Winter Camping

[bikepacker]

Having just got back from a great Castles of Wales cycle tour with my wife, I am now contemplating my last solo cycle camping tour of this year. Not yet sure where I am heading but it will be in GB. To while away the dark evenings I normally take books, radio and small music player. Since signing the pledge over 20 years ago I steer clear of going into pubs to avoid unnecessary temptation.

Just wondering if there is anything I am missing and what you do on a campsite to pass the time away during the long winter nights?

[shane]

Laptop and usb dongle to keep the outside world up to date on your trip ?

If you have a friend that is handy with torrents (not that I condone not quite legal backups of course..) you can get loads of video's on there too, not really the point with camping, but can be nice on a long boring night..


A day at the office by shanecycles.com, on Flickr

[simonineaston]

swap your books for a Kindle - as many titles with you as you want... I too am a solo traveller and used to try to limit myself to carrying 2 or 3 'good reads', but often found I wouldn't fancy the books on any a particular evening. Having in effect a whole library with me on the Kindle is great - I can browse the contents and choose what to read accordingly - fiction, non-fiction, biography, adventure, cookery-book, etc.etc.. Add to that a realistic battery life of longer than I usually go away for - and a powerful head-torch now my eyesight isn't so good, and I'm a Happy Camper!

[andymiller]

swap your books for a Kindle - as many titles with you as you want... I too am a solo traveller and used to try to limit myself to carrying 2 or 3 'good reads', but often found I wouldn't fancy the books on any a particular evening. Having in effect a whole library with me on the Kindle is great - I can browse the contents and choose what to read accordingly - fiction, non-fiction, biography, adventure, cookery-book, etc.etc.. Add to that a realistic battery life of longer than I usually go away for - and a powerful head-torch now my eyesight isn't so good, and I'm a Happy Camper!

I know that 'Kindle' is becoming for ebook readers what 'Hoover' was for vacuum cleaners, but there are others eBook readers on the market (eg Kobo readers which you can buy in WH Smith). These have the advantage that you aren't tied to Amazon (although yes it's true that there are loads and loads of out-of-copyright books that you can get for free).

[bikepacker]

My daughter spent some time in publishing and is an avid supporter of paper books. She would disown me if I got an ebook reader of any make.

[foxyrider]

You could do it on the sly - my android phone doubles up as a micro laptop for my trips, stuff to read, GPS, trip info as well as internet connectivity (not that i've ever used that facility but its there).

Personally i settle down with a hot drink, some snack food and my paper maps before turning in. Of course i've already been for a walk and taken my time preparing/eating my evening meal. You will wake up early - it gets cold early morning so get your sleep in early.

[andrew_s]

I take an eBook reader and an Mp3 player these days.
Both small, both with plenty of battery life (1xAAA for 40h on the mp3).
For me, being able to take more than one book within the allocated space allowance more than makes up for the reader needing better light than a paper book.
I used to take a small radio (ICF-SW100), but switched to the eBook reader when it broke.

The trouble with things like laptops, or smartphones used for evening entertainment is keeping them powered.

[mercurykev]

I've got an android phone and carry a couple of spare batteries. This has an ebook reader, can play movies, is full of R4 podcasts and also plays music. I can also, on occasion, phone people

[shane]

The trouble with things like laptops, or smartphones used for evening entertainment is keeping them powered.

Apart from the laptop, just about everything can be charged via a hub dynamo, not a cheap option but its nice to be self sufficient...

[simonineaston]

http://www.apple.com/uk/ipad-mini/overview/
...and don't tell your daughter

[andrew_s]

Apart from the laptop, just about everything can be charged via a hub dynamo, not a cheap option but its nice to be self sufficient...

But not everything at once. If you have too much stuff (GPS, headtorch batteries, phone etc) it can be a problem keeping on top of it, especially if one item is relatively high power consumption and hogs the dynamo (eg a smartphone used as a GPS).

[shane]

Apart from the laptop, just about everything can be charged via a hub dynamo, not a cheap option but its nice to be self sufficient...

But not everything at once. If you have too much stuff (GPS, headtorch batteries, phone etc) it can be a problem keeping on top of it, especially if one item is relatively high power consumption and hogs the dynamo (eg a smartphone used as a GPS).

Yup, thats why I'm buying a buffer battery when I get back to "civilization" just running my gps seems a waste of potential for all that dynamo power. Better to run the Gps from the buffer battery by day and top up my phone by night. Head torch batteries isn't really a problem I carry a spare set and at least once a week I'm in a hotel of some sort and then rape the power points and charge everything. Or again use reserves from the buffer to top your AA's up via a usb charger.

I'm not an advocate of using a phone as a gps but each to their own and maybe i'll change my mind once my gps dies, the cost of a new one almost gets you a new phone when you drop it/ crash/ gets stolen/ gets wet /etc

I've ran my Gps from my dynamo for the last 10,000km in Africa, which makes the 2x AA batteries last about 2 weeks if I remember to turn it off during breaks. Because of that my other batteries remain spares/head torch between hotels without problems. Now and again I plug my phone in for a morning which gives it 60-100% charge which lasts another day or two if I'm careful .

What a fascinating modern world we live in

[bikepacker]

What a fascinating modern world we live in

Yes and here is little old me most time don't even take a mobile phone. I find that with it or without it there is no difference to my enjoyment of the cycling.

[shane]

I thought by going to Africa I would escape the technology non-sense, I've only gotten worse. I bought my first smart phone in Namibia.....

I'm a lost cause.

The industry has spent years making ultra lightweight gear and making it more compact, and we spend a fortune getting said lightweight gear. Now we have less weight and more space in our panniers....just enough room for a 1.2kg laptop and 1kg of cables and chargers.....

[bikepacker]

Not long got home from last cycle camping trip of this year. Got through two books and four batteries in my radio, to while away the long nights. Spent last night on Bath racecourse, bleak and windy.