Camping Newbie

[Stevie GooGs]

Hi guys I'm looking at doing a bit of touring in Scotland and tbh I've always stayed in B&Bs etc but fancy trying a bit of camping. Im a complete newbie to camping but has anyone got any recommendations on the following:

Tent
Mat
Stove

Cheers
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Current: 2019 Yamaha T7 -> 2015 KTM Superduke R | 2000 Yamaha R1 Past -> 2009 KTM 990 SM -> 2005 kawasaki ZX10r -> 2000 Honda CBR 600 FY -> 2002 Honda XLV 125 Varadero
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[chickenstrip]

Tent - Vango are good, and not in the silly-expensive range. Go at least two man size, preferably something with a bit of a porch for cooking in and stowing gear.

Mat - I only really use(d) a mat to protect the airbed from punctures. Beware of super light air mattresses - they puncture easily! My current one is a Mountain Equipment job. Not cheap, but tougher than the ultra light Pacific Outdoors one I had that punctured near a seam, where I couldn't get a repair to take.

Stove - go gas! As long as you're not going to be using it in freezing temperatures anyway. Less faffing. I settled on an MSR Pocket Rocket, very efficient, packs into its own little box. Make a wind shield for it; made mine out of one of those cheap supermarket turkey-roasting tins. Make it big enough to shield at least half the height of any pot that sits on the stove. It folds down small and lasts well. It'll make quite a difference to how far the gas goes.
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[stinkwheel]

Tent. Needs a midge proof inner with a built in groundsheet! All depends how much you want to spend. I have been very impressed with the quechua kit you get from Decathalon.

Sleeping mat. I like self-inflating mats. Hands down, therm-a-rest are the best make but they are very expensive. Other brands are available. Foam rubber roll mats work fine too but are bulky. Again, Decathalon are hard to beat on price.

Sleeping bag. Choose the temperature rating you find comfortable. For motorcycle camping, pay real attention to the packed size (same with the tent). I personally hate mummy shaped bags, I like a square toe. I'm quite a fan of snugpak, they make more roomy bags than most.

Stove. Depends on how much cooking you're planning on doing. If it's literally for making a cuppa and heating up a pot noodle, you could do a lot worse than a brukit wolf stove from Alpkit it all fits inside itself and boils water epic fast even in windy conditions. Of course, you do then need a supply of gas. If it's a bit pricey (it's extremely cheap for what it is, less than half the price of the nearest competitor), their other gas stoves are small, light and reasonably inexpensive

For motorcycle camping, the coleman dual fuel stoves are great. Not the lightest things but they run on petrol and generate lots of heat.

Pay attention to the pots. Those square aluminium mess tins are a waste of time. Get a stainless pot with a lid. The MSR ones are quite good. I personally use a 2-cup stainless teapot I nicked from a motorway services years ago.

triangia meths stoves are also an option. The full size ones are a bit bulky but they do lightweight setups. You do need to carry meths with you. They are arguably one of the safest stoves because burning meths can be put out with water.

I camp in Scotland a lot so here's the kit I use:

Tent:

For one-nighters, a quechua 1 man popup. It takes seconds to errect, is roomy enough for me and my gear and extremely weather and midge proof. It also self-supports. Downsides are it is a bit numb to load on the bike (a large disc) and has no porch to speak of, rain can get in when you opoen the door. You MUST practice putting it away before taking it out in the field, watch the video. It's easy to do but not intuative. Main plus with this tent is convenience,

If I'm going lightweight or for a longer journey, I have a Quechua quickhike ultralite 2-man. This tent has really impressed me. You'd need to be good friends to be a 2-man but 1 with gear is fine. Not much of a porch but it weighs only 2kg and fits comfortably in a pannier. The spec is better than tents costing 4-5 times as much. It's rated up to force 8 winds!

Camping mat:

Therm-a-rest backpacker. Every time for the last 23 years. Still on the same one. It no longer self-inflates properly but has been a sturdy, reliable piece of kit.

Sleeping bag:

I run hot so most of the year I use a snugpak jungle sleeping bag. It packs down to almost nothing. I add a liner if it's cold. Rest of the time a snugpack 3 season with a hood and square toe. In epic, sub-zero winter conditions I have a mammurt anjuliak bag. It's huge and usually overkill.

