View Full Version : Camping necessities
As soon as I get the time/money I'm going to get some camping gear so I can do a little touring on my bike :cool:
In peoples experiences, what is a must have list of things to take?
Including anything which you think isn't essential but definitely keeps a smile on your face if it's miserable weather.
So far, I have my motorbike. Tent and sleeping bag is the first thing on the list!
Littlepeahead
25-08-14, 08:30 PM
Torch, thin but inflatable sleeping mat, inflatable pillow, one of those super absorbent but folds up tiny towels. Travel Scrabble/pack of cards/small battery powered radio,*
*Non essential but nice to have if you are travelling with a mate or it's raining the radio can be good for entertainment and the weather forecast
(And then you get me and my 'glamping' at TOGMIE, king size duck down feather duvet and pillows, hot water bottle, double inflatable mattress, fire bowl, hair straighteners, fold up chairs, Clarins Blue Orchid facial oil, flowery frock for the evening, coffee, croissants, fluffy dressing gown and slippers, 3 litres of ginger beer, magnum of champagne... yes I will be taking the car and bike and the champagne is to share!)
a debit card and YHA (http://www.yha.org.uk/), SYHA (https://www.syha.org.uk/) phone numbers. that is unless you plan on roughing it.
by the time you buy all your camping gear then pay pitch fees you would be better off paying for hostel accommodation. you get to chat to loads of people from all walks of life and all over the world. a proper bed to sleep in, a kitchen and a toilet/shower to use and a lot of them have drying facility's. if you plan on doing a lot of trips it might be worth joining the organisations.
camping is fun but not when its pizzing down and you need to put your tent up, the next morning it might just be pizzing down again and you have to pack everything up. top tip, if it is pizzing down then i suggest stripping down to your tshirt and undies to put the tent up.
when packing always put 'first out' at the top, always take the bare essentials and none of this 'what if' stuff.
dwparry
25-08-14, 10:24 PM
Run a 12v line from the battery (via a fuse) to a cigar lighter socket or similar on the frame; then you can charge phone/mp3 player/radio for entertainment.
For 3 3-month trips to Europe, I took the following -
Tankbag; netbook, speaker, kindle, smartphone, waterproofs, trouser/jacket liners, documentation, first aid kit, penknives, torch, disclock, spare keys.
Under topbox bracket (at rear of pillion having removed the grab rail): tent, camp chair - secured under octopus.
Topbox: air bed and pump, sleeping bag, whisperlite stove, saucepan, frypan with folding handles, cutlery, crockery, coffee, sugar, milk powder, stockcubes, couple of dehydrated food pouches, travel bottles of shower gel, washing up liquid, cooking oil, water bladder, spare clothes and flipflops, towel, daysack.
Under seats: puncture kit, spare scottoil, small wd40 can, toolkit, syphon tube (for the stove), gaffer tape, zipties, spare bulbs.
The spare clothes either got washed in the sinks at campsites or discarded and replacements bought enroute. Food was bought each day after arrival at campsite (pitch tent, head out to nearest town to buy stuff and refuel for next day). Replenishments for the travel bottles were begged off families on the campsites - never got refused!
Smartphone was preloaded with maps so the gps could navigate without 3g/wifi. Netbook held reserve music and vid's. McDonalds supplied free wifi for email etc. [Used the phone to locate free zones and then the laptop to do the business]. Laptop also had a dvb-t dongle for tv. These were charged up in the tankbag whilst on the road.
Geodude
26-08-14, 07:19 AM
Thats some setup dwparry, any pictures of the bike loaded up? oh and my daft question of the day, whats an octopus?
The Idle Biker
26-08-14, 08:33 AM
Lager.
Specialone
26-08-14, 08:35 AM
Camping, I do quite a bit, here's my list based on many trips and experiences...
Tent, good quality, light, easy to put up and take down, 3 man size.
Proper inflatable mat, not the cheapo lilo style, i recommend thermorest, pricey but that's because they are good and last.
Good quality sleeping bag, I've got vango ones, they are warm, have a fur lined bag that doubles up as a pillow and have adjustable straps so you can compress them in to a small pack size.
Decent chair, not the painful stool type, these are ok for a bit but soon become uncomfortable.
Stainless steel pan set (with lids) Teflon wears off, stainless can be scoured with wire wool and look like new.
Good quality burner using disposable butane gas (refills available all over Europe)
Aluminium wind deflector for above, makes boiling stuff quicker.
Stainless cutlery set
Mini bottles set for things like shower gel, olive oil, washing up liquid, mouthwash etc etc this means you don't have to carry full size bottles of everything.
