(Part 2) Best products from r/motocamping

It just so happened that a lot of Eureka stuff was on sale at the time I was shopping, so I look like something of a fanboy.

• [Eureka Apex 3XT Tent] (http://www.amazon.com/Eureka-Apex-3XT-Tent-sleeps/dp/B0043HM5RC) - It's a three man tent, but I'm a big guy and I wanted extra room. Camping off the bike makes the slightly heavier weight from a 3 man tent not a big deal, it compresses down pretty small anyway. Gives me plenty of room to bring all my gear inside the tent at night, and if the wife decides to go camp with me there will be room for us both without any problem.
  
  
• [Eureka Sandstone 45F Rectangular Sleeping Bag] (http://www.amazon.com/Eureka-Sandstone-45-Degree-Rectangular-Sleeping/dp/B006MQAWS6) - Synthetic bag, one for me and one for my wife. Nothing really fancy about it other than that they are mate-able to each other we want to get extra snuggle-y on a trip.
  
  
• [Eureka Camp Pillow] (http://www.amazon.com/Eureka-2641201-Camp-Pillow/dp/B004BZX7PK) - Some people say use a stuff sack with your dirty clothes, I say I don't want to smell funky multiple day old swamp ass while I'm trying to sleep. I guess I could use clean clothes, but meh..
  
  
• [Exped SynMat Basic 7] (http://www.amazon.com/Exped-SynMat-Sleeping-Terracotta-Long/dp/B0018MC976) - Air mattress. My theory is that if you don't get at least some restful sleep, you will be miserable the next day. Packs down very small, provides comfort and insulation from the ground.
  
  
• [Sea to Summit eVent 30L Compression Dry Sack] (http://www.amazon.com/Sea-Summit-eVent-Compression-Medium/dp/B000NQQ5A0) - I have multiples of this item. I pack the tent, rainfly and groundcover all in one, and it all compresses down to around 12x6 inches. Sleeping bag goes into another, compresses down to about 12x12 inches.
  
  
• [Kwik Tek Dry Pak 70L Waterproof Duffel Bag] (http://www.amazon.com/DP-D1BK-Waterproof-Duffel-Black-Large/dp/B00644OLLU) - Cooking gear, sleeping equipment, and other stuff I don't put in the panniers goes in here, and then the bag is strapped across the pillion seat with RocStraps. If it's a two up trip, the 52L Givi comes off the back of the bike, and the 70L Dry Pak is replaced by a 110L Dry Pak so there is enough room to stash the wife's gear as well.
  
  
• [Sea to Summit DryLite Towel] (http://www.amazon.com/Sea-to-Summit-DryLite-Towel/dp/B000OPPAQK) - Small and Extra Small. Great for drying off after getting caught in the rain, or after a shower at the campsite. They dry fast too.
  
  
• [Jetboil Zip] (http://www.amazon.com/Jetboil-Zip-Cooking-System-Black/dp/B004UVPDUM) cooking system - Boils 16oz of water in about 2.5 minutes. My breakfast is instant oatmeal and instant coffee/hot chocolate, so this takes care of both very quickly. The Jetboil also makes it super easy to make things like instant mashed potatoes for dinner.
  
  
• [Trangia 27-5] (http://www.trangia.se/english/2913.trangia_stoves.html) Ultralight Aluminium Cookset with add on 2.5L pot - Alcohol stove set with frying pan, two 1L pots and one 2.5 pot. For dinner I can cook up a steak, some soup or stew, pasta/rice sides (think of stuff like [this] (http://www.bearcreekcountrykitchens.com/index.php) and [this] (http://www.knorr.com/product/category/245876/pasta-sides). I don't worry about packing and carrying an entire trip's worth of food, I stop at a grocery store, and get a couple days worth of stuff. If I want fresh meat, I swing by a store immediately before hitting the campsite. Arrive, set up, cook.
  
  
• 12oz plastic cups - I carry a couple of [these] (http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___60048).
  
  
• Spork - Fork, spoon, and something resembling a knife [all in one] (http://www.campmor.com/outdoor/gear/Product___87620)
  
  
• Leatherman Blast - bring a multitool, you will be glad you did.
  
  
• A headlamp and a good flashlight are critical. I like [these small Black Diamond orbit lanterns] (http://www.rei.com/product/807910/black-diamond-orbit-lantern) too.
  

Here's a massive brain dump of ideas. I'm just typing everything I can think of that might inspire some ideas.

If you can post any cooking equipment and food you already have it would be easier to help make a plan. I'll share some of the techniques I used in the past and hope that it gives you some ideas that you can tweak to make it work for yourself.

