>Anyone ride a full susser?
I cant fit my gear on like I could with my hardtail and rack<

Buy a full suspension rack then – check out Old Man Mountain and Axiom products( tho Windwave wont import them so you’ll need to source form North America)

>Anyone that says tents are better than a bivvy bag is kind of missing the point really – they’re really for slightly different things.<

Bivvys are for incurable romantics?

Seriously though I do get the point of the bivvy but I’d rather have the comort and protection of a UL tent for the very little xtra weight and volume.

Still shuddering at the thought of “stealth camping near towns” 😉

STATO you need a word with Taylor (Flatfish) … on the WRT they had homemade (they didn’t look it) thermal blankets that fit in side the hammock. Looked like they packed small and weighed not alot.

Stuart

Yeh it gets really cold from underneath in a hammock, especially with a down bag, even in summer! I take some laminate floor underlay, the white slightly expanded stuff, weighs nowt and keeps your arse warm.

Cheers twang/s8tannorm – At the moment ive got a 4 season down bag and an airmat previously used on tent trips, ive also got an alpkit bivvybag im taking as an emergency shelter (plan to put it under the mat as extra insulation). Ive read about the blankets but i figure my sleeping bag can achieve the same job for now, just packs a bit bigger.

You can put a sleeping mat in your hammock for more comfort and insulation.

thats my plan gil, was worried it might move around a bit so think i might put the bivvybag over the bottom of the mat and sleeping bag, im probably going to boil alive now :0)

Ta,
Rich.

TandemJeremy – Member

I simply fail to see the point.

That was clear when you suggested a tent

People who don’t understand bivvying always do :o)

Anyone ride a full susser?

Epic design bags are what you want, why add racks?

just got a bivi bag for my birthday and cannot wait to use it. I also want to get a lightweight tarp.

Tempted to do pennine bridleway in a couple of days with bivi but they are meant to be opening up the new section shortly so keep waiting for that.

oh, and what is wrong with rucksacks? Surely it would all fit comfortably in a 25l? Or am I missing something?

I like the Bonty/Trek seatpost rack, as the platform is longer than the more readily available topeak racks. I normally have a rear mudguard so the rack does the same job effectively reducing the weight added by the rack.
Being a weight weeny I have my “sleeping” bivvy kit down to around 2kg, so not really noticeable. I don’t normally bother with a stove as I’m not a tea / coffee addict. Just plan a route to hit a pub mid evening or a chippy at lunch, and a few extra snacks in the camelback and you’re good to go.

The idea of redundancy was suggested earlier as a security margin. Bin security, live on the edge and have a real adventure.

See you out there!!

Spamf – I suspect your idea of bivvying is far removed from mine. The places I’m interested in, there’s nowhere handy for stopping by to eat and “living on the edge” can result in being too close to death.

Being a weight weeny I have my “sleeping” bivvy kit down to around 2kg,

So whats that consist of? Just a mat, bag and bivi?

Curious as I am a self confessed weight weenie myself with outdoor geear but generally not with bike kit.

Having that much weight on your back for a lengthy period is not pleasant, especially as it tends to force your arse harder onto the saddle. if your only going for an overnighter then a rucksack is a lot easier/quicker, anything more and id be looking to get some/most of it onto the bike somehow, currently looking at trailers myself so im not restricted to taking a specific bike.

Rich.

Dave – Moderator

TandemJeremy – Member

I simply fail to see the point.

That was clear when you suggested a tent

People who don’t understand bivvying always do :o)

I have bivvyed many times. You save a kilo in weight tops. a decent one person tent weighs a kilo or so a lightweight bivvy bad a few hundred grammes. Everything else remains the same. As much or as little cooking kit as you want, a sleeping bag, food etc

druidh – Member

Spamf – I suspect your idea of bivvying is far removed from mine. The places I’m interested in, there’s nowhere handy for stopping by to eat and “living on the edge” can result in being too close to death.

This is very true. Trying going up into the highlands where the weather can change from sunny and 20 C to howling gales and pouring rain at not much above freezing in less than 12 hrs

>Anyone ride a full susser?

Epic design bags are what you want, why add racks? <

Err, because you can write off that central triangle bag for most full suspension designs and that thing hanging off the seatpost will only take a fraction of the load a rack can. Of course if the point is to prove just how minimalist it’s possible to be – you win.

