Motorcycle Camping Tents: How to Choose The Best Moto Camping Tent For Any Budget

hello friends and welcome back to the dork side i'm the dork in the road and today let's talk about motorcycle camping tents do you really need to go out and spend 500 on a bike packing tent to go motorcycle camping uh no [Music] i'm the dork in the road and i want to be your internet writing buddy so please consider subscribing a few weeks ago i made a video on my tiger wall ul2 sort of a first impressions kind of initial setup video i got a lot of interesting comments on that video that's a very expensive very nice tent but a lot of people seem to have gotten the impression that i was saying you need a tent that costs 500 to go motorcycle camping and you absolutely do not so this video is going to be about some options for beginner motorcycle campers really to just let you know what will work and what won't work and give you some ideas of what to buy or what to start looking at and also we're just going to kind of talk about there's different tiers so i've got like a low end a middle end and then the high end tent so even if you're an experienced model camper maybe looking to upgrade or looking for ideas this video might have something for you there are several very very in-depth videos out there about motorcycle camping tents but those videos at least the ones that i've seen are are almost too in-depth they go very deep into different tent styles and weights they're debating ounces and fabrics and all of that for someone who is new just wants to know the answer to the question what do i actually need is very confusing and it can really turn into like white noise so we're not going to debate the minutia of tents today we're going to talk about three tiers of options just to give you some ideas where to get started so motorcycle camping is kind of an interesting hybrid between car camping where you can bring whatever you want and backpacking where you have to have very lightweight and very compact stuff in backpacking weight is just as important as volume because you have to stuff everything into a backpack i would argue in motorcycle camping that volume is probably more important than weight we can carry a little bit more weight on our bikes than we can on our backs and we also can wear a backpack so you've got more space on a motorcycle that's not to say you have unlimited space or a ton of space my point is you can bring a little bit bigger tent than you would if you were backpacking you don't need the absolute smallest tent possible any tent that you can strap to your motorcycle will work even a huge huge tent as long as you can get it on the bike you can technically use it people use those giant lone rider tents that you can park your bike inside of somehow i don't know they're huge it will work it's just not that convenient but in my opinion the ideal size tent for motorcycle camping is a two person tent probably a backpacking tent that gives you enough room for yourself and your gear to stash your gear inside to stash your bags inside if it's raining or to put your gear inside if you leave and go somewhere else and even better is if you can get a tent with a vestibule where you can store your boots and dirty stuff outside but out of the weather but they're not inside the tent getting dirt all over your sleeping bag and stuff freestanding tents are also what i recommend they're advantageous in several ways sometimes you are in a campsite where you can't put stakes in the ground it's rocky it's hard whatever it helps have a freestanding tent there are ways around that though you know you can tie things to rocks to sticks to trees whatever and the other advantage of a freestanding tent is if you set it up and decide oh i don't actually like what's right here you can pick it up and move it some of the tent like my tiger wall ul2 is not fully freestanding but it's freestanding enough that it would work in a pinch so that's just something to consider something that requires stakes to stand up is maybe less of an ideal option in some situations okay all that preamble out of the way let me tell you about a few options for motorcycle camping tents that i would recommend to you at various sort of tiers so the first option is the cheapest option and that is the walmart or the amazon tent i've got two that i recommend to you that i just pulled up there's the coleman sundome two-person tent that's 40 bucks there's a link to that in the description and the ozark trail it's actually a three person their three person was cheaper than their two person but the ozark trail three person clip and camp dome tent that is thirty dollars from walmart there's a link to that in the description too and another option is to check local thrift stores so this is a four person coleman tent that i got for 6.99 the sticker you can't see it but it's right there it's still on there got that at goodwill for 6.99 it was brand new it if it had been set up once i'd be surprised like stuff was still in the bags inside and we've used this a ton uh it's the tent that my daughter sleeps in now when we go car camping and it's lasted me just fine except during the giant loop ride it got kind of crushed by the 50 mile an hour winds but that'll happen with uh fiberglass poles i started motorcycle camping