Moto Camping refresher... | Page 4 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Moto Camping refresher...

Mad Mike said:
Volume and length are the enemies.
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Laughs in "obnoxiously large easy-set tent that is as wide as the bike and weighs a metric ton". 😆

1704420293939.png

All my motocamping buddies laugh about it, but when we get to the campsite and my tent is up in literally 30 seconds from the time I unzip the bag, and I'm unrolling my sleeping roll and bag and throwing all stuff in there inside 3-4 minutes, well, I always get the last laugh as I'm stretching out in comfort while they're still unrolling their tents and getting their poles snapped together.

It's especially nice when it's just started to rain as we arrive at camp and I can get all my stuff sheltered right fast.

Now that my sciatica seems to have settled to a degree I could probably go back to my nice old compact fibreglass pole tent that is 1/6'th as large when packed down, but with my also large sleeping pad and sleeping bag already back there, meh, it is what it is, and I honestly really don't miss bending and crawling around on the ground futzing with my tent.

It also folds down (from being fully up) and is back in the bag and ready to go back on the bike in 2-3 minutes.
 
Can you share what specific model of tent you have?
 
oioioi said:
Can you share what specific model of tent you have?
Click to expand...

Mine? It's a cheap-ass Ozark Trail from Walmart, but the one and only model (the one I specifically wanted, of course) that was not available in Canada, only Walmart in the USA. I've no idea why they sell ALL their other models except this particular one here, but as I've said in other threads, I'm the poster boy for Murphy's Law and all.

www.walmart.com

Ozark Trail 8' x 7' Four Person A-Frame Instant Tent, 13 lbs - Walmart.com

Arrives by Sat, Jan 6 Buy Ozark Trail 8' x 7' Four Person A-Frame Instant Tent, 13 lbs at Walmart.com
www.walmart.com

My daughter (who works in remote areas and often camps as part of her summer jobs) liked it so much that I got one for her as well as she got tired of setting up and striking traditional tents every day of the week. I used shippsy.com to bring it across for me.

It doesn't have a fly, but I sprayed it down with sealant and it's taken me through more than a few storms and rainy nights without any leaks at all. There's two large vents at the bottom on each side which you can leave flat if you want (or tie open if you do want more air), plus both ends can unzip almost completely open to screens so there's a *ton* of ventillation as well.

It's big, it's heavy, it's obnoxiously large on the bike, but I love the **** out of the thing.

1704422293794.png

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oioioi said:
Can you share what specific model of tent you have?
Click to expand...
Mine takes a few minutes to set up, but I like it very much. It has 2 vestibules so I have enough room to store all my gear and hard cases and still lots of room for myself and my wife.

skyviewcamping.com

Eureka El Capitan 3+ Outfitter tent

BUILT TO OUTFITTER GRADE SPECIFICATIONS FOR UNMATCHED DEPENDABILITY AND PERFORMANCE. The El Capitan 4+ Outfitter is a classic, 2-pole dome architecture with integrated ridgepole to shed wind and rain while providing additional head and shoulder space. 15% more floor space than traditional...
skyviewcamping.com skyviewcamping.com
 
Mec Camper 2 . As @Shanekingsly said the vestibules are very handy.
www.mec.ca

MEC Camper 2.0 2-Person Tent | MEC

Camper 2.0 2-Person Tent: Our game-changing Camper 2 is back and better than ever thanks to an improved pole design and bigger vestibules. No department-store toy, it’s a real tent for c
www.mec.ca www.mec.ca
 
PrivatePilot said:
Laughs in "obnoxiously large easy-set tent that is as wide as the bike and weighs a metric ton". 😆

View attachment 65358

All my motocamping buddies laugh about it, but when we get to the campsite and my tent is up in literally 30 seconds from the time I unzip the bag, and I'm unrolling my sleeping roll and bag and throwing all stuff in there inside 3-4 minutes, well, I always get the last laugh as I'm stretching out in comfort while they're still unrolling their tents and getting their poles snapped together.

It's especially nice when it's just started to rain as we arrive at camp and I can get all my stuff sheltered right fast.

Now that my sciatica seems to have settled to a degree I could probably go back to my nice old compact fibreglass pole tent that is 1/6'th as large when packed down, but with my also large sleeping pad and sleeping bag already back there, meh, it is what it is, and I honestly really don't miss bending and crawling around on the ground futzing with my tent.

It also folds down (from being fully up) and is back in the bag and ready to go back on the bike in 2-3 minutes.
Click to expand...
Amazing value and sure looks like it should take a long time to set up. Nice find. Paying $200-$300 for a tent just seems wrong to me.
 
Sunday Rider said:
Amazing value and sure looks like it should take a long time to set up. Nice find. Paying $200-$300 for a tent just seems wrong to me.
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200-300 is too cheap? Like most things, buy once, cry once. My tent is not pop up/down but I can set it up and take it down in minutes in the dark. For bike trips, I normally just take a tarp not the tent. Sets up faster, packs smaller, really cheap.
 
