Originally Posted by
benashley
I'm in the market to start stocking up on touring supplies & looking for advice on some essentials I'm going to need...
As far as a tent I've had my eye's on the MSR tents.. there 'hoop' tent seems like it could be a good option for a bit extra room for not too much. weight seems to be fairly okay too...
http://www.mec.ca/AST/ShopMEC/Tents/...-hoop-tent.jsp
As far as a sleeping bag I'm still fairly open to whatever's going to be okay for mild summer/fall nights... nothing sub zero. but I'm a fairly tall (6"3) guy and need something that isn't going to make me feel like I'm trapped in a tomb. I've noticed a few of the mummy style sleeping bags have a zip on one side to open it up a little more. something like this would be nice...
I've been looking at the thermarest sleeping mat's, I want something fairly thick (5-8cms). weight here is something I can see being acceptable... nothing better than a soft place to lay your head after a long day in the saddle!
Stoves to me seem like there hit and miss... a lot of people say you cant go without them, & then others will tell you they thought that then it became more of a dead weight than a useful item. Can anyone share some light as to what they've found from their experience?
Also feel free to add anything you cant tour without! Even those little luxuries we could probably live without...
Seeing as you have made no indication of budget.
Tents - If I had the money I can't think of many situations where I wouldn't choose a Hilleberg.
Sleeping bags I personally love my mountain hardwear one (Phantom 32). Not sure there is anything lighter for the warmth rating, although next time I might go for something warmer. I hear PHD are also very good, and you can design you own based on your needs.
Sleeping mats thermarests are pretty nice. I got mine ages ago though and haven't had a need to look into them much since so it wouldn't surprise me if there were many great alternatives these days. It's probably the next upgrade I'll make to my camping stuff though. Been eyeing up the NeoAir my sis has got.
Stove wise I've always used a trangia with the gas modification but have been looking at the various MSR possibilities recently, as well as various wood stoves (you can get a nifty one that will also charge your gadgets) or a caldera cone. With stoves though there is just such a ridiculous amount of variation though. There must be a good 10 different types of fuel alone, compared to sleeping bags where it's pretty much "synthetic or down/what temperature".
Bear in mind this is from lots of experience hill walking/mountaineering rather than cycle touring.