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2 Jun 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by colebatch
so whats next mate? ditching the 15 quid tesco tent for £3?
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The £15 is the only one I have left after leaving my others around the world lol...
I don't think i'm even going to carry camping and cooking stuff next time. Maybe just a tiny back packer tent for emergencies..
Hostels are bloody everywhere now and are often cheaper than camp sites.. Plus, you get to meet tons of great people.
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2 Jun 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by *Touring Ted*
There's nothing worse than carting around some expensive, bulky item that you hardly use or want to change, but can't ditch or give away because it cost too much..
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Like a 1200GSA ?
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2 Jun 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by farqhuar
Hey Ted, it's not the weight or price of the bags I'm on about it - it's the premium price people pay for superlight weight tents and other gear that goes in the bags. I'm debating it on ADV at present where my argument that spending $350 on a tent to save a kilo in weight doesn't make any sense when my elcheapo tent cost a tenth of the price and does the job just as well (for me at least).
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$350.- for a tent...  HA! ...try Euro 759.- or US$1,092.- (1.44 EX-RATE) for a 2-folks tent  .
Not so much for the weight, but for good quality equipment. I don't buy into "elcheapo" doing an equally good job. But, we all have different expectations of our gear...
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3 Jun 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by T.REX63
$350.- for a tent... HA! ...try Euro 759.- or US$1,092.- (1.44 EX-RATE) for a 2-folks tent .
Not so much for the weight, but for good quality equipment. I don't buy into "elcheapo" doing an equally good job. But, we all have different expectations of our gear... |
Although off the topic of the initial thread I agree with T.REX63 I bought a coleman tent which the perfect size, packed and up, weight the whole deal. Then I spent at least 30mins at every second site repairing snapped poles.  Then the zipps started to fail...I think I will be buying quality this time..unless i can buy the same tent alone the way..maybe Touring Ted has the idea about hostels...
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3 Jun 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by *Touring Ted*
I don't think i'm even going to carry camping and cooking stuff next time. Maybe just a tiny back packer tent for emergencies..
Hostels are bloody everywhere now and are often cheaper than camp sites.. Plus, you get to meet tons of great people.
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Depends where you go I think, like if you were in Australia or the USA you wouldn't want to be paying $80 a night for a crappy motel room in between the cities.
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3 Jun 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tony P
Like a 1200GSA ?
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AHAHAHAHAHAHAAH !!!! 
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3 Jun 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by *Touring Ted*
I don't think i'm even going to carry camping and cooking stuff next time. Maybe just a tiny back packer tent for emergencies..
Hostels are bloody everywhere now and are often cheaper than camp sites.. Plus, you get to meet tons of great people.
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you are learning mate  
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4 Jun 2011
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All of the best places I've spend the night have been camping. Heaps better than a feral guesthouse with sagged beds and 200 year old pillows.
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10 Jun 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tmotten
All of the best places I've spend the night have been camping. Heaps better than a feral guesthouse with sagged beds and 200 year old pillows.
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Have to agree with that, we have a Hilliberg Kieron GT4 and we have used it through Europe etc, taking it next year on our American trip for 2 years or so
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10 Jun 2011
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by [B
Touring Ted[/B]]I don't think i'm even going to carry camping and cooking stuff next time. Maybe just a tiny back packer tent for emergencies..
Hostels are bloody everywhere now and are often cheaper than camp sites.. Plus, you get to meet tons of great people.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by colebatch
you are learning mate
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Two Moto Kiwis
Have to agree with that, we have a Hilliberg Kieron GT4 and we have used it through Europe etc, taking it next year on our American trip for 2 years or so
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Hostels have their place and are good for certain things like getting tinea and bed bugs and having 18yo teenagers waking you up at 3am when they get back from partaying and leave the light on and then start to snore.
Personally if I'm going to meet people then I'd rather it be locals and not acne faced tourists on a RTW backpacking drinking binge. 
I've met and kept in contact with more people especially locals by setting up my tent in someones farm, paddock or back yard then I have by staying the night in a cheap smelly dirty hostel. Not to mention the free food and beverage that we regularly get when camping at campsites. But I do agree that less is more, and if the tent space is so precious then hostels might be a better dryer, warmer option (especially since you're with soft luggage  ) but for us riding 2up, it's cheaper to camp then to pay for 2x bunk beds in a hostel. And it's even more expensive if we want privacy!
... but I digress. The OP was about handling, we seem to have lost the plot somewhere in the past 5 pages. 
Last edited by TurboCharger; 10 Jun 2011 at 13:39.
Reason: typo
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10 Jun 2011
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I think peoples idea of hostels are rather biast.. They're not all full of 18 year old ravers....
It really depends where you are. If you're on bondi beach then yeah, if you're in Swaziland, no !!
There are many hostels which are very civilized as well as being chilled out melting pots..
You really have to do your research....
Rule 1...... Don't go to the first three hostels at the top of the list in the lonely planet ! 
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10 Jun 2011
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Quote:
Originally Posted by *Touring Ted*
You really have to do your research....
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And there's the problem... planning stops. Cant be arsed
Cheers,
John
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10 Jun 2011
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teds right on the hostels there is some real ok places with great people
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11 Jun 2011
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The one thing we have found on our travels is that there isn't always a backpacker conveniently placed where we want to stay thus the tenting suits us far better, we usually end up somewhere off the beaten track.
Our Hilli Keron GT4 is 5.6kg true weight so I put it behind me in an Ortlieb 620 35L bag, something to rest on and keep the weight more central which does help handling.
For my wife and I with 2 lids, 4 boots 2 jackets, 2 pants etc the vestibule on the GT4 is mint in less than ideal weather.
Like the op, I want the bike to handle well so we are in the process of finding a proprietary rack or if it comes down to it I will build our own to bring the weight forward (or more central) and mount the side cases closer behind our legs than a lot of racks offer, neither of us will be carrying passengers so the more central the weight the better esp for the wife at 5'2".
Great thread and great to compare soft and hard, we are using Pelican cases being watertight and lockable etc and they crash well.
So on that note, we will be on two DR650's, does anyone know of a good proprietary rack we can buy in Alaska/America that we can have more central mounting, welcome the input, cheers all.
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11 Jun 2011
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To me this is an idyllic experience which I haven't yet managed to replicate without camping. The site was right behind me. Found it by chance and decided to end the day there. Had enough time to find a bottle of wine and were joint by some Polish cyclist who moved 200m down stream for the same isolation experience but were great fun to share a bottle wine with at a camp fire for dinner. Priceless.
Beats the shit out of finding the public bathhouse in shitsville Moron Mongolia in the dark.
But going back on track like turbo, you don't need a 2 man tent if you're on your own. You should be able to get your mat, sleeping bag and bivi or single man tent in a roll (closure) bag. I stuff both the sleeping bag and tent. Keep the outer separate for when it's wet. This should only weight about 5-6kg and can make a nice back rest for long ride on the slab, but close to COG for riding off road.
It's just plain awesome to go hard off the beaten track, through beautiful country with the knowledge that you've got everything you need to stop and enjoy the surrounds when and wherever you want getting away from the concrete jungle and pollution. 
But that's just me.  
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