GreyGhost said:
200-300 is too cheap? Like most things, buy once, cry once. My tent is not pop up/down but I can set it up and take it down in minutes in the dark. For bike trips, I normally just take a tarp not the tent. Sets up faster, packs smaller, really cheap.
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If I paid $200-$300 for a tent I would cry more than once. :ROFLMAO: I guess I've just become a cheap old bastard. I have an old Eureka one man that works great, but takes a long time to set up, but works for the little camping I do now. Used to have Eureka 2 man that I gave to my son who camps a lot.
 
Mad Mike said:
I don’t think weight is a problem if you’re 1-up travelling, you’re not shaving seconds off lap times.

Volume and length are the enemies. A $50 woods tent with 36” poles is hard to pack, a $150 MEC 2 man tent can be bought with 16” poles, that fits in a side case. Same goes with sleeping gear, a $29 bag rolls up to 40l in volume, a $100 bag might be 3l.

I figure a 45l dry bag or top box and 69l on the sides is plenty for a cross continent trip. Add another 20l if your carting along vlogging kit.
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Totally agree. I remember going to qc city on the bike for a few days (no camping) and just using a carry-on bag inside my 40L dry bag. Worked perfect and still had some space for extra stuff in the dry bag.

The weight definitely doesnt matter but if i can fit all i need for backcountry camping in a single 48L backpackbag for about 25lbs he probably doesn't need much more than that.

If mimico wants to make it "a thing in the future" Big Agnes has a tent that comes with a vestibule big enough to cover at least part of the motorbike. I know of a couple that went around the world on bicycle with that tent so its pretty durable (but you gotta expect to pay big money lol)

If I paid $200-$300 for a tent I would cry more than once. :ROFLMAO: I guess I've just become a cheap old bastard. I have an old Eureka one man that works great, but takes a long time to set up, but works for the little camping I do now. Used to have Eureka 2 man that I gave to my son who camps a lot.
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I think eureka is going under :( its a shame they had decent stuff... our car camping shelter we got from them, used lol.
tents now use so much "tech" that prices have gone wayyyy up.
But a lot of them weigh next to nothing or come with tons of "features" that make it less $hitty to camp. You should see the backpacking "ultra light" crowd where you pay way more to have way less.
 
GreyGhost said:
For bike trips, I normally just take a tarp not the tent. Sets up faster, packs smaller, really cheap.
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I'm all for roughing it and such, but I won't sleep in such a way that the bugs can feast on me all night long, especially if it's hot as balls out and you're sleeping in your skivvies.

Did that once, heck no ever again. Thermacell is an option and great and all I guess in this situation until the pad loses effectiveness around 4-5 hours.
 
mimico_polak said:
Thanks all! I think I’ll try out a 1-2 night camping trip first before I go on the week long tour with the others.

I’ll have to get more details on timing and the like, but have always wanted to do such a great trip. I’m sure it’d be a blast.

I notice no one mentioned a bottle of whiskey!

Thinking back when I did it on my CBR250 I had 2xGivi E21 and my current tail bag for the trip.

Strapped the tent, seat, sleeping bag, and dry bag with rock straps (still got them) to the back of the bike and was sufficient for 3 days.
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if you are looking for ppl to join let us know!
 
Sunday Rider said:
Amazing value and sure looks like it should take a long time to set up. Nice find. Paying $200-$300 for a tent just seems wrong to me.
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Same feeling here. $200-300 is about the absolute maximum I'd pay.

I've got an older CT tent I bought. Literally 2min to setup + 1 min to add the fly. Love the pop-up style tents, but it's heavy, long, and bulky even though it's only for 2 people.

For the motorcycle I have a single/double laying around somewhere in my garage junk and will be looking for it soon.
deejizzle said:
if you are looking for ppl to join let us know!
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Will do!
 
mimico_polak said:
I’ve accepted the fact I can’t afford 20-30k bikes
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The $20K bike I'm looking at today will be hands down the most expensive bike I've ever bought, and $20K was the limit I told myself I wouldn't ever exceed. I've wanted one of these bikes for about 3 years now, but was sitting on my hands waiting for the prices to get to that level so that I could stick to that budget, so I've got that going at least. I knew when I bought the Vulcan for $8 or $9K or whatever it was in 2019 it was only a stepping stone, and that was before I even came to the conclusion it's never worked quite right ergonomically for me.

The new ride will be financed of course, but without any other car payments or anything right now (yay for an 13 old daily driver Volt and having been able to pay off our 2017 rather quickly), it's not going to be a big deal.

YOLO.
 
Thankfully my kids are adults now (we had both our kids in our very early 20's), and the 1 remaining still living at home pays rent now. ;) My daughter is in her last year of uni living away, so there's that, but thankfully we made some good financial and education decisions decades ago that have worked out in our favour now.

Now, we could come back to "spend the money now while you can thoroughly enjoy it, or save it all for a retirement that isn't guaranteed you can enjoy or might not even make it to" discussion we had in another thread a few years ago here (and I've seen happen to a LOT of my co workers and others), but maybe I'll be lucky and by the time I'm 80 and all crippled, I'll be mostly senile and won't care that we should have saved more, or anything else for that matter lol.

I hope the nursing home feeds me fancy feast instead of the dollar store tender vittles, our pensions should at least still afford us that luxury when the time comes lol.
 
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