Camping gear for lone cyclist
 

I’m gonna bike alone through Europe next summer, and I plan to camp. A sleeping bag, a tent and the thing you sleep on seems a lot to carry, so does anyone know if there exists any superlight gear that doesn’t take up that much space on the bike? Maybe something especially designed for lone cyclists like me.

There is extra light gear available. Stores that cater to campers and hikers should have the stuff or can order it for you. You'll also need good Panniers and racks to carry it all.

You can go ultra light with just a zipperless sleeping bag (lightest i've found 1lb) and a bivy sack (2lbs), or even just a tarp. Check out this Ultralite Backpaking page for some ideas.

However, I like to sleep in a tent so I found my Sierra Designs Clip Flashlight CD was prefect and only weights 4lbs or so. It's a two person tent so I have plenty of room, but you can get the smaller, lighter Ultra Light Year one-person tent which is only 2lbs, 8ozs.

The sleeping bag I use is an EMS Thaw 40 which weighs in at 2lbs. I don't think they make that particular model anymore but there are lots of bags in that range. The MoonLight (1lb, 7ozs) looks sweet, but I haven't tried it.

I also use a Thermarest Ultralite 3/4 sleepmat which I think is less than a pound.

These things are disigned to be light enough to be carried on your back while hiking, so luging them around on a bicycles really isn't that huge of an effort. Check out REI.com or EMS.com in their hiking sections and you'll find lots of light gear.

Oh, and the stuff doesn't have to be super expensive. My tent was only $150 and my sleeping bag $99 at EMS.

As for panniers I whole-heartedly recommend Arkel.

Hi George, This is John from Bally's in Brookfield (your Greek brother), now do you remember? I was in Greece this summer and found very little biking. I was on the mainland most of the time and there were no tourist shops to rent from. When we went to the island of Zante I did rent for a day and had a great day riding the coastal road. I hear your travel is kind of tough right now. I am sure it will pick up the closer you get to Milwaukee especially knowing that Lori is planning a great party in your honor....maybe it should be a spinning party. Take care. John

The tent that you bought seems really affordable. Sierra Designs and EMS were excellent resources. Thanks.

Why don't you post your itnerary. Forum members who live near your route might offer to put you up overnight in real beds and a home cooked meal.

Or they might just lay low. . . :D

Stew

When I was planning my first tour, I looked into ultralight items. I decided against them, and I'm glad I did.

I went with a two-man tent instead of a very light one-man backpacking tent. It was about two pounds' difference but I'm sure the extra weight wasn't noticeable in the saddle. What was noticeable was the extra room in the tent. Not only could I sit up easily and change clothes, I could bring my bags inside in wet weather.

I appreciated the extra room the most when I stayed a day during a rainy spell. I would have freaked out lying there all day in a tiny backpacker's tent or, God forbid, a bivvy sack.

I used a long pad and I never regretted it. My bag's not all that small either, but then again I was never cold.

I tried to skimp weight in other ways, by buying food, bringing fewer clothes, and keeping my cooking supplies minimal.

The bike's going to be heavy whatever you do. It's not worth a couple pounds to go with a tiny tent. It's a big mistake to skimp on your pad, and you'll never regret lugging around a good sleeping bag.

I too think the two person tent is the best. Another thing I've done is use a small cooler bag inside one of my panniers. I don't carry cooking gear because I buy most of my meals/supplies in towns I pass through. A cooler bag means you can carry salads and fruits etc for the days there are no towns.

I’m glad I didn’t go for a one-man tent then, considering your valuable thoughts. Now this is what I want for Christmas:

http://storefront4.e-commerce.telia....ics/109718.gif

Sooo nice, Swedish outdoor brand Haglöfs, but at the cost of $400... :mad: Also a cooling bag seems nice. That way I can wake up to a cold yoghurt! :D

If you tried to keep milk or yoghurt in one of those, you might be disappointed. Keeping that stuff from going off is a bit different to maintaining fruits or salads. To my way of thinking, yoghurt is the sort of thing you should be buying in towns you are passing through.

Oh, one other thing. If you're going to carry one, do not skimp on a can opener! Just carry a full-sized one.

You might not even need this advice, Swen, but in case anyone's reading who does self-supported riding, hear me now and believe me later.

Good point!!

When camping in Europe you will find many "pay" campsites, use them. A friend of mine was telling me of a friend of his who refused, ( "too cheap"), to use the sites and camped "rogue" by himself and was forever having things stolen while he was sleeping, so- he didn't save any money and ended up paying more.
Ask the locals, bikeshops etc. where to camp, often they'll know a super spot or invite you home.

Ride Far
Pat

You may read my report about Danube Cycle Path at http://www.enetplanet.com/cycling/danube

We traveled it in June 2001 across Austria and Bavaria. We spent nights only at campgrounds. No problems.

Austria is the country of bicycle enthusiasts. They have the law that if a motorist hits a cyclist, the motorist is to blame, no matter what. There is the attachment to this law: - if a cyclists hits a pedestrian, the cyclist is to blame.

Your bike is to have bell and reflectors.

Austrian Airlines accepts bikes free of charge as checked baggage (http://www.aua.com)

I believe that the Danube Cycle Path is one of the best places to cycle. It continues from Hainburg, on the Eastern border of Austria, via Vienna, to Regensburg, Bavaria, Germany. Alltogether about 600 km. We rode only the section from Hainburg to Passau, Bavaria, and back.

If you want to make your first long distance tour, it is the place to start. The Austrian society is very bicycle friendly, and you will not have any problems finding superb bike campgrounds, bike shops, and camping equipment shops.

