Camping Tips and Stories Please! :D

pheebs

pheebs

pheebs

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13 Mar 2005
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Bristol
Hey hey peoples!!

Sam and I are doing a charity round-the-world-trip on motorcycles starting August this year which we're raaaaaaather excited about! Note... I've only just started learning to ride a bike as of last week! Hahaha! See below for piccie links and stuff to laugh at!

Anywaaaaaaays! Our trip will be through all sorts of terrains and weather, from -20degrees to 50+ degrees (take a look here for The Route) and our budget is going to be STUPENDOUSLY tight... so we will be camping alllllll the way! Woo hoo!

So the question is... what kind of camping gear do you guys have/would you recommend?! Also what kind of camping tips would you give us!? Please do enlighten us of any camping tales you may have too! :D

Sam-and-Clare.jpg

Sam and I say HAI and FANKOO for your advice!! :D


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Cheers guys and girls! Let the advice commence! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! :D
 
I do a lot of wild camping and bushcraft things and the most valuable item to me is my sheath knife and firesteel.
 
Sam has a leatherman he's rather fond of! A firesteel is a good shout... will look into! What kind of tent do you have Mister?

I have a Vango somewhere buuut it's getting old... it was mega though when I initially had it! Need to have something light and compact but big enough for the two of us and bulky bike gear!

See you're in the land of Cirencester! Not too far! Helllloooo thaaaaar! :D
 
Most of the time i use a 1 man cheap light weight tent from GO (1.5KG ish) and in the summer i sometimes just use a tarp with paracord and carabinas. Top Tip - Learn some basic knots like the lorry hitch, evenk knot and cowslips.

Aye not far from you indeed :) HELLOOOOOO ;)
 
Cant go wrong with a vango, get it out give it an airing n see if it needs any repairs i love my force 10 ..... and its wayyyyyy old :)
 
I always find camping a really nice way to relax. A good book is a nice start. You could also take some of them plant and wild flower books and or insect books and see how many you can find while camping. A small essentials kit is always a good idea (small sewing kit, dry matches, water tablets, survival blanket. small torch) depends how hard core you are going with the camping. I did ten tors a few times so always used to carry more than we actually needed just in case.

on a side note I remember camping one summer a few years back and as the sun was setting we were making shapes with the clouds and as it was quite red in the sky I happened to make a massive dragon that was breathing fire, hardly relevant to this post but nevertheless one of the best memories of camping I will ever.
 
Would it even be possible to carry enough gear on two bikes to suit all those conditions?!?

Pro camping tip:

Don't take alcohol if you want to survive. My camping trips always involve beer and near-death experience for at least one member of our party (not me yet thankfully!). :p
 
My tip, don't camp where possible! Had to camp at a mates wedding last summer (5 long days as myself and the best man were sorting the whole thing out) and it was just exhausting. For me sleeping in a tent on a little ground mat was more exhausting than doing the setting up (well thats an overstatement). So yeah treat your self to a bed once in a while.

Also get a decent ground mat and sleeping bag! Can not stress this enough! With a shoddy mat and bag you will have a terrible nights sleep :( (making the trip hard). Bring a pillow, it might seem a waste of space but you will be thankful for it (much more useful than extra clean socks).

I don't know any other sensible ideas as I'm not the most sensible adult...
 
Toxic - last time I used it, the base was seeping in dampness a wee bit too much! Boo hiss!

Slade - We will be taking a kindle so plenty of reading will be going on!! Nice memory by the way... cloud watching in the middle of nowhere = awesome :)

Danza - Yup! We're going to be travelling light on preeetty much everything but will have the bare essentials! We might have a hip flask with us though for cold nights around the camp fire ;D
 
pingwing - I LOVE camping! LOVE LOVE LOVE camping! Although I also love my bed ;D We will have the odd stop off in warm hostels I am sure just to revitalise our bodies a bit but we're all game for the camping as we have no moolah for hotels!
 
danza said:
Would it even be possible to carry enough gear on two bikes to suit all those conditions?!?

Pro camping tip:

Don't take alcohol if you want to survive. My camping trips always involve beer and near-death experience for at least one member of our party (not me yet thankfully!). :p
Click to expand...

Nonsense you need beer to keep you sane tbh.
 
As your most important camping kit will be tent, sleeping bag and ground mats I'll cover them.

Tent:
A 2 person tent is usually just that, two people not including kit so make sure you get one that's 3 or more person then you'll be able to keep your kit in with you. You mention -20C so make sure you get aluminium poles as firbreglass gets brittle when it's that cold and shatter messily ripping your tent. Not essential but it's always good to get a tent that pitches outer first or outer and inner simultaneously, that way if it's chucking it down your inner won't get wet. If you're living in your tent every day the last place you want to get wet is the inside of your tent, as time to dry it out may not come around that often.

Sleeping bag:
This is personal preference but I always get down sleeping bags as the warmth to weight and pack size ratio is better than synthetc fillings, however they're not cheap. Alpkit recently won best down bag in a recent Trail goup test, they're also very cheap in the world of down sleeping bags, but their PD800 rated to -17C is still £190, however it's the best bang for your buck. Another option would be to get two sleeping bags, something like a 2 season synthetic bag, then for when it's really cold a down bag that you can use the synthetic bag inside. This would also make dealing with the temperate climates easier as you don't have to contend with keeping cool in a warm 4 season bag.
Don't forget a sleeping bag liner too as that will not only add a little warmth but it stops your sleeping bag getting too dirty, cleaning a liner is easier than cleaning a sleeping bag.

