Which tent? (again).

[colin1]

[stinkwheel]

Bivvy bags are good. They will keep you warm and toasty in the most extreme conditions..

BUT

You can't easily get out of your wet gear, relax and dry out. Three nights sleeping and riding in your leathers in the pissing rain and you'll be fed up with it.

A bivvy bag takes up the same space as the canvas of a small but effective tent. You can get out of your boots and into that kit you've been hoarding in your dry sack for a good nights sleep.

A cheap tent AND a bivvy bag for emergencies would be one way to go. I have a gore-tex bivvy bag, it's good but once you're in it there is little left to do but go to bed.
____________________
“Rule one: Always stick around for one more drink. That's when things happen. That's when you find out everything you want to know.”
I did the 2010 Round Britain Rally on my 350 Bullet. 89 landmarks, 3 months, 9,500 miles.

[colin1]

yeah im thinking it would be nice for 1 night camping when cycling, or at least that one would as its practically a tent, with a hoop pole at each end, and pegs and guy ropes etc

the ones i see on ebay, are just waterproof bags not unlike bin liners.

i'll admit i'm diverting from the original thread but can people tell me more about these tent-bivy bags, names of them, where to get them

that one in the pic looks like it might be in my price range like £20, as it looks similar construction to a cheap tent i bought
____________________
colin1 is officially faster than god

[Itchy]

[yen_powell]

It's a Lichfield bivvy bag, don't think they make them any more. I bought it in 2001 for my Morocco trip cos I didn't want to drag a tent along with me. Only used it once on that trip, overnight at Bilbao ferry terminal on the way home. There are lots of places to sleep if you don't have a tent, especially in remote areas where people are very hospitable. Given my time again I would've just taken a sleeping bag and maybe the shelter half.

Since then it's become my one night tent, the picture above was at a sidecar rally only about 30 miles from where I live, just didn't want loads of luggage. I took the shelter half (army surplus) which fits in my pocket when folded and just tied it to my bike so I would have some where dry to sit under if I wasn't going straight to sleep.

My bike does not blow over. You have to have a proper sidestand support (most of a car tyre in this case, permanently bolted to the bottom of the sidestand), park so the wind is pushing against the sidestand, always turn the handlebars to the left, park in gear and with the clutch out, push until all slack is taken out of the drive train. My CX500 sat in the open like that during the big hurricane of 89 (?) whilst my brother's bike blew over and left puddles of fuel everywhere. I let him know in the morning after I went looking for our missing dustbin and got ready for my first ever driving lesson.

For anything other than a single night I take my Kyham Biker tent. This isn't particularly small packed but is brilliant for speed of erection (ooer) and plenty of room inside for wet bike gear. It's also pretty good in high winds and rain which seems to be the only sort of camping I ever seem to do lately.
____________________
Blackmail is a nasty word........but not as nasty as phlegm!
XT1200Z and a DR350 in bits

[Charlie]

Ever thought about a modern tepee or looking into hammocks that can be supported by poles and guy ropes?

Never used my Dad's tepee but it looks good and very spacious, probably get a bike in there if you wanted to do work on it in bad weather. clicky

Could be a bit heavy if you want light weight though.
____________________
Past: Honda x8rs, Honda City fly, Honda Hornet 250, Honda VFR750, Yamaha xt600e.
Current: Honda CBR929RR & Yamaha XT660Z Tenere

[Howling TerrorOutOfOffice]

[Nath]

My thoughts and experiences:
I used a 20quid single-skin argos jobby almost every night for 3months. In Norway in June I was freezing my tits off, though the right sleeping bag would have solved this. In very heavy rain it leaked a little, but only enough to pool small amounts of water at the edges - I've seen double-skinned tents leak as badly or worse. The pegs were shit and bent too easily, fibreglass poles were shit and broke repeatedly, flysheet started to rip round one of the pegging points, fixed with gaffa.

Overall, anyone says that it's impossible to use a cheap tent for a long period of time has never tried it.


My vango tempest cost me £100, and has done two Scotland trips and two Europe trips. Probably over 50 nights in total. Very waterproof but you can feel damp ground through the bottom too easily. Not noticably warmer than the cheap tent. Quality pegs and alloy poles, wouldn't buy another tent again without them.

Overall worked well but would rather have a dome tent which doesn't need pegging down to create its structure.



My feelings are that a bivvy bag and a warm sleeping bag will keep me plenty warm without the need for a tent. I've camped in cold conditions and found the temperiture in my tent not noticably warmer than outside. Regarding space to get dressed/undressed and to shelter in the rain - I'm using two ponchos joined together rather than one which should make a much more practical shelter. Only downside I can see to ponchos is having to use a mozi net when those biting little bastards are about.
____________________
Hard livin', hard luck.

[njd27]

[arlyn9391]

[defblade]

Here's another one to tempt you:

https://www.robertsaunders.co.uk/

The jetpacker is the best, lightest, small tent I've ever carried (lightweight hiking that is, not just lashing it to a bike ); at the moment I've a spacepacker which is very roomy for its weight.

These are tents for grown-ups - best treated with a little respect like all good kit - they last forever when used properly but aren't suitible for kids to mess about it.
____________________
Honda Varadero 125cc => Suzuki Bandit 650 33bhp => 77bhp =>
BMW K1200R Sport 163bhp => Aprilia Shiver GT 750 95bhp

[arlyn9394]