LOL @ Spamf and pubs / chippies en route

I’m kinda with the ul tent guys, my 1.5 man is 1200g when dry, dark green and kinda coffin shaped, fairly easy to stealth camp. My only experiance of a bivi is staying awake all night freezing my nads off under a hedge (only shelter for miles).

2 kg for your overnight kit? really? how cold can you sleep in that?

My only experiance of a bivi is staying awake all night freezing my nads off

How much of that is down to choice of sleeping/bivvy bags?
I was looking at some UL-tents a while back and they were £££!

Stato makes a good point, not only in choice of equipment, but also when and where you’re choosing to camp/bivvy. ADH sounds like he was under prepared or was not using equipment appropriate to his needs.

TJ is clearly looking at camping in the highlands in spring, summer and autumn (winter too?), whereas I’ll Bivvy for a couple of days max, mostly in the summer in the south west, supported by pubs and shops along the way so I don’t have to carry loads of clobber.

I carry about 1.5 kilos extra for that kind of trip. A summer down bag, an Alpkit Hunka, lightweight merino thermals for sleeping, a 3/4 Thermarest and an aqua straw and plastic bag for robbing water from streams.

The 2Kg kit is:

Marmot Atom Down Sleeping Bag 400gm rated to +5 degrees.
Silk Liner at 170gm giving 2-3 extra degrees.
Prolite 3/4 Thermarest 320gm
Katmandu Milair Bivvy 650gm-ish
All wrapped up in a ground sheet that I can set up on and keep my kit reasonably clean.
End result, a slightly sub 2kg bivvy set-up.

As for the pub/chippy issue, I can’t think of many places in England where you could get a full days riding in without coming across civilisation unless you purposely avoided it, which seems artificial in its self. I just choose to use said civilisation to my advatage. Its great heading up the hills when everyone else is heading down.

End result, a slightly sub 2kg bivvy set-up.

My tent set up
a PHD minimus bag ~470g
Sup-air 2 man tent ~ 750g
Balloon bed ~ 100g

Which gives me roughly at total of less than 1.4kg
Cooking kit adds less than 100g ex fuel.
And I can cook inside the tent when it’s raining 🙂

Did my first proper bivvi up ilkley moor the other day. Managed to fit all my kit in a 35l rucsack and didn’t get a sore back from riding (20km).

Didn’t bother with a mat, gathered together some heather mears stylee and laid it beneath a dry stone wall. Was tucked up before 10 with hip flask, orbital on the ipod and clouds moving along steadily to send me to sleep. Was lovely. Slept well too.

Riding down from ilkley moor at 6 in the morning in the fog was probably one of the best piece of local riding i’ve had in a while.

As for tent/bivvi argument: bivvi for rucksack and tent for pannier.

Also, anyone interested in bivvi’in west yorkshire area???

How long does it take to sort out the balloon bed? They look like a ridiculous farce to me.

Sup-air 2 man tent ~ 750g

Ian, thats not a tent, thats a handkerchief! one sneeze and it’ll blow away! 😆 Sup-air
Also, not waterproof?

Or breathable … so the bumph says.

Ian, thats not a tent, thats a handkerchief! one sneeze and it’ll blow away! Sup-air
Also, not waterproof?

Indeed, there are much better options for very little extra weight. The Coleman Rigel x2 does a reasonable job as a single skin tent: http://worldofcamping.co.uk/shop/Coleman_Rigel_X2_2_man_lightweight_tent__1665 and pretty cheap.

But if you want to do things really properly then the Terra Nova tents are the way to go: http://worldofcamping.co.uk/shop/Terra_nova_Laser_competition_1_man_tent__1651

In fact I need a new tent, and those TN Lasers are very nice 🙂

I used to have a two person tent that weighed under a kilo. Double skin and reasonably robust. My current tent is a big two person tent – 3 / 4 season and weighs 1.8 kgs while being capable of repelling the worst that the UK can throw at it – its been tested

mmm… all very interesting.

planning a transalp/alpencross for five weeks time. we don’t want the costs of the huts and like the flexibility of camping whenever we find somewhere convinent or when we’re pooped.

did think about a hammock but as stated above, when there are no tress you are ****. i would still have to carry a tarp and mat, anyhow.
my ‘camping’ kit currently consists of; sleeping bag, 550gr; full length mat, 555gr; 2x3m ‘stealhy green’ tarp, 450gr. guessing the ropes and pegs will add 200gr.

