Cycling UK Forum

Great article in this months Cycle about ultralight camping I thought. However this was really credit card touring and whilst the the bivvy bag squashed into a bottle cage is a great idea, it was according the to author, not up to the job. I've always fancied doing a short camping trip with just a decent saddle bag and 2 sets of bottle bosses with a "if it doesn't fit, it's not coming" attitude

So what's the smallest shelter I could take that will do the job, say for Spring/Summer camping in the UK? I've pondered silver emergency sleeping bags/blankets, tiny tents, bivvy bags, thermal bivvy bags (especially http://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/amk_sol_thermal_bivvy_sack.html this one), ex-army waterproof(ish) sleeping bags and bothys but having never used any of these things is there anyone who has or tell me what I should be looking at?

How small dare I go?

Cheers.

So what's the smallest shelter I could take that will do the job, say for Spring/Summer camping in the UK?

mike: could you please very carefully define exactly what you mean by the word "camping"? Thank you.

horizon wrote:mike: could you please very carefully define exactly what you mean by the word "camping"? Thank you.

I mean sleeping next to my bike under the stars for a couple of nights during Spring/Summer whether that be wild camping in Scotland or a small camp site with basic facilities. Something to climb into that's warm and dry enough to see me through the night. I'm not planning to take a stove or anything, so "camping" in this sense just means "sleeping outside".

Cheers.

Wow that thermal bivvy is real light.

I looked at bivvy bags quite a bit. I've found with mine, it's great but not totally practical. And it weighs around 500g which isn't much lighter than my tent. I found I quite liked having a tarp over my head area, so got a 200g terra nova tarp. It all adds up though.

Then I found Tarptents (it's the name of the make). The Contrail is about 700g and the Moment (which I bought) 950g (fully sealed with modifications made). There are lighter alternatives, I think there's a 600g tent, I forget the name though. My tarptent is my favoured form of light camping.

For Spring in the UK you'll want a sleeping bag. Down bags are lighter and warmer. I've got a 530g Cumulus Quantum 200. It's rated to about 0C. I use a silk (lighter than cotton) liner to stop it getting stinky, it adds another 2C, so it goes to around -2C. That said I've found it a little thin for Spring. On a couple of nights I could feel the cold burning through. I wish I had gone for the Quantum 350 (680g) rated to -6C (-8C with the liner).

You'll also need a ground mat otherwise the cold from the ground is going to come straight through. For weight and size the Thermarest Neo Air is great, 370g or so and 4cm of luxury between you and the ground. Or if you want real light, some bubble wrap!

If you want small and aren't fussed about weight, a cheapy, but great value is the Gelert Solo tent, £22ish on Amazon. Replace the stock pegs and safe yourself 300g. It'll weigh 1.4kg, but it packs small. It fits perfectly in that space below the handlebars between the drops, without getting in the way. My mate uses one. So if you haven't got a rack it's ideal. Then just bungee a stuff sack with sleeping bag and mat on the back of the saddle and you're off.

mike4.3 wrote:

horizon wrote:mike: could you please very carefully define exactly what you mean by the word "camping"? Thank you.

I mean sleeping next to my bike under the stars for a couple of nights during Spring/Summer whether that be wild camping in Scotland or a small camp site with basic facilities. Something to climb into that's warm and dry enough to see me through the night. I'm not planning to take a stove or anything, so "camping" in this sense just means "sleeping outside".

Cheers.

Thanks for that mike. From that, I take it that you mean "without a tent". I only ask because it prevents confusion when discussing the minimum weight/equipment required for camping when people actually mean bivvying (or even roughing it !)

horizon wrote:Thanks for that mike. From that, I take it that you mean "without a tent". I only ask because it prevents confusion when discussing the minimum weight/equipment required for camping when people actually mean bivvying (or even roughing it !)

Well yes and no. As Bealer suggests, bivvys can weigh as much as a tent so I'm not ruling any angle out. In short, if I can fit it on the bike without a rack, I'll consider it.

