Tent alternative
04-14-23, 01:24 PM
#51
Punk Rock Lives
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: Throughout the west in a van, on my bike, and in the forest
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Bikes: Long Haul Trucker with BRIFTERS!
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I'm old fashioned with an oversized 2 man Eureka tent with a nice rain fly; and a simple Wal-mart ensolite foam pad. No fancy "self inflatables" or whatevers. I find I am warmer in a sleeping bag that is supersized so that get my entire body inside---if your head hangs out you are losing lots of heat.
Even in fair weather I often stop early, set my wild camp up in a nice dry location with cold air drainage, enough time to cook up a nice meal of sausage, veggies, and other fatty foods and dessert to burn and produce body heat all night, and enough time to lay in my tent as the sun sets, count my blessings and dream of my next day's ride.
Even in fair weather I often stop early, set my wild camp up in a nice dry location with cold air drainage, enough time to cook up a nice meal of sausage, veggies, and other fatty foods and dessert to burn and produce body heat all night, and enough time to lay in my tent as the sun sets, count my blessings and dream of my next day's ride.
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04-15-23, 07:31 AM
#53
bicycle tourist
As far as tent alternatives go, if I am on a trip where I expect to camp much of the time, I will take a basic two person tent. I've had a variety over the years but particularly like the Quarterdome 2 series and had a few of those that I wore out.
On a longer trip where my default choice is to find motels along the way, I have a basic tube tent. The one I have - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FB7XYRS/ is no longer available but is one step up from the basic emergency shelter but with a zipper that lets it unfold into a tarp. This works well in places w/o bugs such as drier regions in western US. With bugs one needs a mosquito net of some form.
Even on a trip where I mostly expect to stay in motels, I find it useful to have a backup for some flexibility. The circumstances behind photo below are a good illustration. It came as I was cycling US 83 northbound. If I wanted more certainty on a motel, I would have stopped in Pierre SD after 55 miles where it was still early afternoon with multiple choices. However, weather was good and I was feeling good so decided to continue on to Onida SD where maps told me there was also a single hotel downtown. Onida was another 32 miles away. When I arrived, I learned they were constructing a new gas plant in town and the entire hotel was booked up including many construction workers. So I asked and they let me pitch my tube tent in the back yard. If it has been absolutely necessary, I still had daylight to cycle to next motel in Gettysburg another 28 miles down the road but 115 miles was a bit much and I was happy to stop at 87.
So while not my primary lodging choice, the tube tent gave me enough of an alternative that I could wait until the day to decide whether to go 55, 87 or 115 miles that day depending on how everything unfolded. It is decent lodging in areas without bugs but not as comfortable as my two person tent that I would have picked on a majority camping trip.
On a longer trip where my default choice is to find motels along the way, I have a basic tube tent. The one I have - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FB7XYRS/ is no longer available but is one step up from the basic emergency shelter but with a zipper that lets it unfold into a tarp. This works well in places w/o bugs such as drier regions in western US. With bugs one needs a mosquito net of some form.
Even on a trip where I mostly expect to stay in motels, I find it useful to have a backup for some flexibility. The circumstances behind photo below are a good illustration. It came as I was cycling US 83 northbound. If I wanted more certainty on a motel, I would have stopped in Pierre SD after 55 miles where it was still early afternoon with multiple choices. However, weather was good and I was feeling good so decided to continue on to Onida SD where maps told me there was also a single hotel downtown. Onida was another 32 miles away. When I arrived, I learned they were constructing a new gas plant in town and the entire hotel was booked up including many construction workers. So I asked and they let me pitch my tube tent in the back yard. If it has been absolutely necessary, I still had daylight to cycle to next motel in Gettysburg another 28 miles down the road but 115 miles was a bit much and I was happy to stop at 87.
So while not my primary lodging choice, the tube tent gave me enough of an alternative that I could wait until the day to decide whether to go 55, 87 or 115 miles that day depending on how everything unfolded. It is decent lodging in areas without bugs but not as comfortable as my two person tent that I would have picked on a majority camping trip.
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