multimodal commuter
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: NJ, NYC, LI
Posts: 19,808
Bikes: 1940s Fothergill, 1959 Allegro Special, 1963? Claud Butler Olympic Sprint, Lambert 'Clubman', 1974 Fuji "the Ace", 1976 Holdsworth 650b conversion rando bike, 1983 Trek 720 tourer, 1984 Counterpoint Opus II, 1993 Basso Gap, 2010 Downtube 8h, and...
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Bike touring is the big catch-all term that includes a lot of different approaches and different gear. The unspoken emphasis tends to be destination oriented, like "across the country" or something.
Bike packing is one of the variants, named on analogy with back packing. In back packing you pack everything on your back, in bike packing you pack it on your bike. There's an unspoken emphasis on getting to relatively remote and rugged areas, like mountains.
Bike camping, the emphasis is on the camping. The implied destination is being outdoors. You only have to ride as far as your camping spot.
There's a lot of overlap and the definitions change over time. My great uncle did a bike tour in Germany in 1925, and though there are no photos that I know of, I'm pretty sure it would have looked like bike packing as far as the gear was concerned.