Originally Posted by
Bekologist
yah, touring BC and the west is often pretty remote. i've ridden into towns so small everyone's gone and everything's closed up. probably happens in the rural prairies too.
For riders in Ontario, who's ever come ridden into a small town and pulled up to the BeerStore five minutes after they've closed up? That puts a damper on a trip.
I'm not sure what kind of lightweight rain gear I'd be able to find in a small town- likely stuck with a 30 dollar kilo of PVC that rolls up the size of a soccerball. I'm not confident of the advice of just buying things as you go along....it starts to rain. you have no raincoat. buy it later, wot? sure, you can resupply your toothpaste when needed, no need to pack a costco sized tube, but bring a raincoat and your shelter.
if you're buying a tent mid-tour, somethings likely gone wrong in the planning and execution.
An exception would be starting a tour in a large city and purchasing things immediately before setting out - i've helped outfit scads of northern tier and west coast riders setting out the next day or later that week who were just picking up what they needed then. not the best way to get familiar with your tent, but you've got to start somewhere.
When I was riding down the Pacific Coast trail I ran into a group of teenage to mid 20 boys who had some strange looking camping gear. I asked one what the situation was. They had come to America from Europe and expected to use hostiles/motels for their trip. When they found that to be pretty expensive, they purchased camping equipment that looked like junk from the local 5&10. This is what they found on the local economy where they happened to be. You might want to plan ahead.