When I knew I'd be camping on a budget I used to take my little pressure cooker. Here's one on Amazon that's very similar. I know I'm talking about spending money to save money so for this trip it might not be worth it but if you're going to be doing this frequently then I think it will be worth it.

It can cook dried beans in under 20 minutes. Something that usually requires hours of soaking and boiling. You can throw in other ingredients after the beans are done or in the beginning if you're not too picky about softness of veggies. I've used it over open flames, which is not recommended by the manufacturers, but you have to be careful not to let the fire get too big. A small hole in the ground with three nine-inch-nails and a small fire of twigs that you feed in to maintain an even amount of heat isn't too hard but it takes patience and attention. Using gas stoves might be required, depending on where you are, so a pressure cooker is going to still help you save on fuel costs but might not be helpful for beans.

You can also try to borrow a food dehydrator and make your own pre-prepared meals that will only require boiling water. Food can be dehydrated in your oven as well. Just set it at the very lowest temperature and use a thermometer to make sure it's not too hot. A lot of ovens don't keep a consistent temp so it's a bit tedious but can be done. Doing it once is what prompted me to buy the pressure cooker and dehydrator eventually.

Another option is to pack tortillas, peanut butter, raisins, sunflower seeds, and just eat that. I've done it for a few days in a row but didn't really price it out. That stuff is all pretty cheap and easy to carry.

Dumpster diving for food is also something I've done in the past but you really need to know where to look. Panera is a good place to dive because they will frequently throw away large amounts of baked goods at once so it's usually all in one bag and not touching anything really nasty. Find a restaurant at the end of the night and ask a cook who's outside smoking if they will set something out for you instead of throwing it away. There's a lot of waste and a lot of cooks feel guilty about doing that so it's not as hard as you might think.

One last thing to mention is that it's not hard to meet people who are willing to feed you. I've had people offer a place to stay, food, showers, and beer. If you know friends and family along the way then you're not going to have a hard time getting food offered. I'm not trying to say you should just beg for everything you need but a lot of times people are going to be interested enough in your adventure that they'll want to help out in some way. I always help travelers when I meet them because a few less tacos for me to hear about and be apart of their experience is worth it.

Look for the advrider camp/hosting threads and see if you can meet some people to stay with and post back here often to say where you are. I always want to meet people who are on long trips and would be willing to cook a meal or host a person for the night if they're not a weirdo.

Do you have an estimate for your costs per day for this trip? I usually plan on $50 a day and when I come close to $40 I start to think of what can be sacrificed in order to stay under budget. I tend to eat less food when I spend all day on a bike so meals might be the first thing I skip on.


Okay.. actual last thought. Eating on $3.50 is possible but is a lot harder while also considering cooking times, food storage, and cleanup. Trying to save money in other categories and not paying for food whenever possible might be the best idea.

I'm three beers in and binge watching Netflix so I know this isn't my best writing. :D Hope it helps, and I'm jealous for your trip. Hit me up if you're around Portland.


Edit: Dude, post details about the rest of your plans. Where are you starting, where are you ending, how are you getting there, where are you planning to sleep, how many miles per day are you aiming for, etc.

please STOP perpetuating that stupid myth about smartphones not being able to route or do tracks when you are out of cell coverage. Iphones and Androids can download maps ahead of time (just like with your stand alone GPS) which allow you to continue to use it when you are well OUTSIDE of cell coverage. I have used my cell phone as a GPS for on and off road for over 3 yrs now without fail (and I didn't spend an extra $600 to do it). Even a decent Garmin GPS will set you back at least $400 (I don't count the 60, 62, 76 and variants because their screens are too damn small to be effective). I also stream music to my Sena SMH10r . There are a plethura of sites that help you to easily set this up. For mostly road use, I recommend a cheap GPS or use your smartphone but if you do moderate off road, I would recommend something with a hardier plug which is what tends to be the problem (I don't mind so much since it's actually a rather easy fix on my Galaxy S4 were it to be damaged).

Tents.... do not buy too cheap on this. I have tried a lot of tents and finally settled on the Ledge Sports Recluse here . It is a three man but really just comfortable enough for two mostly, roomy with a loft and packs really small with poles that are less than a foot long collapsed (easy to fit in panniers and bags).

Personally I would make sure you find something really comfortable to sleep on. I use a blow up mattress and a pump that plugs that goes into my motorcycle to fill it up. Most the pads you see are overpriced/expensive and crap on your back or for side sleepers. If you get a hole that you can't fix, how hard is to find a WalMart or a Target to buy a new one for around 20 to 50 bucks depending on the size you want. I prefer a queen size, great for added weight and so damn comfortable. If my old Coleman Quickbed ever dies, I will be picking up the Coleman Durarest here.

