I really like the idea of travelling with a basha for campsite shelter.

Me and a mate are travelling UK-Capetown and plan to camp as much as possible to keep costs down.

I have a cheap dome tent and a small backpacking tent (not very waterproof) already and was looking to replace them with a £200 North face Tadpole 23 tent.

Well, Instead of spending all that money I am considering buying a large £30 Basha that we both could use to hide from the rain or the intense sun.

The idea is to take my tiny backpacker tent, my gortex bivvy bag and use the baasha to keep my tent out of the rain and to use as a sun shade in drier times.
I think a basha, bivvy and small tent will give me a huge range of posibilities ???

Has anyone done this ??? I'd really appreciate input.

We are travelling on DRZ400's so don't have a lot of luggage space.

Also, has anyone got links to a good site or pictures of different ways to work with a basha ????

I'd got some basha poles and borrowed a large basha to play with.

Thanks, Ted

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

There was a great site called 'outdoor idiots' which had a really good article on how to use bashas. But searching just now it seems their web hosting has died. You can still read the text of the article using google's "cache", but non of the photos work.

Outdooridiots.com
Incase it reappears at some point. Search "outdoor idiots tarp" on google then click the "cached" link to read it.


I used a basha for about two months last year, untill it fell off the bike without me realising. The main problem was it being really low to the ground when pitching from the bike. Having two bikes with the basha inbetween would be better, but I reckon it'd still be annoyingly low, and far to low to fit a tent underneath obviously. If you've got trees to play with then it's easy to get a good pitching.

You need paracord to pitch it, and if you do this the way that Outdoor Idiots site reccommends it's really quick to pitch. You keep the ropes attached all the time, use knots which allow you to easily tension the lines, and a main 'ridge line' which suspends the basha between trees/bike+tree/bike+pole. My suggestion would be to make sure you get a basha with a a loop in the middle of it, or else it will sag underneath the ridgeline. You can put the basha above the ridgeline, but they apparrently get damaged over time and you get water running down the line when it's wet.

No good if you're squeamish. One night in turkey there was some nasty poisonous spider thing crawling around our campfire just before I went to bed. And in Kazakhstan something small (maybe a mosquito) bit me on the end of my nob, leaving it sore and slightly bloodied. Seriously.

I stupidly never really photographed any of the good basha pitches I had out in the wild

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UK to Mongolia 2009, on a DR350

As a ex Serviceman, I would suggest a few things you will need both parachord, Bungees (at least six) plus 4 tent pegs.

You could use your bike as part of the lean too, (as the wall), but would use centre stand not side, more stable take some use the tent pegs to pull the tarp tight in case of rain.

or both bikes as opposits to the walls of course once the engine has cooled,

point to note the Basha is ment to be low, but too low will mean condensation will occur on the inside.
If the basha is too high you will be in a wind tunnel,

final note go out or look on line for servival books lok at differamnt styles of basha & try them using the bike in place.

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We are the Pilgrims, Master, we shall go Always a little further: it may be beyond that last blue mountain barred with snow, Across that angry or that glimmering sea.

Good evening Ted, thanks for your other posts, always some useful/ironical input.
I took a tarp and hammock to India last year, I should have taken a small tent too. To sleep in the desert there is a small problem with sand creeping into every opening, lying unsheltered at ground level you get whatever is available. The hammock was useless, if there are two trees nearer each other than fifty kilometres then there are people around, and they are usually gawpers – just stand and stare at you, or worse, try and steal your gear. The only place I used the hammock a tent would have been more suitable.
There is a problem using the bikes as basha supports too, you don’t want the bike falling on you if the ground gives way, or a gust of wind from the wrong direction transforms the tarp to a spinnaker. Maybe peg the line beyond the bike, so the machine is just to give height, not an anchor.
Your set-up sounds good, probably optimal if your inner tent can be erected independently under the basha for ventilation and mosquito protection. Saw you are after Malarone, never used it myself, but it comes well recommended. I had it with me to take if I caught malaria, as I was going through so many zones with different prophylactic medication. Take some “anti-histamine” for bug bites that swell-up too much, also handy as first-aid for poisonous bites too, f.eks scorpion.
Try Google “tarp camping”, enough there to keep you off the streets for a long time. “FAQ-tarp shelters” is for psyko origami freaks, too much of a good thing maybe in real life. For me in Nordic forest, with a lack of flat, dry tent pitches the hammock/tarp works. Above tree line and on snow the tent is more practical.
Safe journey in Africa, it must be the biggest trip.
Peter, in Oslo

Ted
I have used bashas extensively-when on foot. Also in my view wonderful with a hammock-but again when on foot and have access to get 'deep' into woodland perhaps-when with the bike-maybe not so practical.

