Fair weather/emergency camping - leave the luxuries at home?

Specifically for cycle touring subjects & questions
bohrsatom
Posts: 807
Joined: 20 May 2013, 4:36pm

Fair weather/emergency camping - leave the luxuries at home?

Post by bohrsatom »

Although I like cycle camping I didn't have a particularly good time of it on my trip last year, I think due to a combination of bad weather (too hot/too wet), sleeping poorly and not-so-great campsites. I've slowly come round to the realisation that it's my main holiday of the year and I don't need to slum it on a boggy field under attack from mosquitos if I don't want to!

There are still times when I'd be happy to camp: either when the weather is great and I find a nice campsite overlooking a pretty lake complete with bar/restaurant, or there's no other choice because all the hotels are booked (European summer time).

If we switch from 80% camping/20% hotels to 20%/80% then it feels wrong to carry kilos of camping equipment and barely use it. We're more comfort campers than ultralight ones, so between the two of us we can likely save 4-5kg overall by leaving the Helinox chairs, Trangia, spare electronics and some clothes at home.

The question - after my long winded introduction - is: is it actually worth leaving that stuff at home, or should I lug it around and spend the night in luxury on the rare occasion when we do find a nice place to camp?

Other fair weather/emergency campers, what do you do?

(Thinking about it more, it's not so much cycling with the extra weight, it's carrying it on/off trains and ferries, lugging the bags around hotels, manhandling a heavily laden bike etc which makes it annoying. When I'm riding I barely notice it)
User avatar
horizon
Posts: 11275
Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 11:24am
Location: Cornwall

Re: Fair weather/emergency camping - leave the luxuries at home?

Post by horizon »

On the rare occasion I've B and B'd while on a camping trip, I hated the lugging of the camping stuff into the B and B/hotel. It's an age-old question: in my opinion, I would go for accommodation and plan round that and leave all the camping gear at home. As you say, if you're going to camp in comfort, there's a lot of stuff to carry. Make a choice (difficult, I know) - camp or hotel and stick to it. You might even want two trips, one camping, one hotels but combining them gives you the worst of both worlds.

A quick further point: being on bikes means you've got the flexibility to find a hotel even if it means hopping on a train or spending quite a bit more - it's back-up if you cannot find budget accommodation.
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
User avatar
pjclinch
Posts: 5470
Joined: 29 Oct 2007, 2:32pm
Location: Dundee, Scotland
Contact:

Re: Fair weather/emergency camping - leave the luxuries at home?

Post by pjclinch »

We head out assuming we'll camp but aren't afraid to use a B&B if that'll make it nicer. For example, arriving in the Western Isles a bit green after a rough crossing, arriving in Tongue after a brilliant but long day to find the campsite had shut the previous year there was no hesitation in throwing some extra money at it.

If we didn't want to take fairly extensive camping kit I suspect we'd just go for hostels/B&B etc. exclusively.

Pete.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
irc
Posts: 5192
Joined: 3 Dec 2008, 2:22pm
Location: glasgow

Re: Fair weather/emergency camping - leave the luxuries at home?

Post by irc »

Or plan to hotel but carry minimal kit. Bivvy bag, sleeping bag. Just to have an emergency backup.

A better option in a climate expected to be dry. I sometimes don't put my tent up if I'm sleeping off the beaten track and it isn't going to rain.
mattheus
Posts: 5044
Joined: 29 Dec 2008, 12:57pm
Location: Western Europe

Re: Fair weather/emergency camping - leave the luxuries at home?

Post by mattheus »

pjclinch wrote: 7 Feb 2023, 8:21am We head out assuming we'll camp but aren't afraid to use a B&B if that'll make it nicer. For example, arriving in the Western Isles a bit green after a rough crossing, arriving in Tongue after a brilliant but long day to find the campsite had shut the previous year there was no hesitation in throwing some extra money at it.
I've done more reading around than actual camping (and more bivvy-ing than bike-camping), but this seems to be the "better" way round.

The "Book of the Bivvy" author agrees too!

[Anecdata: where I've carried bivvy kit around for a few days between hotels, just because I knew I'd need it on one barren night, reeeeeeeally annoyed me; and that was just minimal stuff! :P )

EDIT: just realised that I've bivvied in 4 foreign countries (+Wales) !
Jdsk
Posts: 24639
Joined: 5 Mar 2019, 5:42pm

Re: Fair weather/emergency camping - leave the luxuries at home?