with a two-person ozark trail tent just like the one i'm recommending for you these tents are roomy enough inside but they don't necessarily have the vestibule space that i mentioned like a backpacking tent will have they're also not going to stand up to any significant weather and they're probably not going to last you more than a couple seasons but they'll give you shelter they'll keep the bugs away give you some privacy and if you're just getting started motorcycle camping and you're not sure if you want to spend a lot of money on a full setup you can start with a 40-50 tent from walmart as long as you can get it on your motorcycle it's gonna work for you is that something you want to do long term i don't think so no those are disposable tents and they're not going to really keep you dry i wouldn't want to use them in anything remotely resembling a large heavy rainfall but in terms of getting started in the summer you'll be just fine with the tent like that the big disadvantage to the cheaper tents is they don't as you can see pack up very small so you're probably not going to get it into a pan or you're going to end up strapping it to the top of your bike to the top of a bag something like that so long as you know that going in that you're just going to have a little bit of extra volume to deal with they're manageable but if you really want something more compact you've got to start spending money the more you spend the smaller things get the second option the mid-tier and the most common thing that you'll see in motorcycle campers camping in is the two-person backpacking tent this is a kelty gunnison ii it's hard to tell because i have it stuffed into this giant loop tripod because it's got an air purge valve where i can compress it down even more and these are the poles for it and i keep them separate because the poles are the longest biggest thing the tent the rainfly and the footprint are in here i can smash that down as much as possible and this will fit in a pan here and this wheel too or i can strap it to the top so one advantage to backpacking tents is the pole sections are sometimes shorter these are aluminum poles and it's a single pole design where you just fling the whole thing out and just click the clip they set up so much faster than a tent like this which is probably my favorite feature with these backpacking tents they're more lightweight because they're designed to be carried on your back they pack smaller they're sturdier they're more waterproof and they will last much longer than one of these cheapo tents now you pay for that privilege so here's a few examples that i would recommend in the two-person backpacking tent area but really almost any two-person backpacking tent will work these are just a few examples so you can check them out if you want and again links for everything below but the alps mountaineering links is it is an inexpensive backpacking tent on amazon's 120 bucks rei co-op passage 2 is 160 bucks there's the kelty late start which is the closest thing to this gunnison that i use they don't make the gunnison anymore otherwise i would recommend it to you because it's been great for me but that late start to from kelty looks like it's about the same thing in a version they still sell the late start too is 160 bucks and then if you want to go up a little bit in price there's the classic half dome from rei and that's 230 i think this tent was 160 bucks when i bought it for most people who are going to go camping you know a few times a year up to 10 times a year if you buy one of these two-person backpacking tents they're going to last you a while they're generally waterproof they have a bathtub bottom they have those aluminum poles they're lighter weight they last longer they're easier to set up and these are great option for like i said most motorcycle campers oh and if you can find one some tents come with a footprint this one did if it doesn't you can often buy a footprint for your tent specifically i like that because it's a little cleaner and a little easier that just protects the bottom of your tent and also keeps it from getting super nasty when you roll it up the next day so that you can maybe just keep the footprint out of the bag while the bottom of your tent stayed relatively dry not as much condensation you don't have to buy the footprint specifically for your tent sometimes they're expensive like 80 bucks uh i have a 5x8 tarp that i got at the dollar store that works just fine under 10. i'm going to get too in-depth in it but the advantage of one that's fitted to your tent is it doesn't have edges sticking out where it can catch rain and funnel it underneath versus a tarp where if it's bigger than the footprint of your tent you're going to get that sort of funnel action putting more water under your tent so i like a fitted footprint better than a tarp but a tarp will definitely work in the summer in a pinch if you're just getting started you're not sure go with the cheap tent if you think you're if you're for sure you're going to motor camp you don't want to spend a ton of money i would recommend the backpacking tent and then if you want to go above and beyond that if you want the absolute best solution for motorcycle camping and don't care what it costs then i invite you to check out this is the