no bivvy bag. we’re not planning on sleeping completely out in the open; use cover where available – logged trees, buildings etc. we’ll have the tarp – although i think 3x4m would be better – and if the weather is real shitty we’ll kip in a hut (or abandoned building). the bag is rated for minus 10.
no stove, pots, utensils to caryy, just ‘easy’ food – energy bars, flapjacks, fruit.

eating in the huts and moving on to find a site to kip in the evenings. sleeping bag and matt strapped to bike (under bars/behind saddle) as they are the bulkiest items.

along with the ~1.7kg for the sleeping gear i’m hoping to keep the total weight around 5.5-6kg. using a 22ltr bag.

working with the idea of being light and fast. we’ll see.

anyone wild camped in the alps without any problems? any long distance trips and tales of woe?

alpin – that sounds ace fun..!

Ian, thats not a tent, thats a handkerchief! one sneeze and it’ll blow away! Sup-air
Also, not waterproof?

Yep, pretty waterproof. I’ve certainly had no problems in the rain, though being a single skin you do suffer condensation issues if you’re not careful. In strong winds it doesn’t blow away, but it does get’s flattened on a regular basis. It does re-inflate after the gust passes but it’s a bit disconcerting 🙂
I certainly wouldn’t want to use it for longer than a weekend.

bike’s just outta shot. a great day/night/day, mostly alpkit stuff

That fella in the grey bag has his bag a bit tight. was he chilly at all?

he’s got his sleeping mat inside the bivvy bag-despite our advice 😉 don’t think he was cold but he had a LOT of whiskey to keep him warm!

I guess on an XL hunka you could get away with that.

only problem then is if it’s raining and you wanna turn over and pull the bag over your head, bit of a faff.

My bivvi kit weighs about 2 kg less than what i’d take tent camping – because it is just a sleeping bag bivvi bag combo. In a tent i’d need a mat and a tent extra whereas the bivvi has no real weight penalty over a sleeping bag.

It doesn’t feel risky either – very waterproof, and the 800g one is okay down to -something degrees.

I did camp out once with a blizzard survival bag – foil and plastic thing, high up in a snowstorm. That was not the most comfy night’s sleep ever – my current solution is a lot better.

I like both bivvying and camping – both good for different things. There’s something special about sleeping under the stars, and it is great not to carry a bulky tent and to be able to do proper riding whilst on a tour.

Joe

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locations?

I do alot of this, bivvy bagging and guerrilla camping with a small tent. Got the bug years ago when doing DofE, as part of it we had to spend one night in an old orange plastic “survival bag” but my group only had a small tent so I ended up doing the whole week sleeping in the plastic bag! Bivvying is great and as others have said you can easily get your overnight kit down to an easy weight. Always use a 30l backpack including water bladder myself and if the chest and waist belts are done up well I find it fine to ride with. If you’re out with your bivvy bag my top tip is look at the weather forecast! Not the general one on telly after the news but learn to read the pressure and wind charts on the met office website, with a bit of experience you can guage pretty well what the next day or so has in store, especially this time of year. As others have said it’s not as great in cr@p weather no matter how hi-tech your bag is.
I’m on a limited budget so most of my stuff is cheap and cheerful I’ve had alot of use out of a >£20 pro action 1 man tent I got from Argos a couple of years ago, don’t know if they still do them but a friend got one off ebay earlier in the year. Surprisingly robust, not too bad weight-wise (about 1kg-same as a litre of water), give it a good fab-sil and its waterproof and packs up small especially if you put the poles on the outside of your bag/tape them to your frame, leave the door, essentially one side of the tent open and it’s pretty much the same as being outside with the benefit of a bit of shelter if the weather does turn. It has a net inner door aswell for insect protection. Only one skin so does condensate badly (especially hassle in sub zero temps when the condensation freezes-was a lovely clear winter night though!)
Agree with the other top tips, wooly hat, fresh socks etc. mine would be long johns to change into. Sleeping in padded cycling shorts is not good. Also a sleeping bag liner, adds a bit of warmth if you need it and easy to wash.

TJ-You can change in a bivvy bag, just takes a bit of wriggling.
Doughnuthead-I always have my mat inside the bivvy bag, means you don’t slide off it in the night.

Sorry about the essay, after mountain biking this is my favourite subject 😀