Interesting vid on free/wild camping

[Blue Hills]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XJUyWASiEsY


From last year's Cycle Touring Festival (it's been virtual during the 2 year plague rather than in the Lancashire fresh air)

The host is Stephen Fabes, author of this book, which I can recommend.

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/55857370-signs-of-life

Interesting that he recommends fastening the bike to the tent at night, even when in the middle of nowhere - he ticks himself off at one point for neglecting to do this.

 

[matticus]

Interesting that he recommends fastening the bike to the tent at night, even when in the middle of nowhere - he ticks himself off at one point for neglecting to do this.

What's his preferred method?


(I'll try to watch this later - if only to see where in Reading/Cambridge that pic was taken! Videos aren't the same as watching a real person tell their tales ... :-( )

 

[Blue Hills]

What's his preferred method?

doesn't really say - the topic is also covered at the end of the vid.

He does have a tale of a Mongolian horseman dragging a bike away.

Maybe I'll start doing it more - must admit to a certain worry on crawling out of the bivi or tent that the bike will be gone - don't suppose it's too much trouble to string something up - I also have an alarm.

(Of course the other question is, struggling out of a tent/bivi to confront a thief, they might have a certain advantage - shoes, clothes)

Anyways it's a very good vid - some good contributors - and I do recommend his book)

 

[Deafie]

Excellent! I have been entertaining the idea of taking a month to ride around the UK this autumn but I hate schedules, I very much had wild camping in mind and that was very encouraging

 

[Oldhippy]

I always use a lightweight teepee tent that fits the bike inside with plenty of room for me. 6kg only.

 

[Blue Hills]

I always use a lightweight teepee tent that fits the bike inside with plenty of room for me. 6kg only.

do you have a pic of this on the bike?

 

[Oldhippy]

No but will remember to take some next time. Tent fits in front pannier and cable tie centre pole to the frame. Not as mad as it sounds. Can't be doing coffin tents.

 

[mikeIow]

6kg is lightweight 👀
Perhaps between two people?

Mine has a big porch to wedge a wheel under if you want….2.4kg…..probs could get the bike in if you wanted.

Also have a small cheap remote alarm zip tied under the saddle, like this. Handy for nipping into a shop, or indeed would raise an alert overnight….
…& had this super cheap Dutch wheel lock with cable: at night I looped the cable through the tent….

 

[Blue Hills]

6kg is lightweight 👀
Perhaps between two people?

Mine has a big porch to wedge a wheel under if you want….2.4kg…..probs could get the bike in if you wanted.

Also have a small cheap remote alarm zip tied under the saddle, like this. Handy for nipping into a shop, or indeed would raise an alert overnight….
…& had this super cheap Dutch wheel lock with cable: at night I looped the cable through the tent….
View attachment 634810

wot's the tent? Looks a bit like my Vango Spirit 200 + but it isn't.
Would be intrigued to see a wider shot - at first sight doesn't look too hidden for a free/wild camp.
(by the by, I have the same alarm - seems good - definitely damn loud)

 

[IaninSheffield]

wot's the tent? Looks a bit like my Vango Spirit 200 + but it isn't.
Would be intrigued to see a wider shot - at first sight doesn't look too hidden for a free/wild camp.
(by the by, I have the same alarm - seems good - definitely damn loud)

Im sure @mikelow will correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like the Vango Force 10 Xenon UL2+. I considered it before settling on the smaller footprint UL2 - easier to pitch in the often smaller areas available when wild camping.
That particular shade of green seems to be very discrete and blends in well to leafy surroundings, especially in the low light of evening. However, despite aspirational intentions to wild camp, I've come to realise just how reviving I find a shower at the end of a day's cycling. So campsites are usually my destinations, despite the inevitable loss of freedom.

 

[Baldy]

I always use a lightweight teepee tent that fits the bike inside with plenty of room for me. 6kg only.

For backpacking 6kg would do for all my kit plus a couple of days food, I generally try to go a bit lighter for bikepacking.

 

[Sallar55]

When you rough camp in the open expect a few visitors/attachments/photos-1-2-jpg.634846/?hash=7fd057dd2e0be85aa7b31201b57098ab

 

[Blue Hills]

despite aspirational intentions to wild camp, I've come to realise just how reviving I find a shower at the end of a day's cycling. So campsites are usually my destinations, despite the inevitable loss of freedom.

I like my showers as well, normally shower before getting on the bike, but find that I can go an evening or two without a shower as long as I keep my hair short, wash hair when showering and have fresh underwear every day. Yep freecamping does give you so much more freedom.

 

[mikeIow]

wot's the tent? Looks a bit like my Vango Spirit 200 + but it isn't.
Would be intrigued to see a wider shot - at first sight doesn't look too hidden for a free/wild camp.
(by the by, I have the same alarm - seems good - definitely damn loud)

Ian is right, the Force ten xenon 2+…& yes, that wasn’t a wild camp but a smaller campsite. Bought for a very discounted price in 2020, an expensive tent!
I still think the ten would work well (& maybe I will test it out sometime this year!).

If I were getting one today, I am 99% sure I would pick this beauty from Alpkit: ideal for cycling with the air hoop ‘pole’ 😎👍

 

[IaninSheffield]

If I were getting one today, I am 99% sure I would pick this beauty from Alpkit: ideal for cycling with the air hoop ‘pole’ 😎👍

Now *that* is interesting! It's a while now since I came across Vango's newly launched Project Hydrogen airbeam tent, but at £600 couldn't seriously contemplate it. Alpkit's Aeronaut looks to be much more tempting.