Camping with your Cycle!

[Tenacious Sloth]

Vango Pulsar 300 but some might find it too heavy.

Hmmm.. weight a shade under 4kg. Which part of the tent do you store the bike, inside the sleeping compartment with you or in the vestibule?

 

[mickle]

I'm thinking about something like this for campsites:

 

[Low Gear Guy]

Hmmm.. weight a shade under 4kg. Which part of the tent do you store the bike, inside the sleeping compartment with you or in the vestibule?

I put it in the porch but a shorty like me could probably get it inside the inner with me sleeping sideways.

 

[Bodhbh]

Anywhere hidden or discrete where thieves wouldn't think to go and you'll be fine.

Friends of mine camped in a popular site and they all hid their bikes out of sight of the tents down a slope. The next morning the bikes had all gone. Collusion by the site owner was suspected but couldn't be proved.

tbh I think I'd go the other direction - make sure it's chained up somewhere half the campsite can see if someone's messing about with it. Say hello to the neighbours so they know who's pitched next door with the bike and might look out for you.

I just use a cable lock on tour, but tend to avoid large campsites with the big groups in transit vans. ofc you end up in them now and again.

 

[Tenacious Sloth]

I'm thinking about something like this for campsites:

View attachment 410130

How much does one of those weigh?

 

[jay clock]

I think your are worrying too much. A combination cable lock works for me.

You must be camping in rough places if the owner is nicking your bikes

 

[reppans]

When on tour what is the best way to lock your bike up while camping?

Inside the vestibule?

Out of interest, has anyone on here managed to find a tent that is light enough for cycle touring and can also accommodate both bike and rider?

Gatewood Cape/Serenity NetTent, ~0.8kg/3L (incl pole, footprint, stakes) and doubles as a cycling rain cape.

OK so the folder is cheating a bit , but theft and theft worries got me to quit cycle touring decades ago... this rig got me back into it. No lock required - bike and gear wheel can be easily carried or wheeled inside like carry-on luggage, or baby pram.

 

[Blue Hills]

Friends of mine camped in a popular site and they all hid their bikes out of sight of the tents down a slope. The next morning the bikes had all gone. Collusion by the site owner was suspected but couldn't be proved.

Sorry to hear that but don't understand their thinking. Surely better to have the bike as close as possible?

 

[Globalti]

They thought that it would be better to hide the bikes so they left them all leaning against a tree down a slope out of sight of the tents.

Having seen an entire Spanish campsite cleaned out by robbers who slit open tents and removed people's vaulables from between their heads, I never take a chance in any camp site and everything is locked inside the alarmed car at night. The Spanish incident was one of three campsites that were robbed on the same night and again, collusion was suspected because mysteriously the owner's guard dog slept through the entire event.

 

[Blue Hills]

When I used to go cycle-camping back in the 80s, my friend and I used to thread a length of fishing line through the bikes and pinned close to the ground with a couple of tent skewer pegs to a battery and siren mounted on a small board with a simple tin-plate switch that the fishing line was attached to (kept under the flysheet) - a pull of half an inch on the fishing line would have set the alarm off. The bikes were locked to each other too.

Edit: - these personal alarms cost £3.90 and could easily be adapted:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=40&v=zBAgvEZnuag

I like the sound of that. Already have the fishing line.

May possibly get this:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vigilant-130dB-Personal-Alarm-Flashlight/dp/B005BCL66Y#customerReviews

as it uses AAA batteries - I try to avoid button cell stuff.

edit: thinking,

and combined with the fishing line, these
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/20pcs-se...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

and that alarm could with a bit of cleverness possibly make a good general purpose bike alarm to alert you to any wheel movement.

 

[Low Gear Guy]

I managed to get two bikes into the vestibule at the weekend.

 

[Blue Hills]

yebbut why?

 

[Low Gear Guy]

tebbut why?

I was checking if it was possible. Occasionally there isn't a fixed structure to chain your bike to.

 

[Blue Hills]

see

ah am minded to suggest other things you might try to cram in a tent - to see if it's possible.

I think other security solutions are better to be honest unless there is something particularly particulary bad about the camp. And then maybe move on anyway.

 

[Vantage]

A couple years ago there was a similar thread on the CUK forum by Big Jim.
An idea floating around was the use of personal attack alarms linked from owner/tent to the bike. If it moved enough to pull the pin they give off a deafening siren.
The times I've gone camping withe kids/fiancee/family we've always been able to leave the tent and valuables inside it and wander off for several hours without fear of being theft victims. It's just never happened.
Dunno if I'd feel the same about risking the bike overnight though.