tiger wall ul2 but this is a big agnes bike packing tent they make several there's the copper spur there's the blacktail hotel several different ones and they all the point of the bike packing tents is they're designed for camping off a bicycle so they pack down super small like this this will fit in almost any pain here like many things motorcycles are a perfect example of this there comes a point of diminishing returns in terms of price so if you want to get smaller and lighter than this one it's not that much smaller it's maybe half the size but it is three times the price this is a 500 tent if you're like me and you've spent a lot of time camping you know you go camping multiple times i'm camping almost every week in the summer it was worth it to me to spend the money and get the smaller more compact 10. that just makes my packing up easier i also get a discount admittedly knowing all of that knowing that it's expensive knowing that you don't necessarily need it but this is the best option out there in my opinion here are some options for you so there's the big agnes blacktail hotel 2 and that one has the garage that you've seen beards bikes and camping has one of those neat set up lots of extra space a little bit more complicated setup than this with the single pole but that's 350 bucks so that's the least expensive and you've got to get the bike packing that's why i've linked them for you below because you can find a blacktail hotel 2 cheaper but if it's not the bike packing one it will not pack up this small there's two versions so be careful with that there's the big agnes fly creek ul2 that one's 380 this is the tiger wall ul2 from big agnes this is a 450 dollar tent you should know this one is not freestanding necessarily you have to stake out the corners it'll still work the corners will just be floppy but it's a it's a sort of a three pole setup instead of a four and then there's the big agnes copper spur bike packing tent the ul two that's 550 that's a freestanding tent that i almost bought instead of this but i got impatient and bought this one instead now those heads are expensive if you want to save a little money you can use my discount code on motocapnerd.com save yourself 10 that code is dork in the road which is not nothing when you're talking about a 500 tent i recommend footprints with these because the material is pretty thin that's how they make it pack up so small it's a different feeling of material i'm sure it's fine but i just like to be as protected as possible and when you're spending this much on a tent you want to protect it i would recommend getting the footprint that fits it these are not cheap but if you want to maximize space on your bike and avoid strapping things to the outside of your panniers this is the absolute best option if you're tent camping now if you want to go even more minimalist you can sleep on the ground you can sleep under a tarp you can go to the hammock i like a tent personally for a ton of reasons and so these are some of my favorite options at various different tiers and i just wanted to share that with you because i do not want to give people the impression that just because i sometimes have bought fancy gear that you need that fancy gear to go camping you don't this seven dollar tent would work fine for 75 of the camping that i do no kidding so look out for those bargains so hopefully this helps you cut through the noise i know there's a lot of tips tricks and advice videos out there and i just think some of that stuff is too in-depth and all i want to know is what do i actually need to go camping so that's the question i'm trying to answer for you you can go camping with a 40 walmart tent just know it has some limitations if you have questions or tent recommendations if you want to recommend other things that i haven't recommended to people that are going to be in here looking for recommendations please leave those in the comments if you're looking for motorcycle camping gear i recommend checking out motocampnerd.com band the owner's awesome guy you can save 10 on everything there with promo code dork in the road the nice thing about that site is you know that anything that's on there will work has been specifically picked for motorcycle camping but for now and as always i just want to say thank you very much for watching and please do not forget to be excellent to each other thank you also do you like my shirt save the pacific northwest manta ray link to the teespring in the description i love this shirt shout out to eric sweet in ontario for designing this rockstar you don't talk about bruno we don't talk about no we aren't talking about bruno no we're talking about tense tense not bruno [Music]

Channel: Dork in the Road

Views: 53,013

Keywords: dork in the road, dork in the road camping, motorcycle camping tent, motorcycle camping, motorcycle tent, best motorcycle tent, moto camping, camping gear for motorcycle trip, motorcycle camping equipment, best motorcycle tents, motorcycle camping tips, motorcycle camping gear list, how to motorcycle camping, how to go motorcycle camping, best moto camping tent, motocamping tent, adventure motorcycle camping, best tent for motorcycle camping, moto camping tent

Id: B3TcXnWv5Vc

Length: 12min 37sec (757 seconds)

Published: Mon Mar 21 2022