Tarp for crappy weather, can also cook under this, sit under or park your bike under.
Good quality head torch
Big bag of baby wipes
Run a 12v line from the battery (via a fuse) to a cigar lighter socket or similar on the frame; then you can charge phone/mp3 player/radio for entertainment.
For 3 3-month trips to Europe, I took the following -
Tankbag; netbook, speaker, kindle, smartphone, waterproofs, trouser/jacket liners, documentation, first aid kit, penknives, torch, disclock, spare keys.
Under topbox bracket (at rear of pillion having removed the grab rail): tent, camp chair - secured under octopus.
Topbox: air bed and pump, sleeping bag, whisperlite stove, saucepan, frypan with folding handles, cutlery, crockery, coffee, sugar, milk powder, stockcubes, couple of dehydrated food pouches, travel bottles of shower gel, washing up liquid, cooking oil, water bladder, spare clothes and flipflops, towel, daysack.
Under seats: puncture kit, spare scottoil, small wd40 can, toolkit, syphon tube (for the stove), gaffer tape, zipties, spare bulbs.
The spare clothes either got washed in the sinks at campsites or discarded and replacements bought enroute. Food was bought each day after arrival at campsite (pitch tent, head out to nearest town to buy stuff and refuel for next day). Replenishments for the travel bottles were begged off families on the campsites - never got refused!
Smartphone was preloaded with maps so the gps could navigate without 3g/wifi. Netbook held reserve music and vid's. McDonalds supplied free wifi for email etc. [Used the phone to locate free zones and then the laptop to do the business]. Laptop also had a dvb-t dongle for tv. These were charged up in the tankbag whilst on the road.
That's a pretty substantial set up! Getting the 12v cigarette lighter seems pretty important, I've been wanted to do it for a while anyway. So will you attach things to charge whilst riding? Got some sort of universal holder?
Lager.
That's a given!!
Camping, I do quite a bit, here's my list based on many trips and experiences...
Tent, good quality, light, easy to put up and take down, 3 man size.
Proper inflatable mat, not the cheapo lilo style, i recommend thermorest, pricey but that's because they are good and last.
...
Tarp for crappy weather, can also cook under this, sit under or park your bike under.
Do you use a 3 man tent for yourself? I was going to get a reasonable sized 2 man tent. Have you used one of those lilo air beds before?
I was looking at getting a sleeping bag from snugpak, they supply a lot of troops when they want something better spec than standard issue - stuff looks really good.
Tarps a good idea, do you rig it up as a shelter by bodging some string and sticks?
Specialone
26-08-14, 11:43 AM
Tarp is from decathlon, comes with guide ropes and two poles.
I've used loads of different air beds, lilo ones are pretty crap tbh, especially on a tour as it's blowing it up and deflating it every day as well as carrying a pump.
Difference in pack size between a 2 or 3 man tent is small so when it's raining and you want all your kit inside, you'll be thankful of a 3 man tent.
Can't see bin liners on the lists.
They are multi purpose.
Self inflating roll mat.
Kiam bikers tent.
Jet boil stove or Colman multi fuel.
Sleeping bag liner
Don't bother with a pillow.
Use the sleep bag sack stick a few spare clothes in it and a fleece last. If you get cold in the dark it's easy to grab
Specialone
26-08-14, 01:07 PM
Aren't those biker tents massive in terms of pack size and weight?
carelesschucca
26-08-14, 01:44 PM
Don't bother with a pillow.
Use the sleep bag sack stick a few spare clothes in it and a fleece last. If you get cold in the dark it's easy to grab
hmm, I'm liking that idea saves me a bit of extra space for this weekend. :D
dwparry
26-08-14, 03:51 PM
Thats some setup dwparry, any pictures of the bike loaded up? oh and my daft question of the day, whats an octopus?
Octopus - cargo net...
I don't appear to have any loaded photo's, just unloaded in various campsites!
dwparry
26-08-14, 04:09 PM
[QUOTE=Foot;2975744]That's a pretty substantial set up! Getting the 12v cigarette lighter seems pretty important, I've been wanted to do it for a while anyway. So will you attach things to charge whilst riding? Got some sort of universal holder?
All the electronics went inside the tankbag with the netbook charging off the 12v socket through a charger and everything else hanging off that (with the phone in the transparent map pocket on top; which didn't work too well as the daylight was a bit too bright to see easily, I resorted to writing route notes and only consulting the phone when I got lost, or for really local stuff). I also took along one of those mini 12v/USB things but didn't use it in the end.