Post by Jdsk »

Great question.

How many bags does it all go in?

Our usual set-up for either/or touring is now two panniers and one bar bag per bike, tent on one bike, mats on the other. The big gain of having fewer bags is in hotels, on and off trains and ferries etc, as you describe. If the security of the storage is appropriate then each of us only takes one pannier and the bar bag.

For chairs we use straps on the mats.

Jonathan
PH
Posts: 13106
Joined: 21 Jan 2007, 12:31am
Location: Derby
Contact:

Re: Fair weather/emergency camping - leave the luxuries at home?

Post by PH »

I've occasionally used a B&B on a camping trip, but wouldn't plan to, I've never felt any need to carry camping kit on a tour I hadn't intended to camp on, though my touring is a lot less adventurous than some. I have occasionally roughed it, a few hours in a bus shelter or similar, enough to get through the night and check in early to the next day's accommodation to catch up.
For me, it isn't the weight of kit that matters, +/- a few kg, but that it dictates the bike. If I'm not camping I'll take a lighter, sportier bike compared to the heavy duty tourer I'll use when camping. The difference not so much any speed, but the distance I'm happier to cover. I can, just about, take enough camping gear on my Audax bike for a night or two, bare minimum, tent, mat, quilt, wash kit, usually for just an overnighter before or after an Audax. I wouldn't want to tour like that, either that bike loaded or the lack of camp comforts. A lot of this is of course personal preference, people do ride Audax on chunky tourers or cross continents with four panniers on audax bikes. I've met heavily loaded four pannier tourers with no camping kit and campers with everything in a saddlebag...
Norman H
Posts: 1331
Joined: 31 Jul 2011, 4:39pm

Re: Fair weather/emergency camping - leave the luxuries at home?

Post by Norman H »

On extended tours I rarely plan the timing of overnight stops much beyond the first two or three days and under such circumstances, even when not intending to camp, minimal emergency provision makes good sense.

In terms of weight and bulk carrying the means for a comfortable nights sleep under canvas doesn't add that much to the overall load. In practice my 2/3 season emergency camping kit isn't much different from my full camping set up. The tent, inflatable mattress, sleeping bag and the wherewithal to produce a brew, add around 3.5 kg to my total load, and can be accommodated without the need for front panniers. For dedicated camping I'd add my Heliox chair and probably the means to produce more elaborate meals. Once again it can all be carried using rear rack and a bar bag.
User avatar
foxyrider
Posts: 6044
Joined: 29 Aug 2011, 10:25am
Location: Sheffield, South Yorkshire

Re: Fair weather/emergency camping - leave the luxuries at home?

Post by foxyrider »

Pretty much all of my camping trips will have a night or two in bricks & mortar accomodation, they are planned with that in mind, i've even left the camping gear in left luggage to do a non camping side trip. I've also done trips that don't have any camping element and never once thought about carrying 'emergency' accomodation back up of any sort.

During my first couple of extended camping trips i quickly whittled down the pile of 'luxuries', so the radio that was never used, the extra pans i never used, the pile of clothing that never left the bags, etc, etc - all of this stuff stays at home now. My basic touring kit is the same whatever i'm doing, i might take an extra change of clothes if i'm not carrying the camping gear but not always.

Anything i habitually use for camping isn't a luxury!
Convention? what's that then?
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
User avatar
simonineaston
Posts: 8003
Joined: 9 May 2007, 1:06pm
Location: ...at a cricket ground

Re: Fair weather/emergency camping - leave the luxuries at home?

Post by simonineaston »

My solution has been to go to northern France. This used to have a number of advantages, the first was that I could strip my camping gear back to a minimum by removing any form of cooking setup. At the time I came up with this strategy, France still offered a great many options to buy good food, eg early opening bar / cafe for breakfast coffee / choc. & croissant, good patisserie, deli & traiteur in many towns, quite decent meals in hypermarkets, railway stations etc. etc..
In the summer months, I used to choose from camping municipal, rural chambres d'hote, the odd gite, b&b, inexpensive hotels - many places had large storage areas, where I could wheel the bike so it was behind locked doors overnight. This worked well for me for many seasons, but things may not be so flexible nowadays.
S
(on the look out for Armageddon, on board a Brompton nano & ever-changing Moultons)
bohrsatom
Posts: 807
Joined: 20 May 2013, 4:36pm

Re: Fair weather/emergency camping - leave the luxuries at home?

