A tent
The definition that is generally used for bike packing is that you are cycling off road on gravel and camping. Bike touring is used when you are staying in accomodation. I like to do both on the same trip and don’t care about names. But if I’m going to go camping, I need a tent.
I also plan to do some back packing and the options I currently have are either too big and heavy: a four person or two person tent from MEC, or suit a particular trip - my camping hammock.
So I got a new tent, requirements:
- Light
- Packs small
- Can cope with most conditions
- Simple to put up
I ended up looking at tarptent and got a ProTrail Li. It’s super fast and easy to put up.
You can either carry your own poles, or re-use your own trekking poles. For cycling I’ve got poles I can use, when I’m backpacking I’ll re-use my hiking poles.
Weight is a ridiculous 453g.
It’s not designed for winter camping or snow, but that’s fine because that’s not something I intend to do anytime soon. It is a single wall tent, so we’ll see how it does with Pacific Northwest weather.
Update: I’ve slept out under the tent 3 nights now. I’ve found it draughty.
Probably because I’m putting it up wrong, I’ve found a significant gap between the outer tent and the floor. I’ve had multiple occassions where I’ve felt the wind just gusting through.
Got to keep experimenting on this, perhaps I can improve things.
Update: When the wind was consistent, I found it much better rotated so that it isn’t side on to the wind. It could have been that the wind was in Maui and warm.
Also: Read this post before choosing a trekking pole tent.