Cheers Bealer... some good info there... the tarptents look rather good
I've seen a couple of others that are, well half way between tarps and tents (hence the manufacturers name eh) that I'm pondering. As you suggest, bivvys tend to be almost has heavy and similar sized to a small tent anyway. I think in my mind I'm trying to keep everything in the spare bottle cage and saddle bag (or bungeed behind the seat). I can just about bungee a small sleeping bag onto my saddle bag actually, it just the plan falls apart when I try to add the tent/bivvy/trap as well.

I've thought about trying to Gelert as it's so cheap. Do you think it would squeeze in a bottle cage? I'm not sure I'd want it squashed in my drops. Guess it would balance the weight though

p.s. I've since noticed there's now a sub-forum for camping stuff, so I'm sorry about that! Mr Moderator, you may wish to move this topic

Mike4.3 wrote:How small dare I go?

Only you can answer that!

When I was young and hardier (stupider?) than I am now, I coped with a thin light sleeping bag inside a survival polythene bag, and would wake up with frost dripping off my nose.

It didn't take me long to realise that if I was too cold for a decent night's sleep, I didn't enjoy the days. Being unusually skinny, I need loads of stuff to keep me warm, and my summer bag plus bivvy weighs 3kg. Folk hardier than me might find my summer gear suitable for winter.

I got one of those ~900g tiny £15ish tents as used by the guy on this great ultralight website. It's probably still on amazon. Yes, it is.


It's about as small and cheap as you can go. It only has a pole at each end so there's some bulk saved there. It's single skin so you have to plan ahead a wee bit, try and avoid downpours. It's small inside but more airy than a bivvy.

I never used mine. I went off and spent 300£ and 800g more on a tent big enough almost to stand in, big enough for the bike and me, mad fool that I am.

But if you got one of these and it was not good, you could use it for the 30% discount terra nova give on tent trade-ins (on the website) and get the laser comp 1 or 2 maybe, for example.

Mmmm... certainly another thought... especially at that price!! Again, a single skin was something at the back of my mind.

And what a fantastic blog link however! I will be pouring over that all night and am sure it will fill me with ideas. Brilliant

UPDATE: it's the guy from the Cycle magazine article isn't it. And so the thread comes full circle

has anyone tried a British Army bivvy?.....I'd like to try tentless camping, purely for the ease of just stopping wherever, but not convinced during a Scottish winter...not so much with the cold as the rain.

My pal does weekend tours in the Dales with bubblewrap and one of these http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/hi-gear-emergency-blanket-p108990 except his cost £1 from Tescos. Not much good in the rain mind...........

Depends on where you are but one compelling reason for a tent rather than a tarp can be summed up in one word --Midges! I use a very old cotton thing with wooden poles ( bulky but light) which I bought originally in 1955.It lay unused for some years but came out last year and is ok in reasonable weather. Sprays in heavy rain tho'.

largeallan wrote:has anyone tried a British Army bivvy?.....I'd like to try tentless camping, purely for the ease of just stopping wherever, but not convinced during a Scottish winter...not so much with the cold as the rain.

A British Army Bivi still weighs about 1 kg and you can get numerous tents up to about 1.5 kg in weight, so, in this day and age it really isn't the best option!

There is a right place and a time for a bivi, but it's not really cycle camping. I have used mine numerous times when outdoors walking, either as an option for emergency or as weatherproof protection amongst other protection such as hard cover, stone-built bivis, tarps or man-made lean-to's.

I came across this last night. Whilst there's no "packed size" info, it's 1lb 6oz... how big can it be!

http://www.ultralightoutdoorgear.co.uk/ ... elter.html

It has an airbeam tent so no poles. Looks just the job albeit a bit more pricey... and quite possibly unavailable
It comes with a pump to inflate the airbeam but obviously we all carry a pump so if an adaptor could be fashioned it's literally a skin and pegs. Seems ideal!

Anyone got experience of this or are there any other airbeam lightweight tents around... I've not found any others. I guess it's a similar idea to the Bikamper (http://www.topeak.com/products/Tent/Bikamper), just with the "tube" sewn in. I know Vango make airbeam stuff but they're much much bigger.