Tents for the Trails???

[Andrew]

Originally Posted by elgreen

DEET .

Yeah, I've done the sleep under the stars bit before. And yeah, DEET kept the bugs off. But I do prefer a tent nowdays.

DEET, and I carry a mesh screen hat to sleep in. Bugs are more of a mental nuisance than anything else, and when I'm up in the High Sierra, I'm usually in pretty good spirits to start with.

The tarp is under two pounds, including lines and stakes, and there's just no comparison for the feeling of being enveloped by the outdoors as opposed to being zipped up, shuttered away from it. Makes it easy to toss stones at the bears, too.

[elgreen]

Originally Posted by Andrew

The tarp is under two pounds, including lines and stakes, and there's just no comparison for the feeling of being enveloped by the outdoors as opposed to being zipped up, shuttered away from it. Makes it easy to toss stones at the bears, too.

I'm the guy with the Tarptent Rainbow. This is basically a tarp floating above a ground sheet that's connected to the tarp with bug netting. The total weight is 36 ounces with lines and stakes, which is probably about what your setup weighs once you add in the ground sheet (not necessary with the Tarptent unless you're going to pitch it on sharp rocks, since it has its own bathtub-shaped groundsheet attached to it by bug netting). That is what broke me of tarping once and for all, being able to sleep without reeking of deet and being able to pitch my tarptent in three minutes without all the gyrations of pitching a tarp all added up to a big win for me. Can't toss stones at bears through it, though you *can* see the bear's feet (since the bottom of the tarp is "flying" above the ground)...

There's also lighter tarp-tent style shelters out there. I chose the Rainbow because of its combination of interior space and ease of pitching, not because it was the lightest. Even so it's pretty darned light...

[garandman]

Originally Posted by elgreen

DEET .

Yeah, I've done the sleep under the stars bit before. And yeah, DEET kept the bugs off. But I do prefer a tent nowdays.

The days when I'd spend three days in the woods with a poncho and spare pair of socks are long gone for me too.

But I'm not totally soft. The last self-inflating sleeping pad I bought was only 2.5" thick, even though a 3.5" model is available! And it was a Good Thing at Cromag as it kept me above the waterline [2.95" of rain from 5pm to 5am] in my old tent, now replaced.

[GeoDaddy]

THANX!!!

For the great responses!!!

I am still thinking that that Hubba Hubba came thru with good words... but there are a heck of a lot of other tent options out there - the only thing that is diffcult to assess is how it will fit on the bike (when I figure out my optimum gear/load) and how annoying it might be to set up???

I - too - am a "screw it" guy and start looking for a motel, hot shower and cable. But my solo days, travelling in the Philippines and Indon (no bike) left me with the spoiled attitude that I shouldn't have to spend more than $30 a night for a reasonably clean and comfortable place to sleep.

Thanx again!

g

[garandman]

Originally Posted by GeoDaddy

THANX!!!

For the great responses!!!

I am still thinking that that Hubba Hubba came thru with good words... but there are a heck of a lot of other tent options out there - the only thing that is diffcult to assess is how it will fit on the bike (when I figure out my optimum gear/load) and how annoying it might be to set up???//

I got a good deal on a new Hubba Hubba on eBay. Weighed it and with the footprint it's almost exactly 5 lbs.

I can take a pic of the Mutha Hubba and Hubba Hubba side-by-side, packed, if anyone is interested.

[Budo675]

Originally Posted by GeoDaddy

THANX!!!

I - too - am a "screw it" guy and start looking for a motel, hot shower and cable. But my solo days, travelling in the Philippines and Indon (no bike) left me with the spoiled attitude that I shouldn't have to spend more than $30 a night for a reasonably clean and comfortable place to sleep.

Thanx again!

g

I grew up in Indonesia, Medan - Sumatra to be exact. When we camped our tent was always a large tarp and some rope ;)
Leeches were the main concern back then, mosquitoes were'nt that big of an issue for some reason. Maybe it was my vitamin B intake :P

[elgreen]

Originally Posted by GeoDaddy

THANX!!!
I am still thinking that that Hubba Hubba came thru with good words... but there are a heck of a lot of other tent options out there - the only thing that is diffcult to assess is how it will fit on the bike (when I figure out my optimum gear/load) and how annoying it might be to set up???

Fitting it into a top or side bag could be a problem. It's 20x7 packaged, and my Tarptent Rainbow is 20x4 packaged. I have to fit my Tarptent catacorner in my Givi E45 top bag then pack other stuff around it. My suspicion is that you'll need to strap it on top of your top bag, or onto the seat behind you with a bungee net. Or maybe it fits better in other kinds of bags, I have two E360's and an E45.

I - too - am a "screw it" guy and start looking for a motel, hot shower and cable.

I just do that when it's raining (or worse) outside. Otherwise I prefer to save the money. I have no trouble when the rain comes up while I'm sleeping. But if I'm setting up the tent in the rain, it's just too big a PITA trying to keep everything dry as you are setting things up then getting into the tent and unpacking what you need for the night and then you have a big pile of wet riding gear to deal with too...

[halfcent]

Originally Posted by mark1305

I have too many tents for the amount of camping I do. My best one is approaching 38 years old and still works great - you can't buy it these days. So I won't go into it.