Most bike trips-and mine tend to be short affairs rather than potential novel writing material-I go for a small tent-but pop the basha in the luggage as well-for a quick shelter-dining etc-sun/rain.
I do enjoy actually zipping myself into the tent of an evening-and feeling its my own space.
The feeling of a basha/hammock combi is one of the best ways to enjoy outdoors-but I wouldn't rely on it solely on a bike trip.

Cheers

Simon

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DD Hammocks - Camping & Travel Hammocks, Jungle Hammocks

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Aussie Basha 2oz Olive Green. Waterproof Tarp for Protection from the Elements. - Penrith Survival Equipment secure online shop


Large Tarp for Hennesy Hammock

YouTube - How to put up a camping tarp.

These may be of help especially the youtube link

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'He who laughs last, was too slow to get the joke'
Never confuse the map with the journey.

Thanks for all the input guys..

I wasn't intending on ditching the tent and using a hammock..

I do love the privacy of a tent and the *false* security and privacy it gives you. I will be taking a tent, I was just wondering if it was worth taking a basha and poles too !! Especially as we do plan to be camping quite a bit.

The idea of the basha was to add shelter from the elements for cooking, packing and "hanging out" whilst providing the additional rain protection for my TINY backpacker tent not for providing the ONLY shelter.

Thanks for those links Dave

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

I see from your 'blog' that your departure is not until September, I'm suppose you will be at Ripley so how about asking Austin Vince if he will do a talk/demo on different aspects of poncho arranging for camping(nearly put for camps)

I had heard that a few years ago at Ripley he did such a talk, Apart from tents, I also have an hammock, tarp etc, only used it H&T once, and took ages to erect, then purchased another tarp with poles which I tried to set-up in my garden and failed miserably as I landed up with poles and tarp falling in all directions.
I could certainly do with someone giving a 'demo', infact, I think I will email Austin now..............and hope!
Footnote; Have sent a request to Austin

__________________
'He who laughs last, was too slow to get the joke'
Never confuse the map with the journey.

Thats a good idea...

Sadly, I won't be at Ripley this year as i'll be sunning myself in Cyrpus.

__________________
Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

I've been playing with a Basha. I set off with the idea that I'd turn the sidecar into a platform and sleep on that, nicely off the deck with a bivvy bag and basha as required. The platform idea doesn't work for various reasons (where to put the gear that was on it, head down a slope etc.) while the bivvy, bag, poles, para-cord and basha together are as big and heavy as my tent but take longer to put up/take down. I'm sticking with it as I like the idea of having as little between me and the sky as possible in summer, but I won't be rushing to leave the Khyam at home in typical UK weather.

Andy

I've been using these for many years but for bike trips I've found the bivvy bag the least useful - it's something I've used more often when hiking. A tarp / basha though is really useful and well worth the extra weight. I've used one on many occasions for overnight, side of the road, stops and on a couple of occasions in campsites when I'd lost the tent. This pic was taken back in the 70's when the tent fell off the bike in France and I spent a couple of weeks like this in various Spanish campsites -



There are downsides though. More recently in the Sahara I set up something similar for an overnight stop. I was happily lying there looking up at the most magnificent night sky I've ever seen when various "creatures of the night" (insects, not women) started crawling over me. The security of the tent was then very welcome but it only had to be good enough, no need to set it up properly -



The same tarp was used many times as a sunshade when stopped, as a clean workspace when trying to fix something at the side of the road, as padding to stop stuff destroying itself in the boxes and many other things. For the cost it's probably one of the most useful things you can take but if you're intending to camp a lot take a tent that'll keep the bugs out as well.

This was my last morning of the trip verdict on a tent that didn't -

Decathlon superstore things do a decently sized and priced tarp.

Tarps & Bivvy Bags do a video of how to do stuff

Sleeping Bag | Sleeping Bags – Tents - Flysheets - Hammocks Ray Mears shop site have a few tarps, but also Clingons, which are very handy things you only need a few of, to connect a line either where there is no attachment hole, or if you've ripped one out!

