What tent should I use?

[dakariste]

Fyi: Most of the public campgrounds in Oregon forests are free. The ones I stayed in (on dirt roads) always included a generous portion of firewood! So you'll need a dual sport bike.

http://www.bigagnes.com/

Big Agnes sleeping bag with the inflatable insulated pad. Absolute heaven!
The pad fits into a sleeve on the bottom side of the bag so you can't roll off.
You can vary the amount of air in the pad to make it just right for even rocky
conditions! However you can't curl up too much so,
I also carry a Dreamcatcher from Touratech. It is usually my pillow. But it is warn as a coat and let's you leave the tent at night in warm comfort. As an inner bag in very cold situations it is also excellent. Very compact. I usually stuff it into one of my side cases to stabilize the contents!

I also went to a fancy trout fishing store and found some water tolerant warm gloves that velcro into mittens, you can pull back the mitten and a thumb portion to expose your fingers and thumb. Great to sleep in!

The tent:
Is money no object? Want to stand up and maybe cook or have small propane heater in your tent? These type of heaters have been my secret on long wet camping trips, I go inside dry out all my gear and emerge with no 'weather fatigue'.

I have used ultra light tents and they are adequate, but check this out:

http://www.tentipi.com/

My catalog just arrived from Sweden and I am looking at the lightest models designed to carry in a backpack. This is a bigger commitment than a ultra light tent but sometimes it's good to have a choice when you leave the home.
This looks like the luxury choice. I am curious and that usually leads to purchase!

Sometimes I think that a bivy sack would be a good choice for taking naps without bugs on remote rides!

[mellow]

Campmor has some Eureka tents that are backpacking tents and pretty good ones as well as good prices.

I have this one (Eureka Apex 2XTA):

Click for campmor link

I did notice Eureka is offering rebates for some 2006 tents, the Pinnacle Pass 2 XTA tent looks like a great option $139 - $30 rebate:


Click for campmor link

[JasonS]

Originally Posted by Astroblue

Hi everybody
I'm hoping to take a long ride to Oregon this year, and I was wondering what kind of tent would fold up small enough to put in a saddlebag or tie to the side of my bike safely (Honda 600rr)? I figure I'll stop at KOA campgrounds or just find an obliging lonely, hidden spot for the night. I used to have a one-man tent, but the poles were very long so I couldn't have taken it anyway.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!

Here is the paragraph about my tent from the trip report

"I started shopping for a tent late in the game. I finally settled on a Kelty Gunnison2. It had good height and an enormous vestibule. Order and poof, no stock I am told, “in fact we checked and we won’t have them until July sometime” Eeeek!! Backorder from hell!! Shame on Kelty!... The tent of choice then became the Eureka Timberline4. It has no vestibule, but being a 4-body tent it will have room for me and the gear. The foot print is 8’8”x9’2” as is the cheapo drop cloth to protect the bottom of the tent material. The tent is a good value and has a good reputation and at 8 pounds it is light for its price and size. It seems to be a compromise in tents, in that to get ultra light weight the cost goes up. Hell I think I could get the whole bike it the tent if I had to, but the bike has a tent of its’ own in a Aerostich black lightweight cover. It packs small and the bike becomes invisible on a dark night, or at least it doesn’t stand out."

It depends on what you demand from the tent. Standing up part way is a huge plus, as is the abilty to fit everything in the tent when needed. There are pics of the tent on the bike and setup in the report linked below.

Linky to my trip report

[Zrexmark]

I have been using a 6x8 that I picked up at WalMart fairly cheap. Went through a really heavy thunderstorm one night in Georgia without leaking. I used to carry a folding chair but have given that up. Most campgrounds have plenty of benches to sit on. In this shot I have 2 tents with me, one for me and one smaller one for a friend in case the campground didn't have any available. They are in the green and red cases.