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Camping with a Honda Pan European

What We Use and How We Pack It

Camping Gear

This is everything that we carry - well almost.

Hover over different parts of the photo for a brief description - some have links to the products site, or to one of the UK suppliers.

Rider has right hand pannier for clothes, and any tools.
Pillion has left hand pannier for clothes.

The stuff in the photo is distributed around the bike.

Groundsheet, Front Left

Tank Bag (Blue)

Groundsheet, Front Right

We use an ordinary, light duvet, which is rolled and tightly compression strapped. It fits easily in the top box. I've always thought that sleeping bags are a waste of space since they are poor at insulating cold from the ground. Use good quality mats instead, and have double the insulation on top of you. Cuddle up with your partner. Much better.

Before I could get round to making one for myself, we discovered the Thermarest Down Comforter - Warmer, lighter and two of them occupy half the space of the duvet when packed.

Stove, Stove bottle. My trusty Primus 96L started leaking. Time to get a new one. This one (in a black bag to the left of the boots) is an MSR Dragonfly. Expensive, but brilliant. Very rapid cooking, controllable. I tend to use paraffin (kersosene), but it is multifuel - so you can get away with using just one bottle by pinching fuel from the bike's tank.

Riding Gear. All Hein Gericke. My jacket shown is a textile and leather combination, although I now have the Goretex/Kevlar Master V jacket. I prefer textile to leather - I get hot if I leave the gear on - textile allow me to strip off to normal clothes.

We take cotton sheets and pillowcases. One 'sheet' is n envelope to keep thermarest mats together. Another we use as a top sheet between us and the duvet. Pillowcases for making a pillow out of clothes. All of this fits in the top box.

Billy Can + lid. Simple aluminium. I have a smaller one, but this larger one is easier to stuff things in - so it actually takes up no space in the tank bag.

 

 

Thermarest mats, in blue roll bags. Semi inflatable closed cell insultating sleeping mats.

Plastic bag containing bottle of spare fuel, candles, matches.

Tent.

Lightweight sleeping bag, full zip. Red compression bag. Just in case those starry Summer nights become too cold. It can be used as a bag or as an extra double duvet.

The groundsheets are a must-have. 2 smaller ones are used in the porch end to keep kit off the ground. Their size makes it easier to manoeuvre them to allow the stove to be used on grass.

The larger one is a footprint for the main tent. Without this PVC sheet, the tent groundsheet will seep dampness overnight if the ground is wet. Even with a 10,000mm head figure - which is one of the best I have seen in a tent - its not enough to keep out rising damp.

Helmet. Its an Shoei XR1000 - which at the time was the only helmet that I could find that would fit me.

Is a Robens Black Shrimp 2. It's brilliant - easy to pitch, and has no condensation problems if the vents are left open. Plenty of space for gear. Only problem is the side opening, which rolls up to the top, and can be a pain if it is raining or there is a lot of condensation in the porch area - a fault which they have fixed on the Black Shrimp 3. Unfortunately discontinued, but what looks like its replacement -Osprey3- seems to have better spec.
Just noted that this too has been discontinued now (270212).

The Vango Titan 200 seems to be the same type of tent, and reading, seems to be of similar spec, same weight, same layout and looks to have none of the issues that came with the Black Shrimp.  The door way and the end door are certainly improvements over the Robens.  The groundsheet has 8000 hydrostatic head - the Robens had 10,000.  Even so, we use a thin vinyl groundsheet underneath, because these thin groundsheets seep if the ground is wet.
Link and another one.

Spare poles, various bags and the detachable pouch from the Oxford tank bag, which serves as my wash kit. Somewhere lurking around are two microfibre towels.

 

 

  Double Duvet Thermarest Sleeping Mats Sheets and Pillow Cases Shoei XR1000 Helmet Spare Summerweight Zipped Sleeping Bag Cheap PVC Footprint Groundsheet Oxford Sport Tank Bag MSR Dragonfly Stove & Fuel Hein Gericke Master V Textile & Kevlar Jacket Robens Black Shrimp 2 Tent

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