tandempower

Recently I was able to sleep in a large tent on a cot and realized what a luxury this is compared to what camping supplies I can carry on a bike with me. This caused me to wonder if multi-day cycling tours would become more popular if camping spots were available along bike paths with folding-frame tents, cots, and chairs for rent via a large vending machine.

I picture the vending machine as a regular shipping container built with doors along the sides that open electronically once a payment is made via a smartphone app (similar to lockers). Since these folding tents, cots, and chairs have a small profile, a large number of such doors could be placed on the sides of the container and a door on the side would give access to personnel who would need to visit the vending machine periodically to check the equipment, etc.

The benefits of such a system would be keeping cost low so that such camping areas could be located frequently along bike roads. That way, inexperienced cyclists wouldn't need to ride an additional 20 miles to the next campsite. Every ten or even five miles, such a vending machine could be available and users could park their bikes, check out the needed equipment and go find a clear spot to set it up for the night.

Do you think such a system would make multiday bike touring easier and more popular or do you think it would still be considered too minimalist to appear to popular attitudes?

enigmaT120

I wouldn't use it. I like my tent and Thermo-rest fine. It would have to be at camp grounds.

MikeRides

When I bike-camp, I prefer to stealth camp away from others over paying for a usually overcrowded campground. I can carry my two person tent, a change of clothes, a sleeping bag and a telescoping chair just fine on my rear rack, so I don't need any place to 'rent' one. That said, most campgrounds at least all the ones I've been to have a camp store nearby and some actually rent chairs/cots (not sure about tents) for those who go camping and forget those items.

BTW, I don't want to sound like a backseat moderator but wouldn't this thread be better suited for the Touring forum not the LCF?

Roody

I don't think there's enough current demand for this. But it might create its own demand.

Another idea would be to buy camping equipment collectively with other cyclists. Since it's typically sitting around unused, camping equipment is a good thing to share with friends, relatives, or neighbors. Of course, this would not solve the issue of actually getting the equipment to a campground on a bike.

CliffordK

Many campgrounds have Camp Hosts.

I'm not sure if they have regular hours, but one could organize it so that they would have minimal hours, say from 6:00 to 9:00 PM in the summer. It would be much easier for them to deal with rentals than a machine.

If it was machine operated, then there is a certain amount of trust that the users would need... So you couldn't just go up to the vending machine and put in $5 and get back a $100 item. It would probably be something that is run like the bike share companies where a person would have to sign up for the service ahead of time, and then everything would be serialized, and the actions of a particular user would be tracked (with video surveillance too). Thus, to be worthwhile, there would also have to be a network of several campgrounds.

I think there was a discussion earlier about conveniently placed vending machines selling things like bike lights, spare tubes, tires, and etc. Stuff that might cover emergency needs along a trail. You could add some camping supplies such as white gas or propane.

Machka 

This is probably more of a Touring topic, but shops do rent out camping equipment.

MEC is a large sporting goods store in Canada ... we make a point of going there when we visit just to have a look around.

This is the equipment rental page for Calgary:
MEC Calgary - Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC). Free Shipping Available.

You could, for example, rent your camping equipment and take into the Rockies for a weekend.

I see the Vancouver store has a bit more:
MEC Vancouver - Mountain Equipment Co-op (MEC). Free Shipping Available.

You could also rent panniers and trailer for your bicycle to carry the camping equipment.


You might look up REI and see if they do the same thing.

tandempower

The bike road near where I live has many small hiking trails that could be used for primitive dispersed camping. I, like you, have developed a system for carrying everything I need when I bike-camp, but I can't carry a cot, or a chair, or a larger tent. Also, I like being able to bike with less cargo (weight) and I think this would be even more of an issue for novice and fair-weather bike touring, if the more general public became interested in it.

The public seems interested in preserving land so I'm wondering if building more bike roads through land preserves wouldn't be a good way for the public to enjoy nature without filling it with cars driving and parking. I'm thinking not everyone can bike 50-100 miles a day and carry all their own camping equipment, but most people could bike 20-40 in a day carrying just a sleeping bag, change of clothes, and toiletries in a basket - in a bike or an electric mobility device.

If vending machines provided tents/cots/chairs plus food/toiletries/etc. people could feel secure launching off on a bike or mobility scooter for a multi-day trip on a bike road without a car. Popularizing car-free touring/travel is what I'm getting at with these threads.

I started to post it in the touring forum but then I realized that forum is more for experienced tourers, and my interest is in making car-free touring/travel more accessible to the general public.

I hope so because the more options people have for car-free activities, the more comfortable they are with living car-free.

Yes, I'm not biased in terms of where or how to get the equipment. My real focus is on being able to bike tour without carrying much cargo yet without having to sleep in motels or have it cost a lot. I also think the more accessible bike touring/travel is to the general public, the more bike roads we'll see with more spots to overnight along them to facilitate multi-day touring/travel.

I don't know if hiring human personnel is conducive to having lots of camping spots located frequently along a bike route. For the general public to take a multi-day tour by bike, you might need to have camping available every 20 miles (or even every 10). Imagine inexperienced cyclists taking off, making it 10 miles and feeling pretty accomplished, and then seeing on their smart phone that the next camp ground is 20-40 miles further.

I assume it would work via a smartphone app.

Yes, and food.

gerv 

This might sound crazy, but your vending machine could be a 3-d printer. Now that would be ultralight touring!!

Roody

And will they print the equipment out of moonbeams and rainbows?

Sorry, I just wanted to beat You-Know-Who to the punch!

Seriously, are you thinking about an on-site 3-D printer that would turn out camping equipment on-site? It might work. If not now, in a short time when there are a few advances in the technology.

gerv 

I dunno. Would the high tech 3-d lightweight equipment make you any happier? I rode today with a gentleman who did a lot of bike touring in his youth. He confided that he did a 3-month tour wearing just denim shorts and canvas bags. Sounded like he had a lot of fun.