I take my phone, my Nexus 7 with 4G and my small laptop with me everywhere. I have a USB Stick chock full of reading material, music and movies....never get bored and when I want to relax and gaze at the stars, only a power button stands in my way.

Phones can get you into trouble. My buddy called me one night when I was out, this was real late, like around 11 pm. He made a joke about having a soundboard that does bear, wolf or cougar sounds and walking around outside scaring people. I checked the net and found some bear sounds that I downloaded and we joked about it. I went to sleep later after having a number of beers and when I woke up around 2 am to go relieve myself, I carried my phone with me to use as a flashlight. When I was coming back, I passed near this tent of these lesbians and played some Bear sounds. I could hear them freaking a bit and I quickly scammered back into my tent. About half an hour later, a ranger comes by my tent and asks if I have heard any noises. I tell him "you mean...You waking me up". You might ask how I know they were Lesbians and what that has to do with anything but that involves more to tell that I couldn't sum up in a few paragraphs. Suffice is to say that when I am camping, I avoid children, young couples and now, Lesbians.

Good Luck with your endeavors!

Thank you! You are very welcome. :-)

I think it would be very doable to pack it all on your bike with room for a passenger. ;) People sometimes say you don't have to worry about weight so much with a bike doing the work, so cheaper gear is fine. They aren't exactly wrong, but weight, size, and price are all tied together. The main limiting factor is room, which makes the extra $$ for gear worth it. On top of it being good quality. Also while the weight isn't a huge thing, it does add up. My husband's sleeping pad is a decade+ old, and takes up half the room our tent does! My new one is more comfortable, lighter, and at least half the size of his rolled up.

Are the rangers iffy about burners? or just campfires? It just seems odd they wouldn't want even the tiny burner we had with us.

I LOVE our tent! I spent many hours researching tents before picking it, and it has been exactly what we want!

The lantern is an "Ultra Bright LED Lantern" It lives up to it's name and is truly Ultra bright, almost too much. BUT it's $12 bucks, and ridiculously light weight. I think a can of coke/beer is heavier.

Since I had the pics up anyways, I posted more details about our gear too.

The new stuff was the bag, DrySpec D38, and the tent, which is a Marmot Tungsten 3p.

The bag is terrific. I like it is stiff, so it's a bit easier to open it up and see what's in there compared to other drybags. Also, it's got a nice set of attachment points to hook to the bike or hook more bags to it. I really wanted a Kriega but ended up going with this because it was a bit cheaper. I've never used Kriega, but so far I'm not disappointed in my decision.

The tent stows a bit bigger than I'd like, but I knew that when I picked a "3-person" tent and that it included the footprint. Plus the price was great when I got it a few months ago and it's large enough for two people pretty comfortably. Other than that, it is easy to put up and take down and didn't have condensation issues.

The rest is pretty standard camping gear. Sleeping bag is a Kelty Cosmic 20, sleeping pad is a large Therm-A-Rest NeoAir Venture (I like the extra width over the regular), pillow is a Therm-A-Rest. Stove is a MSR Whisperlite International, and I'm not sure what the cookset is.

For the motorcycle stuff I'm rocking an RF1200, a piece of shit Roland Sands Clarion jacket that I hate but got a killer deal on ($99), some Held Rodney gloves that I should probably upgrade to something a bit more protective but I love these gloves too much. I'm wearing some pretty standard steel toe boots from work and I'm need to purchase some over pants for some better crash protection and was leaning towards the Olympia Airglide 4's.

I'll also need another smaller bag, so I'm thinking of picking up the DrySpec D28.

Other than that the bag is going to be filled with clothes, toiletries and a bunch of freeze dried meals.

Last year a buddy and I took a 1300 mile trip around Colorado /r/dualsport ride on a Husqvarna 701 and a Yamaha WR250R. Here's a photo of the gear from last year.

This year we are adding one person (riding a monster, brand new, KTM 1090 Adventure R) to the crew and moving a little farther west to see some of the amazing sites in Utah. I put together a 1500 mile route, and will tack on White Rim Trail (if we can get passes) and wander around in Beef Basin for a bit.

A few of my friends have started using Polar Steps, so I've setup a trip and will try to keep it updated. I also maintain a simple website and will post photos on my flickr account.

Now, on to the fun, because sorting out gear and packing is half the fun of a /r/motocamping trip.

I'm involved in volunteer search and rescue (/r/searchandrescue) so a lot of this gear comes from my callout pack and extended incident command packs. The more experienced riders will notice that I'm lacking any tools, spares, tube slime, etc. I'm fortunate enough to be riding with 2 other riders that are packing all that jazz.

