BIKEPGH MESSAGE BOARD ARCHIVE

i don't have any thoughts on those particular tents, but something that's good to keep in mind when buying a tent for bike camping is that you may want to put a lot of your gear in the tent, or at least in the vestibule. so look for one where the rainfly has a large vestibule. also, especially if you are bringing a dog, i'd make sure you can easily get a footprint for the tent.

i've usually just bungeed the tent to the top of a rack. the length of the poles will probably not allow you to put them into a pannier, so you'll need to figure out where they go.

those are some pretty good prices tho.

I like the specs on the REI Hoodoo 2. The pole setup looks like it gives nice interior space to sit up, lots of screen area, and a nice vestibule for equipment and for the pup to sleep in. Some of the others seem to have no vestibule to speak of, and ones that are more "peaked" can be unpleasant to be in, especially if stuck in a rain. The most expensive, obviously, but the features appear to be in line with the cost.

I'm in the same boat, seriously considering putting that 20% off to good use.

You might find the following discussion helpful, or you can always search their forums for other threads. http://www.adventurecycling.org/forums/index.php?topic=7613.0

I was just talking to a friend who works at REI, and was telling him that the REI Quarter Dome was on sale for the price of a Half Dome. He said that was an awesome deal on a great tent. It's a full pound lighter than the Half Dome, which is a perennial favorite/best of....

In the end, I went with the Half Dome (not on sale through REI Outlet, but picked up a 20% off coupon at the FOTR Trail Mixer for any full priced REI item) because I tend to be hard on my gear.

His one word of caution on the Quarter Dome is that with all the mesh, it tends to be colder than some other tents. That could be good, but if you plan to use this as a full 3 season tent, be prepared.

Can't go wrong with any of these, though, given REI's return policy.

How light and fast are you willing to go? Do you really need a full 3 or 4 season tent? How about something floorless, like a Black Diamond Mega or Beta? It's been awhile, but I've seen bike-packers set up the Megas using their bikes instead of poles.

The trick is the wife and dog. If we do this, my wife will want to be comfortable and the dog needs some boundaries. Would also like to replace my car camping tent with something better so I am considering the extra weight of the 3 person options.

Thanks for the advice so far. It helps.

@Rsprake - check for PM from me.

I'm going to answer a question you didn't ask, but when I see the words "wife" and "comfort", this immediately comes to mind:

http://www.rei.com/product/763953/big-agnes-insulated-air-core-pad

Spring for some of these Big Agnes pads, they are sooo much better than foam or Thermarest, it's not even close. I pull them out when the kids have friends sleep over too, I use them constantly.

Gah, I was going to suggest a bivy sack until the wife and dog entered the picture

how big is the dog? Will he be riding his own bicycle?

we have the quarter dome t3 and its perfect for two people. it might be a little tight with the dog unless she just wants to snuggle between the two of you anyway. i've camped in it through quite a few nasty storms and stayed nice and dry inside. if its a really nasty storm you want to put any gear you are leaving in the vestibule up on something that is ok to get wet, so i usually just keep all my gear in or on top of my frame pack. you could do the same thing with panniers if bike camping. also, spend the extra money on the footprint. its so much better than throwing a crappy tarp under your tent.

The dog is only 15lb.

omg that's adorable.

She is adorable........! Somehow when I read 15 lbs. I was thinking of a bigger dog. My friends have an American Eskimo that is about 17 lbs and is MUCH bigger, but it might be that all that hair takes up much of the space!

http://www.tonystrailers.com/nomad/

Ha ha. She didn't know the water was still freezing cold in this photo.

Second on Big Agnes pads. I bought one and the MS150 was my first time using it. It isn't nearly as bad to blow up as one would think, and it was very comfortable.

speaking of tents, colin, we need to air ours out, since i got everything wet when i thought i was helping to tear down the tent this weekend. i really do like our tent though. i think it would work well with the dog

ACK your dog is adoreable. I don't know why, but recently I've been noticing those types of puppies and their little pushed in schnozes and I just want to hug them and feed them all bacon.

I basically lived in something like the Asolo tent (but 1 person and lighter weight - strictly summer here) for almost two years. It was comfy in the heat, and that style was a cinch to put together and take down extremely quickly (midnight sandstorms, flash floods, oops we camped in the middle of a road, etc - not problems you're likely to encounter here with a little better planning that I managed)

Our dog runs marathons in her sleep, we couldn't swing anything less than a three person tent and even that's a stretch (but she's ~55-60#). 15# is large cat size, but I'd still make sure that whatever it is has lovely ventillation options. If rain happens, you'll be glad for a vestibule, pup aside. I second the footprint recommendation (but usually bring a tarp anyway, j.i.c.).

None of that is bike-specific, on that I've got nothing. (Please post what you end up with, and the results, if you could?)

Just had a thought - if you're biking with the pup, that means maybe she'll have a trailer? She could hang out in the trailer at night while the people get the tent? Car camping with dogs, the pups stayed inside the car (and stayed drier than all the people through storms), so maybe the bike equivalent is a nice waterproof trailer pulled alongside? I could see it being not an option, but I figured I'd mention it.

I'm unsure a two person backpacking tent would provide very good boundaries for your dog and leave much comfort for the humans, despite the dag's small size.

we have a msr 2 person very similar to the big agnes in those search results, and generally it is big enough for two people to lie next to each other in mummy bags. the vestibules are ample, though.

do you guys have those sleeping bags that zip together? that is so cool.

When Nick and I rode to DC, we each had two Nashbar panniers with summer sleeping bags, clothes, toiletries, etc. He had a trunk bag with all of our foodstuffs, and I had our sleeping pads and tent lying across the top of my panniers and rack and tied down.

I had the tent and my sleeping pad in a pannier. Kayla only had the poles and her gigantic sleeping pad on top of her rack.

I ended up going with the REI Half Dome 2 Plus online with the help of a coupon code from Swalfoort. The half dome they had on display in the store was big enough with no gear in it, but for my needs the $20 and minimal weight gain it was worth it to spring for the slightly larger "plus" version.

Thanks for the advice! Can't wait to strap it on the bike and go camping!

Oops. Guess I blocked out more of that trip than I thought.

Cool - I bought a half dome 2 plus a few months ago but have yet to use it aside from setting it up in my yard. I definitely liked the extra length.

Did it pack away into the bag again?

yes! maybe a little lumpier but it fit

My last tent never fit back into the bag after the first time I set it up.

Should never store a tent (or a sleeping bag) in the stuff sack (or at least not the tight one.) All that compression can lead to creases/loss of waterproofing in tents, and loss of loft/warmth in sleeping bags. Hang them in a cool dry place to store long term.

@swalfoort I never fold my tent for the same reason... always stuff.