Camping on a Bike (longass post) your warned

[dReWpY]

This document was begun to prepare camping newbies for the first annual Greater Pacific Northwest Dryside Gather. I've been updating ever since. Many folks have offered valuable input, including, but not limited to JonM, !dk, Jeff Earls, Vic Swan, Guy Pace, Dave Svoboda. Possibly more, I've forgotten.


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Hey troops, we're putting on teacher's cap now and gonna chat about camping out. More than one person asked about various camping techniques. Invariably all these requests start off with "Help! I've never camped out and need some advice with......." We'll share some ideas with you, ideas that we've learned over years of hiking/backpacking/touring. This document is written in first person singular, yet a bunch of guys have had input. Ideas were individual ideas, and always writing _we_ got a bit clumsy. This is a group effort, all those contributing are acknowledged at the end. When you read that differences of opinion about anything start off with I, chalk it up to the vagaries of the English language. As my daughter would say, "Deal with it!"

This write-up is primarily aimed at folks who will be camping out while touring. If you're planning on just cruising motels, adjust accordingly.

If you want to learn about equipment and techniques, a good place to start is in books about back packing. Back packers are very careful about what they have to carry. Weight is all important and every item should have 2-3 uses to justify being carried on a trip. In bike packing, weight isn't all that important, but I find that bulk is. Small, tight luggage makes for pleasant riding, and better mileage.

BAGS FOR THE BIKE
Hard Bags or Soft Bags
Some folks like hard luggage, and other like soft. There is a case for both. Good, well-designed hard luggage, such as GIVIs for the BMWs, make excellent repositories for your gear. They keep your stuff dry and take more of a beating than soft luggage. However, the cost can be a major roadblock to some. Of course, the hard bag manufacturer has to have the right stuff for your particular bike--like frames and mounting gear. When you take the bags off the bike, though, you have a bike with mounting brackets sticking out all over the place. Hard bags can be painted to match your bike, if they aren't color-matched already. TEAL is always the color of preference.

Some folks like soft luggage. I'm one. I like the fact that when you take the gear off the bike, you have a bike ready for some unburdened, fun riding. No brackets sticking out to catch clothing or whatever. Soft bags are the color you get when you buy them. You can't change that.

Good soft bags keep your gear pretty dry. Sometimes things will get a little wet, but outside of a monsoon-like downpour they stay dry. Soft bags can be packed away into a small space (one of the bags, for instance) when not needed. Also, some sets come with a tank bag. Some people don't like tank bags, but they have their purpose. They can hold a dry map for ready reference in a top pocket, coins for the toll booth in a side pocket, extra batteries for he fuzz buster in another side pocket, first aid kit, rain gear, extra gloves, tools and other handy items.

Other Luggage
Also really handy are a good tail pack (not much harder to make than a stuff sack, just use heavier material) and a tank bag.

CAMPING GEAR
Tents or Other Shelter
When people think of camping, the first thing they think of is a tent. Actually, a tent is probably one of the least important items. A tent offers two things well; privacy and bug protection. Privacy is not that big a deal in that you can always change clothes inside of a good sleeping bag or the local toilet if need be. Judicious selection of a sleeping spot _is_ important. For rain protection, a large plastic sheet is far handier than a tent and more enjoyable when you are stuck in an all-day drizzle.

Yes, I use a tent. What can I say, I'm getting soft in my old age. I also go to commercial camp-sites a bunch while on the road and the privacy issue does become important. When using a tent, make sure that you have enough room so that you do not touch the inside of the tent while in your bag, even with a lot of enthusiastic thrashing about. Good tents invariably have a breathable inner shell and a rain fly (DON'T BUY A WATERPROOF TENT). Even so, natural condensation on the inside of the tent will cause it to become very damp. Leaning on this with your sleeping bag will cause wicking and your bag will get wet. That makes for uncomfortable sleeping. Not fun.

Get a _big_ tent, as big as you can afford. Avoid tents with fiberglass poles. They break with alarming regularity. If you do, make sure that replacement poles are available at nominal cost. Aluminum poles cost a bit more, but are worth it.

Good tents invariably have screened windows/doors for cross- ventilation and a few hanging pockets for glasses and watches. Avoid tents with interior poles. Tents which hang from some sort of external framework are nice. Dome tents are nice in this respect and there are a bunch of them on the market.

Always use a good ground "cloth" or ground sheet with a tent. This is nothing more than a heavy duty piece of plastic, but it will dramatically increase the life of the tent. It'll also make the inside of the tent a bit drier.

One needs to MAKE SURE that the ground cloth DOES NOT extend beyond the tent floor area, as any exposed area will act like a giant gutter and pretty much ruin your night.