Having said that, the most interesting tent review I've read on here is the one by Nickatnite for the Big Agnes Muddy Slide 2.

I know the guy, and I know he won't BS about anything. That tent looks like the next one I'll try when my vintage tent bites the dust

I also went by Nickatnite's review and purchased the Muddy Slide 2 and have not looked back. It is a great tent for the money.

[garandman]

Originally Posted by halfcent

I also went by Nickatnite's review and purchased the Muddy Slide 2 and have not looked back. It is a great tent for the money.

Don't think it's still available?

[dawggawn]

You're car camping on a motorcycle, weight's not an issue. Your life more than likely won't depend on your tent so it doesn't have to be top $$. Look for roomy so you can stash your gear, easy to set up even in the wind and good ventilation if needed.

Spend your $$ on a nice comfy sleeping pad and bag.

[elgreen]

Originally Posted by dawggawn

You're car camping on a motorcycle, weight's not an issue.

Weight IS an issue, depending on your motorcycle. I know that my KLR likes me to keep things as light as possible, else it starts wallowing like a pig. And it's already a pig to begin with, so that ain't good.

I suppose if you're loading down a big BMW GS weight isn't an issue, if you already have a 600 pound motorcycle (with fuel and accessories and empty luggage) what's a few hundred pounds of gear . But for those of us who go more minimalist, it's nice to keep things down in size and weight so you don't look (and feel) like the Beverly Hillbillies truckin' down the road.

[GeoDaddy]

I can take a pic of the Mutha Hubba and Hubba Hubba side-by-side, packed, if anyone is interested.

I am!

My bike is a BMW F650 (for the foreseeable future...) so - IF I am off base on Hubba Hubba - feel free to highlight tents that would better fit my F650 (I also have the BMW Panniers and Top Case) I'm still thinking of it as more of a "backup" as I live in the NE USA and there aren't a lot of great "camping" days between frigid upstate winters and hot, humid summers.

Though not near as hot and humid as Indonesia! I was there three times... 1st to Bail (of course) the 2nd time Sumatra (Medan to Lake Toba) and my last trip in '98 thru Sulawesi (Tana Toraj) and Java from Jakarta, thr Yogya to Sole to Surabaya...

BOY that would have been much more fun on a motorcycle - especially if I could have taken it in a ferry from island to island rather than get gouged with inter island flights.

g

[dirty_sanchez]

For solo camping I have a Big Agnes Seedhouse SL1. Roomy for one, fine for my 5'8" body, tight on the headroom while sitting up changing clothes, poles fit in a touratech pannier. I don't do pole sleeves or pole loops so I had Big Agnes remove the top arch pole loops and replace them with clips for $20 (money well spent). The tent itself packs down to a small loaf of bread in a compression sack, but it takes lots of stakes for proper setup (13 Total!!) which can cause problems in hard or rocky ground. State parks lots of times have tent pads that are made up of tightly packed pea-gravel and this tent is not ideal in this setting.

While light is good, I also added a Hubba Hubba. Packs a slight bit larger than the Seedhouse, and the pole assembly fits in the TT panniers, but with two vestibules, two entry doors, ample headroom and floorspace, and room to spreadout, it is now my tent of choice. It only takes 6 to 8 stakes and sets up much more quickly than the SL1.

The two tents mentioned above have the poles all tied together with hubs. This sort of setup is nifty because when time comes to fit the poles together you just grab any pole section and lift up. The whole thing snaps together.

To put it into perspective, I also have an 15 year old Sierra Designs Tiros, 4 season mountaineering tent. It has 5 poles. Because of this it takes 5 times longer to put the poles together than the Seedhouse or the Hubba Hubba. You have to assemble each of the 5 poles separately and then fit them into the proper grommets. With these new tent pole rigs, they have figured things out by making for simpler pole assembly, faster setup, and lower weight.

The Hubba Hubba is also the tent of choice for Tiny D and I to take on Scout camping trips.

Dirty

[brianm767]

If you want to save some money, the Eureka Apex and Pinnacle Pass II are nice tents, they are available with partial and full rain flys,

They currenty have them with the partial rain flys in their outlet store for under $80

http://www.eurekacampingctr.com/eure...S&dept_id=3004

[fixer]

Originally Posted by JDLuke

+1 on the Backcountry tents from Eureka. Reasonable price, works well, and packs small.

I'm 6'3" and am very comfortable in my BC2. When I went to Campmor (I'm lucky enough to be a long walk/short ride from them) looking for a small tent this one stood out, particularly as it packs to about 5"x15" before compression.

+1

i'm 6'2" and have a Backcountry 2 that i've been using for several years. the "extra" width is nice for keeping gear in the tent, or letting the dawg sleep with me in the tent when i take her in the truck.

only negatives with the BC2 is that the metal zipper pulls jingled, so i cut them off and replaced them with 550 cord, and the WHITE ends are a bit bright for my tastes when you don't have the rain fly on it... would have been nice if they used a light green or tan color, and there's no vestibule. (however, you could rig a tarp or poncho to the tiedown points on the rainfly and then stake the other end out)

the subdued color is kinda nice when you don't need your campsite to standout like a beacon.