Reusable All Weather Foil Space Blanket - ADULT - SP Services (UK) Ltd this is cool I think, a survival blanket but heavy enough to last a good few years of use. Eyelets in the corners, silvered on one side red/orange on the other and light enough for leaving in a rucksack for hiking purposes! They also do a very wide range of medical stuff, some of which even with the description I still don't know what its for!

Keyword Product Search --- EE33 Tactical Outfitters
This lot do some very good stuff, but you may find it a bit cheaper elsewhere. Both with them and their sister site Heinnie Haynes don't search for "knife", you'd be there for weeks!

I have a hammock with a zipped on mozzie net and waterproof cover, with a flysheet too. If its hanging with you in it it has pockets under you (outside) for shoes etc, but that also act as an insulative air cushion. I've never tried but you can with two supports like a bike and a small telescopic pole, hold up each end of the hammocks fly and use it on the floor as a tent, and zip up the mozzie bit if there are bugs, or most of the waterproof bit too for a bit more draft proofing. The whole thing is lighter than a tent mainly due to its smallness and not having a groundsheet as such, and is about the size of a shoe when compressed. Not a Hennessey cos as far as I'm aware you can only get into that thru a whole underneath which I don't fancy, but a
Clark Jungle Hammock - Hammock Camping products for backpackers which isn't as cheap now with the exchange rate as it is, but a fab piece of kit!

Google bushcraft, shelter and hammock and you'll find loads of stuff!

Any good tent will provide equal or greater protection than your average tent-with-tarp combination. A bad tent will not, no matter what it's combined with. What's more, tarps tend to fly away in breezes, sometimes towing whatever you thought you'd secured them to. Maybe I'm prejudiced since I own good tents for other reasons, and don't need to buy more for motorcycling; maybe I'm further prejudiced by my recent witnessing of various tents collapsing, tearing, blowing away and/or suffering broken poles in the Patagonian winds......but on a once-in-a-lifetime trip I'd rather spend a bit extra and have my gear perform as intended.

Some are more easily satisfied than I, however.

Mark

PS: FWIW, if you buy an extra large bike cover, you can camp out under it along with the bike. You need a bike cover anyway, for security reasons at least. It's worth a thought.

Well, if low temperatures or critters/unwelcome insects are a consideration, a tent is clearly the way to go. Despite using the tent most of the time, I always carry the 'mighty poncho' as the Mono folks call it, because it has just too many uses:

- poncho
- bike cover (keeps rain and eyes off the bike, stops people from climbing on it)
- tent ground sheet
- basha/quick backup shelter
- tarp/sun protection
- work space for maintenance (e.g. on sand)
- hammock
- stretcher
- survival rain water collection

The downside to kit that can do all of the above is that it's heavy, relatively speaking.

I really enjoyed the experience of sleeping under a basha. Waking up and instantly being able to see the scenery all around you is great - The only thing better is sleeping under the stars. Most of the time the only purpose my basha was to keep the dew off me.

Bivvy bag - no real use for a bike trip imo.

A good quality tarp pitched well can withstand almost anything weather wise. I endured one of the worst thunder storms I'd ever seen in greece, camped up on a beach - Almost a worst case pitching scenario with basha between bike and pole, with all pegs going into sand. As long as you get the tarp really taught and low to the ground it shouldn't be effected too badly by the wind.

Whether to take a basha as your sole form of sleeping shelter? All comes down to what kind of trip you want to do. I needed to get a tent as I'd gained some female company, but otherwise I like the experience of 'roughing it'.

A poncho is a good idea to carry if you definately want a to use a tent for sleeping. You don't need to carry rope or poles or things if you just want to use it as a sun shelter for lunch stops etc - Just use the bungies you strap your luggage on with, and stop next to trees/signpost/pylon etc. You don't neccessarily need one of the really heavy duty army ponchos if you aren't planning on using it on a daily basis, a lightweight but good quality ripstop poncho will work pretty well. We used our poncho to make our tent warmer by sticking it inbetween the inner and outer parts, covering all the vents in the inner.

A poncho makes a better shelter and bike cover, than what a bike cover makes a shelter

Long term, effective weather protection - Slept under this basha at a campsite in Belgium for 10days, and it rained almost everyday including really heavy rain. All my stuff sprawled out underneath, but nothing really ever got wet.

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UK to Mongolia 2009, on a DR350