Two mottos:

1. buy once, cry once
   
2. high speed, low drag
   
   motorcycle
   
   

• Yamaha WR250R 2018
  
• Dunlop D606 tires
  
• heavy-duty tubes
  
• Tusk rack
  
• Tusk handguards
  
• Rox Speed 2" risers
  
• Seal Savers
  
• Moose Racing skid
  
• HaloCam front+rear dashcam
  
• IMS 3 gallon tank
  
• Double Take enduro mirros
  
• Edge2 fender eliminator
  
• USB charging port
  
  navigation
  
  
• Garmin 64s - Most Garmin's allow OSM maps. Free, crowd-sourced maps are a huge win in my opinion.
  
• Garmin inReach Mini - in the event I "full send"
  
• OSMAnd+ - Open Street Maps offline maps
  
• GaiaGPS - offline satellite images, private/public property maps, USFS road maps and topo maps
  
  photgraphy
  
  
• Sony a7iii
  
• Sigma 14mm f1.8
  
• F-stop Navin - mounted on my chest, holds my Sony a7iii
  
• Lowepro Toploader chest harness
  
• Lance Camera strap
  
• 3x Sony batteries
  
• Osprey ultralight dry sack 6L
  
• GoPro Hero 6 Black
  
• 6x GoPro batteries
  
• GoPro battery charger - charges 3 batteries at a time
  
• GoPro ND filters
  
• various GoPro mounts
  
  medical and hygiene
  
  
• SAM splint
  
• NAR Hyfin vent chest seal
  
• NAR rolled gauze
  
• QuikClot clotting gauze
  
• thermal blanket
  
• 3x hand warmers
  
• triangular bandage
  
• medical tape
  
• wound seal
  
• NAR tourniquet
  
• Leatherman Raptor medical shears
  
• basic meds
  
• basic bathroom supplies
  
  wearing
  
  
• Forma Adventure boots
  
• Fox v2 VLAR helmet
  
• REV'IT! Wind Jacket
  
• 100% Accuri Sand - the "sand" model helps with wind blowing on my eyes and drying contacts out
  
• grey smoke lens
  
• Mammut Neon Light 12L backpack
  
• Nonoise ear plugs - I know they are a bit pricey, but I've worn them 5 days in a row over 1500 miles and didn't even know they were there
  
• Road iD - blood type, date of birth, allergies and wife's contact info
  
• gloves
  
  sleeping
  
  
• Kammok Roo Single hammock
  
• Twisted Root Cloudburst rainfly
  
• Big Agnes Hitchens UL 20 sleeping bag - ultra-light, ultra-compact, I carry this for winter SAR activities
  
• ALPS Mountaineering compression sack - medium size, I use this in place of the Mosko Moto tail bag because it fits my sleeping bag, rainfly and hammock
  
• REI Flash sleeping pad - insulated is important
  
• Osprey ultralight dry sack 12L - used for my sleeping back, inside the ALPS compression sack, to ensure my sleeping bag stays dry
  
  inclement weather
  
  
• winter riding gloves
  
• Olympia Horizon rain pants
  
• rain jacket - cheap, no-name, fits over riding jacket
  
• face mask - ski/snowboarding style
  
• windbreaker - for over riding jacket, cheap no-name brand
  
• smart-wool base layer
  
• fleece jacket
  
  food
  
  
• 2.5L Osprey Hydraluics LT - inside the Mammut backpack
  
• GSI Pinnacle Soloist pot
  
• Light My Fire spork
  
• UST Delta Stormproof lighter - this actually failed to work on my trip last year to Colorado, but I think it was because we were at altitude
  
• [Primus Micron trail stove](primus pocket rocket) - mine is an older model
  
• Primus fuel cannister
  
• 4x backpacking dinners
  
• 4x backpacking breakfasts
  
  motorcycle
  
  
• 2x Primus 1.5L fuel bottles - unleaded fuel is important
  
• funnel
  
  clothing
  
  
• 1x riding pants
  
• 2x shirts
  
• 3x pairs of socks
  
• 3x underwear
  
  luggage
  
  
• Mosko Moto Reckless 40L saddlebags - I did 1500 miles through CO last year with these and absolutely loved them. A key feature for me is that I can snag the "sleeves" and run under a rainfly and setup my entire camp. Other brands, all your gear is in a bag, on the bike, so you have to stand next to the bike while you setup camp. Also important for when staying in hostels.
  
• Mosko Moto Pico tank bag
  
• Rok Straps
  
  misc
  
  
• Moo cards - I carry these for dropping in geocaches and sharing my photos with people I meet.
  
• Zebra H600Fc - recommended in /r/flashlight by /u/Zak
  
• 2x USB cable - multi port - these are nice and short, and can charge both micro-USB and USB-C devices at the same time
  
• Leatherman Skeletool
  
• flip flops
  
• shorts
  
• t-shirt
  
• 10x rechargable AA's