Im trying to figure out the best all year sleep system for 2 people on a motorbike.
I used a flocked halfords airbed but was considering a £150 outwell 8.4R SIM however I found enough reviews saying they can leak plus they really don't pack down well. So for my all year setup.
Haslfords airbed £20 if it fails I can buy similar local to the campsite.
furry throw on top £20
Down duvet in compression sack need to find a supplier for the duvet
thermals hat and gloves for the winter
remove the throw and thermals during hotter days.
What would be a good tog. I dot camp much later than october. should i get a 7.5 or consider higher?
I was considering buying a ejoy heated vest gutting it and installing the elements to a sheet of refectlix as a bed heater. on low it would give about 10hrs off a 10000mah powerbank
Not cheap but Exped down mats placed inside a silk liner. Fleece blanket and sleeping bag with hot water bottle/s inside is a great set up and keep you really warm.
I would avoid cheap blow up beds.
When we were touring on the motorcycle, we used a picnic blanket as a tent liner, karrimats on top and Mountain Equipment down mummy sleeping bags.
In the autumn my wife made a fleece sleeping bag for extra warmth.
Have a trawl through the Backpacking section. Little difference in carrying all you need on your back or in panniers on a motorbike.
I’ve also seen some motorbikes towing a small trailer, which opens up some more options but closes others.
I went motorcycle touring for years. I ended up using a self inflating mat on top of a camp bed. Mat for comfort and warmth, there is no insulation on a camp bed alone. I previously used a mat on top of an air bed but that could let you down (literally) in the middle of the night. You also need to carry a pump to inflate an air bed, unless you want to hyperventilate when blowing one up.
Carrying stuff in a rucksack is not a good idea as it could be dangerous in an accident and raises the center of gravity of the bike, but some sports bikes don't have the room to fit panniers.
Exped mats have a built in hand pump ( a little hard work ) or use their brilliant snozzle pumps ( blow up in no time at all and with little or no real effort )
I have to admit I’m a lazy sod and use a 12v pump but the snozzle is brilliant.
Also been motorcycle camping for donkeys years and love it !
Agree about camping cots they do let the cold circulate underneath, also avoid those flock air beds they too suck in the cold.
I will say it again.. Exped mats are not cheap but the best and pack up really small and light and that’s what you need when motorcycle camping they also go down to something like minus 16.
I do a lot of winter camping,( on a campsite) using a flock bed would not be ideal on a motorbike. Majority space in my car was taken up by bedding. Basically you will be lying on top of a block of ice. You will need just as much bedding under you than over you, plus condensation. An insulated self inflating mat or combined with a compact bed (depending on size of tent) would be more ideal. Duvet would be the highest tog rating or a 4 season sleeping bag, or possibly 2 sleeping bags inside the other.
I also do winter wild camping, so I need to be mindful of what I carry.
------------- New Year: Hesketh Bank
Feb/March: Red Squirrel
March: lakes
June: Morecambe
Aug: Lake District(not camping camping)
October: Red Squirrel
Agree with Urbster. Get an exped or thermarest. My exped packs up to the size of a 2 litre coke bottle and is good down to - 12. You can either manually pump it or get a wee rechargeable pump. You don't want to blow up by mouth as it gets the inside moist and full of midew. Comfort wise they give a very good sleep.
An uninsulated airbed is useless and they are massive.
I'm going back to motorbikes and luckily can use all my backpacking gear for touring. If an exped is too expensive, the likes of vaude and Kelty do insulated blow up air mats a bit cheaper.
Thanks for the ideas. In the end i went with a timber ridge fold up camp bed with a roll of 10mm floor underlay foam. Its very quick setup but the negative is it isnt small and its very close to the ground. As i use a 2man fast tent and a 120L eurohike transit bag i find i lack space in the tent as the bag is big so im considering a redcamp camping cot with legs. that way i can store items underneath and it has a side pocket fot bits. its about £80 and requires building each time. the annoying thing is its not much smaller than the timber ridge when packed up. I did consider a big agnes rapide SL but zero storage underneath and £100 for an airbed that may fail later and leave me with an issue put me off. When 2 up i think i will just need to get a small trailer as a double decent airbed will be costly so i think i prefer 2x recamp beds with legs
Not a bike camper, nor much of a tent camper these days either (gone soft and got a luxury caravan for most of my camping!), but still tent camp maybe one a year.
What seems to nearly always escape peoples attention with camp beds (at least until AFTER they've acquired it!) is that the taller they are, the worse they fit most tents! The tent sleeping space dimensions are always given at the floor level, and they are often only just adequate (maybe OK for an airbed or SIM), the higher you get off the floor the smaller the actual space gets due to the sloping walls of the tent! Many raised camp beds are actually digging into the walls of the tent, and so are you to some extent! - with that restricted space, flappy tent walls can often touch you and disturb your sleep, not to mention the condensation on walls that your bedding is likely to be in contact with!
It's surprising, that even seasoned campers are often slow to catch on, EACH person requires pretty much a TWO berth space if they have any baggage in the sleeping area! An 'intimate' couple could get by with a 3 berth space (unless they were my Ex, then a 6 berth tent would be needed for her 'essential' baggage!!!!). The old adage of always reduce a tent's claimed berths by at least one for practical use is well proven!
As to air beds, I like them, and would be my favoured choice of bed, but I no longer trust them! My camping trips are with a group, and without fail year on year, we have several bed fails during our stay – it doesn't seem to matter if cheap or expensive, they just don't seem to be terribly reliable! - a trip to a camping supplier for a replacement seems to be a routine part of our trips! Such is my cynicism these days, I take 2, one as a spare! And why people who decry the reliability of airbeds then buy SIMS is beyond me – it's just a thin airbed with a foam filling that self inflates it! It's got little more assured reliability against leaks, and is just as dysfunctional WHEN it gets one!
Whether I go air bed, or camp bed, depends on the tent I'll be using, the bigger 5/6 berth ones are fine with the camp bed, the small 2/3 berth is definitely only a airbed one!
In a way I quite like the notion of enforced 'minimalism' and careful selection of kit of bike camping, and slightly envious, but for sure with a large car, 'mission creep' tends to lead to kitchen sink and all!!!! - packing/unpacking the car and camp set up/breakdown have become major exercises! Definitely more 'glamping' than bivvy and a brew over a twig fire! - It's my age, not as robust and more needy than I used to be!
.... as to your proposed trailer, it will never be big enough! You'll fill it with ease, then need a bigger one .... slippery slope.
For mattress, Thermarest Self Inflating Mattresses are great & last forever but fairly expensive, or you can get the Aldi ones (which are tiny & cheap but much less durable and not on sale very often). Avoid the cheapo blue flocked Halfords style ones as they'll only last a few uses (at best). Decathlon have a good mix of quality and reasonable prices (although more expensive than Aldi). If you're pressed for space Decathlon have some incredibly small 3/4 mattresses that get good reviews (I have one myself, but have never used it!).
For sleeping in winter, get the absolute warmest thing you can, the tog rating is always a lie :)
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: motorbike camping sleep setup idea?
via mobile 15/10/2022 at 11:17am