The tent was a http://www.millets.co.uk/activities/104728-karrimor-beta-2-man-tent.html - I've had it for over 10 years and it's now showing it's age with the transparent windows cracking from the heat/light; but I'll probably get another for the next time. Chair was a 'Utah' folding chair from Go Outdoors - doesn't seem to be available any more, but was smaller than their standard camping chair and packed down to the same length as the tent pack and was slim enough to fit under the topbox baseplate and the end of the pillion seat (behind the tent, essentially).
I've used loads of different air beds, lilo ones are pretty crap tbh, especially on a tour as it's blowing it up and deflating it every day as well as carrying a pump.
Difference in pack size between a 2 or 3 man tent is small so when it's raining and you want all your kit inside, you'll be thankful of a 3 man tent.
An airbed seems to add a lot of cost/weight though. I think I'd be happy with a roll mat, used to that and if I get a better sleeping bag then hopefully it won't be too bad.
Although, has anyone had any experience with a folding bunk kind of thing? Keeping off the floor is what keeps you warm. I'm thinking the best thing to do is to basically copy an army kind of setup, they obviously cover basics in the best way.
I was going to get a 2 man tent rather than 1 was because it won't be much bigger and you can get everything inside, or even another person! But then if a 3 person is just a smidgen bigger, what's to lose!
Maybe I should get a 4 man.. or 5? My bike wants somewhere to sleep too..
Octopus - cargo net...
On a slightly different note, have you transported a helmet using a cargo net? I was told they don't hold up to the job. Best way I've found so far is putting it in my tank bag (which it definitely doesn't fit in) and hope for the best. Either that or bungee it to the back seat, although that's a faff.
All the electronics went inside the tankbag with the netbook charging off the 12v socket through a charger and everything else hanging off that (with the phone in the transparent map pocket on top; which didn't work too well as the daylight was a bit too bright to see easily, I resorted to writing route notes and only consulting the phone when I got lost, or for really local stuff). I also took along one of those mini 12v/USB things but didn't use it in the end.
Of course, I don't know why I even thought of using a bracket. Tank bags are the best.
No need for GPS, getting lost is fun!
Specialone
26-08-14, 05:18 PM
A thermarest mat is about 4 inch in diameter, about a foot long and weighs nothing. A roll mat will be bigger and less comfortable, if at all.
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http://www.khyam.co.uk/detail.asp?p=335
Well it's not a 20 quid Tesco affair.
Yes had a similar one (new fab idea back then) when I used to camp with the Mrs before she was Mrs Ntec.
Tied it on the the front on the bars on the xv on the mirrors on the zzrs and RF900
A thermarest mat is about 4 inch in diameter, about a foot long and weighs nothing. A roll mat will be bigger and less comfortable, if at all.
Those thermarest mats look great, that will be on the list when I've got more money to spend - currently I have zilch camping stuff. I don't see the point on skimping on important stuff like the tent or sleeping bag - above anything else they're the biggest priority. Might stick with a cheapo roll mat for now, or maybe pinch an airbed off the parents.
[/url]
http://www.khyam.co.uk/detail.asp?p=335
Well it's not a 20 quid Tesco affair.
Yes had a similar one (new fab idea back then) when I used to camp with the Mrs before she was Mrs Ntec.
Tied it on the the front on the bars on the xv on the mirrors on the zzrs and RF900
Tent looks good! Although I was thinking of going down a more mountaineering suited tent. Maybe a better spec vango one, or maybe marmot. I haven't looked into tents yet though.
You strapped the tent on past the wind screen?
I had mine infront of the screen. Were the mirrors mount. I'm not sure if you can on the SV.
But I was 2up with 2 Givi hard cases and wing rack. Big tote bag on the back carrier
. Even with the tank bag it was some way light at the front 5 kg helps with anti wheelie.
Ideally you keep heavy stuff in the magic triangle.
Small tents are a pita.
Can't get out /in your gear.
No space for lids. A porch for cooking in the rains so handy.
davepreston
26-08-14, 08:56 PM
cigs, beer, brandy, porn, dos bag, poncho everything else is optional
Red Herring
27-08-14, 02:04 PM
I just take my camper van and put the bike in the back for when I get there.... Is that cheating? :eek:
I've got this tent, folds up pretty small and has 2 decent sized porches to put gear in.
http://www.millets.co.uk/activities/104728-karrimor-beta-2-man-tent.html
I've used cheapo tesco tents before and they are just rubbish, okay for a fesitval when it's just going to be used as a toilet but no good for repeated use.
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