It is often suggested that if you are new to cycle touring, it may be good to go on a ho(s)tel tour first, to avoid the initial investment in camping gear. Instead, I want to argue that even serious quality camping gear can be earned back in one summer holiday. Let me show some tentative sums. A ho(s)tel holiday of three weeks for two people would cost perhaps 50 pounds a day for the ho(s)tel, plus perhaps 15 pounds per day for eating out rather than cooking your own meals. A camping holiday would be some 15 pounds per day for the campsite, plus the cost of camping gear, of course. So the difference is about 1000 pounds for these three weeks. How much would camping gear cost - how much do you need to earn back?
You want seriously compact and lightweight quality gear that will keep you comfortable and safe during Spring and Autumn holidays in, for example, France, and summer holidays at higher altitides in, for example, Switzerland. And you want the gear to last at least something like a decade, rather than disintegrate after two seasons. Two Exped Synmat Basic mattresses, two Alpkit Pipedream 400 sleeping bags, a Trangia 25 UL stove with pots, and an MSR Hubba Hubba HP tent can be had for about 800 pounds. And all this only weighs less than 6 kg, or less than 3 kg per person. These are only examples, and you can spend more on lighter stuff or a more spacious tent, or stuff that is better suited to 4 season camping. However, these examples present really high quality gear that is perfectly suitable for almost all serious cycle touring in Europe.
So you can earn back the initial investment in about one year. If you don't like the cycling bit you can use the camping gear to go car camping next year. If you don't like the camping bit, you can sell the camping gear second had, and still get a few hundred pounds for it.
Finally, this is only the money argument. The fun argument is even stronger: camping is a joy to do.
Willem
You want seriously compact and lightweight quality gear that will keep you comfortable and safe during Spring and Autumn holidays in, for example, France, and summer holidays at higher altitides in, for example, Switzerland. And you want the gear to last at least something like a decade, rather than disintegrate after two seasons. Two Exped Synmat Basic mattresses, two Alpkit Pipedream 400 sleeping bags, a Trangia 25 UL stove with pots, and an MSR Hubba Hubba HP tent can be had for about 800 pounds. And all this only weighs less than 6 kg, or less than 3 kg per person. These are only examples, and you can spend more on lighter stuff or a more spacious tent, or stuff that is better suited to 4 season camping. However, these examples present really high quality gear that is perfectly suitable for almost all serious cycle touring in Europe.
So you can earn back the initial investment in about one year. If you don't like the cycling bit you can use the camping gear to go car camping next year. If you don't like the camping bit, you can sell the camping gear second had, and still get a few hundred pounds for it.
Finally, this is only the money argument. The fun argument is even stronger: camping is a joy to do.
Willem