Originally Posted by
autonomy
So, I ask because I'm looking to go on a trip and I got an end-of-season barely used one from a REI garage sale where I had to replace a coupe of broken poles. I like how light it is even compared to the BA Copper Spur HV UL2 but you're right about it not packing small, namely, the poles are long. So I have 3 questions - how do you carry it on the bike? And do you use a footprint - the floor seems quite fragile? Looks like it worked really well in that shelter, but what did you do about the stakes at the side where the black pole is, did you just not bother?
I carry it strapped to my rear rack parallel With the bike. (I will post a photo from my phone in a bit.) It hangs much further over the end of the rack than the Fly Creek.
I carry a 4'x8' or so blue, plastic tarp. Unless I am pitched on soft soil with lush grass, which is rarely, I use that as a groundsheet.
I don't bother when I am under a shelter. I stake it out fully when I am not, but if the weather is going to be decent and I don't feel I need privacy I will skip the fly. I did that 2 out of the 8 nights I camped without a shelter during my two-week September trip. It was either cold or wet/possibly wet the other 6 nights.
In comparison, the Fly Creek doesn't even reach the end of the rear rack, with sloppy tarp fold notwithstanding. I stayed in a hotel the night before I started that trip and didn't bother doing a better job of folding the tarp. I am usually not that sloppy, but I had a long train ride the day before and got up really early because I had a 65 mile day on the GAP ahead of me.