If you miss some equipment, there are large bike&equipment shops in Krems and Linz.

That was a good read, Alexey! I’m gonna bike that trail myself eventually, but first I have to bike to Austria. Which probably will be a big challenge considering it’s my first tour... (I will post my initinary in a new post later, when it’s settled).

I will try to avoid ”rough” camping, something that used to appeal to me. Thanks for the advice, pat5319 (hm, did I get the figures right...).

Hasn’t anyone experienced being robbed on a camping site?

It’s fun that someone from Ukraine shows up. I loved your homepage, with the Swedish national anthem suddenly bursting out of my loudspeakers! :D

Karl,

You may take your panniers inside the tent or you may put the tarp above the bike with panniers for the night. You may also hang couple of small fisherman's bells on the bike for the night and park it near the tent.

If you camp in the woods, you may consider to have nearby your sleeping bag a sharp tool to cut the tent fabric for quick exit from the tent in case of an emergencey at night. You may even stretch strings near your tent in the woods with the attached bells, which are supposed to be an improvised alarm.

Certainly, one should lock the bike too with the good lock. Often people spend only $5 on a lock for the bike, which costs several hundred dollars.

On our trip in Austria and Bavaria we spent nights only on campgrounds, where there were no security problems at all. Certainly, we used common sense and did not leave the camera, phone, etc. laying around unattended.

I`ll second that Alexey, of all the country`s in Euro I have cycled Austria is the Prima, par-exellance.

You have just wetted my appetite for a return visit,

Where are those maps , l o l :)

On light weight camping gear...

I have been in the market for some light stuff for a long tour and so far I've purchased a Feathered Friends 'Rock Wren' down sleeping bag which I am pretty excited about. Its a 30 degree (F) bag but they say its a little warmer that what they list. It packs down to football size (american - even smaller!) and weighs less than 2 lbs. Its a mummy bag that has a drawstring at the feet for walking around the campsite in the bag. Its also got zipers at the arms so you can pop them out to read a book in your bag at night or cook outside the tent in cooler weather.

I have a Thermarest Ultralite on the way which is the lightest most comfortable pad I've tried out (in the store). We'll see how it does in the bush when I get it. These things pack down pretty small too. Smaller than the cheaper and more bulky basic sleeping pads. I think someone mentioned it came in 3/4 size, which might be good for you, but I perfer the full size.

I have a multi fuel stove from Primus called the Omni Fuel which weighs about the same as other multi fuels like MSR, etc. Anyway, I like that the pump is metal (likely to hold up to lots of use and abuse) and the multi fuel capabilities. I figured auto fuel will be the easiest to come by in places like S. America.

I plan on getting the MSR titanium cookset to shave some weight in that area.

Anyone have experience with titanium cookware?

I have a 2 person Northface tent that isn't especially light, but I figured I'd deal with the weight to be more comfortable.

Of course it seems like all the lightest stuff seems to be the most expensive, so after you pick out all the sweetest gear you'd like, you have to think about how much want to spend, which can end up making you cross a lot off the list, unfortunately.


Anyway, thats my 2 pennies.
Dave

Two problems with titanium - first, it is thin and burns food
Second - price.

Consider a GSI Hard Anodized Cookset

http://www.gsioutdoors.com/productlg/50105.html

(the link you need will be found on the left, and is a bit unreadable, but look close and click on the Hard Anodized link to see the full product line. I'm using the Boiler which work great for my style of cooking, cost 19.50 plus the tax man's shekials)

Here's a few more great products for those who want to shave some weight

Toss the candle lantern for a Black Diamond Moonstone headlamp, you'll be able to actually read at night.

Instead of a tent, maybe something like this

http://www.hennessyhammock.com/

So where do you put your panniers when it rains all night?

panniers stay on the bike under a sheet of plastic. Keep's them high and dry. Plus any gear still left in the panniers are stored in trash bags..............

Hi there: I have done alot of tours in Europe, the Americas and Asia where I shortly will return, and I can tell ya most cyclists are obsessed with weight and they should not be. Quality and Comfort come first; after that, look for lightweight stuff but try and avoid the psychology of shedding ounces while paying a fortune for it. The first place most cyclists should look to lose weight is in the MIRROR. On my tour I trimmed down twenty pounds--actually thirty, but that last ten pounds was because I got malaria on the way and sweat off alot.

Roughstuff

When camping alone, I don't particularly prefer a 2-person tent.

My experiences with solo extended camping lead me to believe that a bivy sack is better. I usually take my bivy along with a light weight tarp. I usually string the tarp between trees, and sleep under it in the cool night air, even if there is some rain. I only use the bivy in extreme weather conditions. I go crazy staring at the walls of a tent, regardless of whether its a one or two person tent. Open walls under a tarp ceiling is much more appealing to me, although there are limitations, especially if you are looking for privacy in a crowded campground. Most of my experiences have been pretty far backcountry, so the tarp is great with me. Of note, little things don't tend to bother me, such as my nose getting cold in the night air. :)

Everyone is different... go out on some short trips with rented equipment and find what you like best. Most importantly, have FUN!!!

Gavin
I ride. I fall down. I get up.
Meanwhile, I keep dancing.

And this is what I ended up with, a 2-person tent at $33 from a cheap mall:

http://karlsplanet.com/pics/tent.jpg

If it's bad I'll just throw it away. ;)

I've also bought a very nice self-inflatable mat from Everest and some other stuff, all of which are listed here. Ooo, only half a month left until I leave! :eek:

For people looking for light one mans tent I can recomend Swedeish HILLEBERG, as one of the best tentmakers to day.

http://www.hilleberg.se/

Anders K