Post by bohrsatom »

Jdsk wrote: 7 Feb 2023, 9:29am How many bags does it all go in?
Four: 2x panniers, a bar bag and a big rack pack which carries pretty much all the camping stuff, except the Helinox camp chairs which go on the rack of my partner's bike.

Image

The yellow bag's pretty heavy but I'm the stronger/faster rider so it slows me down a bit :-). I generally take it into our room at a hotel as the tent was probably packed away wet so needs airing out.

I agree that the best approach might be to commit 100% to b&bs and leave all the camping equipment at home, but there are times when we really enjoy the simple pleasure of brewing the morning coffee after a night under canvas and it would be a shame to give that up altogether as we don't otherwise get many opportunities to do it
User avatar
pjclinch
Posts: 5470
Joined: 29 Oct 2007, 2:32pm
Location: Dundee, Scotland
Contact:

Re: Fair weather/emergency camping - leave the luxuries at home?

Post by pjclinch »

bohrsatom wrote: 7 Feb 2023, 8:51pm I agree that the best approach might be to commit 100% to b&bs and leave all the camping equipment at home, but there are times when we really enjoy the simple pleasure of brewing the morning coffee after a night under canvas and it would be a shame to give that up altogether as we don't otherwise get many opportunities to do it
Perhaps add long weekend tours to your schedule alongside longer ones, and you can use those for the camping?

Pete.
Often seen riding a bike around Dundee...
User avatar
foxyrider
Posts: 6044
Joined: 29 Aug 2011, 10:25am
Location: Sheffield, South Yorkshire

Re: Fair weather/emergency camping - leave the luxuries at home?

Post by foxyrider »

pjclinch wrote: 8 Feb 2023, 12:48pm
bohrsatom wrote: 7 Feb 2023, 8:51pm I agree that the best approach might be to commit 100% to b&bs and leave all the camping equipment at home, but there are times when we really enjoy the simple pleasure of brewing the morning coffee after a night under canvas and it would be a shame to give that up altogether as we don't otherwise get many opportunities to do it
Perhaps add long weekend tours to your schedule alongside longer ones, and you can use those for the camping?

Pete.
or just take the kit to make a brew?
Convention? what's that then?
Airnimal Chameleon touring, Orbit Pro hack, Orbit Photon audax, Focus Mares AX tour, Peugeot Carbon sportive, Owen Blower vintage race - all running Tulio's finest!
bohrsatom
Posts: 807
Joined: 20 May 2013, 4:36pm

Re: Fair weather/emergency camping - leave the luxuries at home?

Post by bohrsatom »

foxyrider wrote: 8 Feb 2023, 7:52pm or just take the kit to make a brew?
That's been the plan all along tbh - had too many occasions of wanting a 3pm coffee but there being nobody to sell it to me that I couldn't go on a trip without the means to make my own
User avatar
horizon
Posts: 11275
Joined: 9 Jan 2007, 11:24am
Location: Cornwall

Re: Fair weather/emergency camping - leave the luxuries at home?

Post by horizon »

foxyrider wrote: 8 Feb 2023, 7:52pm
pjclinch wrote: 8 Feb 2023, 12:48pm
bohrsatom wrote: 7 Feb 2023, 8:51pm I agree that the best approach might be to commit 100% to b&bs and leave all the camping equipment at home, but there are times when we really enjoy the simple pleasure of brewing the morning coffee after a night under canvas and it would be a shame to give that up altogether as we don't otherwise get many opportunities to do it
Perhaps add long weekend tours to your schedule alongside longer ones, and you can use those for the camping?

Pete.
or just take the kit to make a brew?
I find that it is a case of modus operandi. Of course you can combine the two but it starts to get a bit messy and there is the question as to where to draw the line. I also find that if I am travelling with accommodation I can take few more items that make it more comfortable that I cannot do when camping. I would still say quite strongly that it's best to go for either not for both.
When the pestilence strikes from the East, go far and breathe the cold air deeply. Ignore the sage, stay not indoors. Ho Ri Zon 12th Century Chinese philosopher
Post Reply