Ground mat:
Ground insulation is really important, it's amazing how much heat is lost to the ground and how uncomfortable you can be if you get it wrong. I went out with a bog standard 2.5cm self-inflating mat this winter as I was only expecting temps of -5C but it got to -15C because of unexpected weather and having to camp in a river valley, I really didn't sleep well due to feeling cold and losing heat under me to the ground.
Sleeping mat manufacturers often quote the thermal performance of their mats using something called "R-Value". You don't need to know where this number comes from but for -20C you'll be looking at a R-value of around 7, you can get to this number by using one very warm mat or two mats whose numbers add up to 7.
For the types of mats you have 3 choices, closed cell foam (CCF), inflatable (with insulation or reflective membranes) or self inflating.
CCF is cheaper but bulky when packed, inflatable is warmer and packs small but expensive, self-inflating lies kind of between the two really. The latter two inflating types can get punctures but you can field repair them. As an example, my winter camping setup for next winter assuming temps of -25C will be a CCF mat and a inflatable mat with R-values of 2.2 and 4.9 respectively giving me 7.1. This gives me some flexibility and at least some insulation if my inflatable mat gets a puncture, I can get by sleeping on my CCF mat with my pack+spare clothes under my torso, I'll be uncomfortable but I'll survive.

I've paid most attention here to the most extreme temperature of -20C as it's the most challenging to carry gear for and screwing up at this temperature can cost you at best a night's sleep. Unfortunatley being prepared for it isn't cheap.

Will you be cooking your own food or eating at restaurants and cafes? If you need a stove I would go for a multifuel that can burn petrol from your bikes as you'll always have that and you won't need to worry about finding gas canisters or disposing of your used ones.

That'll do for now, I need to get ready for bed. Others can cover anything I didn't as there are quite a few other experienced outdoors type people on here.
 
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Col_M - thanks for the advice! I never understood what all those numbers were about with ground mats... feel a bit more confident searching for the right one now! I know I have a thermarest somewhere but it was a sale job and I should imagine it won't be up to spec with what I need! Lovely mat though, stupid comfy! :)
 
As you'll be closer to backpacking than camp-site car camping, I will give you one tip.

Make sure your tent is big enough for you to change into something dry and cook under-cover while it's throwing it down outside. Think about what you're doing with your bag(s) too, not just from the convenience of having it near but security.

Weight won't be as important as if you were lugging it around on your back but I'd imagine the bike will be easier to control with lighter gear.

Edit saw your route, christ you're going some cold places, get an expensive sleeping bag, and expensive thermals. Also I doubt you'll have the luxury of gas everywhere you go, a petrol stove may be an idea (even as a fall back for when you can't start / allowed an open fire)
 
Get a 4-5 season sleeping bag.
Don't get 1 man tents
don't underestimate an airbed or GOOD roll mat
Take a "whisperlite" stove (uses petrol)

src: I camped to Mongolia 18 months ago
 
Don't forget tea bags. Lots of tea bags.

With tea bags, you can do anything. It's fuel for the British stiff upper lip. ;)
 
Been living and camping in the Scottish mountains for a good few years, some of my most used item's are-

Mosquito net- It's hard to do anything seriously up here without one, in the tropics the might just save your ass.

Knife- Not my leather-man, I broke the pliers on that bending a wire bucket handle.

Sigg water bottle - So far indestructible.

Headtorch - Much easier having both hands.

Paracord - And the ability to tie knots, from a washing line to an emergency shoelace or gear strap it will come in handy!

Will have a think about other gear, I'm used to packing super light for hiking so other than tent, stove, waterproofs, food and clothes I take little.

Story wise. When doing my gold DoE we were up in the Grampians wild camping for 4 days and it rained solidly for all 4 days.

Day 1. Rain. Despite walking for 12hrs we did a measly 30km. Had to go so far because our planned camp-site had to be abandoned due to flooding.

Day 2. Fog+rain. Slow going and completely wild terrain with no distinctive features just hills and grass and hills and grass. Camp-site was good but forecast bleak.

Day 3. Worst rain yet. Last of my dry clothes, everything I had was wet to some degree right down to my boxers. Tent mate dropped my sleeping bag on wet ground (I nearly killed him). To wet to stop to eat lunch. Uphill conditions treacherous downhill more so, we had to detour up to 1km upstream at a time to find places narrow enough to cross streams that had turned into rivers. Had to shout conversation with assessors over a swollen river that they would normally have crossed. Camp-site was again flooded so we pitched tents on a steep slope for 'dryness'. Had to accommodate two extras in our tent because theirs had given up.

Day 4. Raining and windy as hell. Unpacked my only luxury, dry socks, they were dry for about 10 minutes but not putting my feet into wet boots was bliss!!! Trudged home, nearly fell off a ridge in the clouds but spotted our navigational error. Ate 400g of chocolate and nuts.







I tell the story better in person but suffice to say it was the Best Camping Ever!!! Stunning scenery and an experience I shared with 6 others and will never forget!!
 
Get an MSR stove that can burn white fuel which is easily available, most models can burn petrol as a backup. MSR sell a repair kit which omens with replacement parts for more or less anything.

You will find that many countries won't sell gas canisters and there are also several different incompatible gas types ad connectors so even if you find some ga bottles testy may be for the wrong system.
 
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