Dahon.Steve

Years ago, I moved into an apartment with no furniture. The first thing I purchased was a folding cot until my furniture and bed would arrive. I ended up enjoying the cot so much, it was discarded four years later! I enjoyed it with my Thermo rest more than my bed! LOL!

I think if you enjoy "Cot Living" so much, look at getting a hammock.

Roody

This is something I think about, especially since we live with three generations under one roof. If you quantify fun, I think we have always had about the same amount of it.I kind of laughed at my grandson as he used a satellite TV, laptop, and smart phone all at the same time. He asked me what I did for fun if I was sitting around the house when I was his age. I said at most I would watch one B&W TV with 4 or 5 channels. He said that didn't sound like much fun. I said, "No it really doesn't sound like much fun. But if you only think about how we feel on the inside, I'm sure that I was having just as much fun as you are now." The cost of fun has gone up a lot, but the actual experience of pleasure remains the same.

And I can remember having a similar discussion with my own dad when I was a teenager. I could barely believe that he had fun listening to a staticky radio that only broadcast for a couple hours a day!

Artkansas 

Eventually it will be possible. For now, 3D printers are too slow and creating one that could handle nylon one moment and aluminum the next might be difficult. But the real problem is, are you sure you want to make a new object for every person? Renting objects repeatedly at least keeps the cost and consumption down.

Machka 

And as I mentioned earlier, there are shops that rent out camping gear. They might not be out in the middle of nowhere, but they might be relatively close to popular camping destinations.

I encourage those of you who are interested in this to use Google and do some research on what's currently available. I've already started the process by providing you with info about MEC ...


One of the things we're learning in the class I'm taking now is that a key step in the entrepreneurial process is doing the research to find out what is currently available. Once you've done that, you may decide that the market is already saturated with the product/service ... or you might have an idea how it could be done differently.

Of course, we don't need a class to tell us that's an important step ... it's just common sense.

So let's see the research.

tandempower

I like my hammocks for relaxation but I find they don't work so well for sleeping. The framing of the cot makes the difference in terms of keeping the surface tight and flat so you can change positions, sleep on your belly, etc. I actually don't mind sleeping on the floor of a tent without any cushioning but my arms fall asleep off and on, which didn't happen with the cot.

There is an ultra light weight cot available from REI and others but it's about $200, which is pricey imo. I think it would be more appealing for many people to bike camp if they could bike without gear and then set up a tent big enough to stand in with folding cots, chairs, and maybe a table. I've also been contemplating the idea of using large mosquito nets instead of tents so they're washable. Idk how much it bothers people to use a tent that has been used by others before them but a freshly-washed mosquito net and/or canvas tent set up under a tarp or more fixed roof setup could be a more appealing form of camping for many people. Of course, if the system was set up with fixed roofs/floors (i.e. a picnic shelter style building that is closed in with mosquito net and/or canvas), that would reduce the freedom to pick out your own spot in the woods in a clearing you find yourself.

Roody

I have camped in the shelters or cabins that are usually found in national forests and state forests, or along major hiking trails. They are really just tiny huts. Some have "beds" that are really just sleeping platforms.

gerv 

When I got my first smartphone a little over a year ago, I was struck by how much it resembled the transistor radio I got in 7th grade. I definitely don't enjoy the phone as much... in fact, I was in love with that radio. But there was definitely some phone gadgetry fascination...

The funny thing is that even in my youth, I was attached to things "things". Just like your grandson (and mine too...)

And the attachment is still real. Note to self: Maybe I need to review this.

Luckily batteries are much better these days.

cooker

If the printer could compress sawdust or extrude some clean burning organic substrate to make items, they could be burned in the campfire at the end of the trip.

cooker

I can see some potential applications for this - functioning something like the shelters Roody described.

For example, the Trans Canada Trail really hasn't panned out very well so far - much of it is only sketchily mapped out across vast sections of the country with few facilities. If trail administrators strategically placed some shelter huts and/or some "self-serve" camping facilities here and there along the more remote sections, where you could pay a small fee plus deposit to retrieve a tent or a cot or a frying pan or stove from a dispenser, and maybe buy some water and maybe some basic dry or dehydrated food supplies, then restash the reusable stuff when you were done, and get your deposit back, it might facilitate more people hiking and biking over those sections, and maybe attract more people to fully cross Canada on the trail

cooker

I don't think tandempower was making a formal business case, just raising an idea for discussion. I think he made it clear he was interested in facilities that might be situated en route to lessen the burden of carrying stuff with you, be it rented or owned.

Roody

Back in the day, postal systems at the time had a service called General Delivery, or Poste Restante. You could pick up mail at any post office just by presenting your ID.

I wonder, could some modern variation of General Delivery help out biking and hiking campers?? It seems like it would be great if you could just "mail" your tent and sleeping bag ahead to the next campsite.

cooker

I ordered some stuff from Amazon recently and one of the options listed for delivery was to have it sent to a post office near my home for pickup, so at least in Canada, it seems, post offices still serve that function.

I-Like-To-Bike

That might fit the OP's intent if the wandering camping-supplies-free cyclist only wants to pitch camp "at a clear spot" nearby the post offices on his journey.

Roody

Yes. To be beneficial, the delivery would have to go all the way to the campsite.Maybe to a lock box that's accessible via smart phone or swipe card.

cooker

Took you long enough. Roody had to fill in.

You could do a mix of credit card and tent touring. If you didn't want to lug your tent and cooking supplies over Rogers and Kicking Horse Passes, you could mail them ahead from Revelstoke to Banff and stay in motels in between.
https://www.google.ca/maps/dir/Revel...4!2d51.1783629