Stove:

My name is stinkwheel and I'm a stove geek. That said, I usually just throw my coleman dual fuel in. If I'm going lightweight, I sometimes take a homemade meths stove or just make a fire. I sometimes take my borde bomb stove but it's tricksy and hard to get. I am seriously considering in investing in one of those brukits though.

So. Recommendations:

If I was spending your money I'd get a quechua quickhiker ultralite 2-man tent at £119.99 (40 x 15cm). I'd get a therm-a-rest trail scout at £42.50 (28 x 14cm). A snugpak nautilus bag at £30 (20 x 24cm) and a brukit wolf at £45 (19.2 x 11.7cm).

That will give you a compact, lightweight touring kit which will stand up to most conditions you'd experience. So £237.49 in total.

Don't forget a drybag.
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“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.

[doggone]

The Zebra stainless pots are good, I like mine so much it gets used most days at home too.
You only need a cup and one pan really.
Forget about serious cooking it's too messy.

[stinkwheel]

Oh. I did a very amateur video on the quickhiker tent when I got it. Used it all last summer and haven't been dissapointed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxZKV3MvI9A&t=1s
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“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.

[ThatDippyTwat]

Kit depends where you go and what conditions you expect.

Fully Geodesic will stand up to pretty much anything if pitched properly, but is heavier and not cheap. I use a Vango Hurricane 200.

Semi Geodesic will still stand up to weather that would likely see you not wanting to ride the bike, and is usually much lighter. I use a Wild Country Trisar 2.

Both are 2 men, but the Hurricane has much more space to chuck kit.

The rest has been covered.
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'98 VFR800 (touring) - '12 VFR800 Crosrunner (Commuting) - '01 KDX220 (Big Green Antisocial Machine)

[Stevie GooGs]

Thanks very much for the info, appreciated. Will look at compare, hopefully we get a decent springtime and i will be out and about.
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Current: 2019 Yamaha T7 -> 2015 KTM Superduke R | 2000 Yamaha R1 Past -> 2009 KTM 990 SM -> 2005 kawasaki ZX10r -> 2000 Honda CBR 600 FY -> 2002 Honda XLV 125 Varadero
Bike Pics! -> My Photography Website

[SamanthaClark...]

Newbie camping, so cool. I remember my first camping. I had done so many mistakes but it was awesome anyway

[Tdibs]

Echoing also get a few dry bags and pack them desperately into a bigger one. Also invest in some good waterproofs for scotland

Also agree 2-3 man tent minimum if you intend to put anything other than yourself in there with you.

Hammer or beating implement I ended up adding in also from some solid grounds.

Also small first aid, small torches, small inflatable pillow I also added. Few extra bungee straps come in handy for making a washing line between your bike and the tent also.
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[Riejufixing]

[MCN]

[drummars]

REI Half Dome 2+. I am surprised nobody has mentioned it yet. Best tent for the money. I have had it for 4 years, and I haven't had a problem. I camp with it in very windy areas and (Badlands, Yellowstone, Black Hills), and I never had an issue. It never leaked. NEVER. You have enough space for 2 + all of your gear.
I own other tents (Coleman, Big Agnes, Kelty) and yet 9 out of 10 I pick the REI half dome 2+ when I camp on my own or my significant other.

[drummars]

I can also recommend checking out survival backpacks reviews. I definitely recommend a smaller pack so you aren’t hating life on day 2 with all that weight on your back. I know you’re a big dude and yes you can carry it, but trust me it will be way better if you don’t!

[jonquirk]

It is worth checking out Aplkit, www.alpkit.com.
They cater to backpackers and cyclists so have a lot of gear that would be suitable to carry on a motorcycle.
Among their tents are one and two berth tents that use an inflatable support system, easy to erect if you already carry a tyre inflater and no long poles to stow away on the bike.
I have Therm-a-rest mats from 1995 that are still in working order, I store them standing vertically in my wardrobe at home when not in use. In recent years I have been using a Therm-a-read NeoAir which is not self-inflating but only has a volume of one litre when packed away.
Alpkit have similar products but I can’t comment on how they compare to the Therm-a-rest products.
The usual rule of thumb with lightweight gear is cheap, light, strong: choose any two.
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