennessy hammock seem to like them.

http://www.hennessyhammock.com/index.htm

I don't have one, but I have been staring at the web site pretty hard. They are small and light. I'm under the impression that you will lose a lot of heat, being up off the ground and all, so you might want a light sleeping bag even in the summer (or not...). This rather negates the weight savings, though, doesn't it? Sigh.

Anyway, it's another option for you to consider.