Camping equipment

Through trial and error these are a few things we learnt through a bit of common sense:

Tent: We started off with a cheap £15 tent from B&Q which worked very well all the way round a wet and rainy Scotland and Ireland but even though it was big enough inside there was just too little space for all our bike kit which we didn't want to leave outside to get wet or stolen.Our next attempt at a "perfect" tent was a 2 man tent from an army surplus shop for £20 but was too small again.We now have the perfect tent which I bought online for £36 which has done three trips and worked perfectly and got ticks in all the boxes: Lichfield Apache 3+ http://www.wildday.co.uk/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=4207

• Three man dome tent so enough space to swing a meerkat but still rolls up into a nice small light bundle.
  


• Two vestibules (doors to the common folk) which are big enough to hang our jackets and trousers and other wet bits on a line but also ideal to open both doors so that you can get a cool breeze drift through the tent in hot weather. This was very effective in the mid summer heat of Spain. The vestibules also double as a handy sheltered kitchen so that you keep all cooking activites outside the tent, this while still lying in you sleeping bag.
  


• A small loop on the inside of the ceiling perfect for hanging a torch. If your tent doesn't have one then sew a loop into the top of the tent...trust me!
  Seperate removable flyscreen which can be removed leaving the mesh inner to act as a mozzie net for those hot dry nights in Mozzie country but easily replaced when you hear distant rumble of thunder.
  


• The tent can stand up with out pegs although pegs are needed to hold the flyscreen properly in place to reduce dew drops forming on the inner lining.

Well after using the Apache tent for more than a year the stitching started pulling apart so we have now repaced it with a T10 Delano 2 tent we bought from Germany via Ebay. Benefits of this tent are that the vestibule is much larger so that you can actually sit inside it while cooking etc and the tent still has a back exit and has much better ventilation than the previous one. The down side is that the inside space is slightly smaller, but then again you only need space to sleep.

Stool: I honestly believe that the only reason the British managed to take over more than half the world is that not matter how grave the situation and no matter how they suffered adversaty they remained civilised in the face of hardship. We are therefore taking two three legged camping stools so that we don't have to grovel around in the dust while eating. You can get them at any camping shop for £3 and they also only wiegh 1.5kg and are small enough to strap to any part of the bike...no excuses.

http://www.worldofcamping.co.uk/shop/Detail.asp?ProductID=741&GCID=C18202x001

Thermarests: they come in various sizes....we got the small thin light one(ProLite 3)...BIG mistake. After our first trip we got new ones. If you don't sleep properly the trip becomes a misery. Do yourself a favour and get one that at least reaches below your shins and get the thicker one. If it's deflated it's as flat as any of the others. We now have the ProLite 4.

http://www.completeoutdoors.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=123_157_238&products_id=2264

Pillow: I don't know about you but I can't sleep without a good pillow. Millets sells small blue ones...don't get them. Gelert make one which is slightly bigger but rolls into the same size and is really comfy.

http://www.gelert.com/products/Comfort_Pillow_and_Stuff_Sac.aspx

Sleeping bags: Due to allergy our selection of sleeping bags is limited to non-down feather options so currently we have rather bulky 3 season bags which we ahve used on all our trips but also have summer bags which we still need to test out with bag linings...well not anymore. When back in SA on holiday we found new bags at Cape Union Mart. They are all-season down bags where the down feathers are treated and so far they have had no ill effects on Rensche.

Petrol stove: I have used the little camping stoves with blue disposable gas cylinders in the past but they are just a real pain. Then again we will be sitting on bikes with 22lt of highly flamable fluid ready to ignite under a juicy steak so the obvious next step was to find a camping stove that uses petrol as it's fuel. The Coleman Dual Fuel II 533 Sportster comes highly recommened and although it is no longer manufactured by Coleman it's still available in most camping shops. Some say that it does clog up after a while but we have now used it on three trips and no complaints as yet.

http://www.worldofcamping.co.uk/shop/Detail.asp?category=2&subcategory=5&offset=10&ProductID=849

Water containers: After testing out various ideas the one that works best for us appears to be:

Each of us have a Camelbak rucksack with 3lt water bags which we will anyway use when walking around touristy places. Then we each have 2x 1lt aluminium water bottles that fit into pockets on our soft luggage. This will be for daily use in "normal" weather. Once we hit the hotter areas we have a 10lt Ortlieb water bag that can double as a shower and rolls up when not used. So that gives us a total of 10lt each which is above the recommend daily intake for extreme hot weather.

http://www.gear-zone.co.uk/eshop/Camelbak-MULE.htmlhttp://www.outdoorgear.co.uk/eshop.asp?wci=product&wce=53900601&affid=48181

Pots'n'pans; eaten spanners; woodens spoon etc:

still more coming....