Bargain Iron Butt Motel?

FJRPilot

Brit Butt Rallymaster RBLR1000 routemaster
Premier Member
IBA Member
#1
I'm currently using a Snugpak Stratosphere hooped bivi bag for the Brit Butt Rallies and it worked fine last year. However in the continuing search for kit I came across a very cheap semi-geodesic tent (self supporting) that might do the trick and provide a little more space.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Outdoortip...648&sr=8-2&keywords=outdoortips+2+person+tent

I'll report back when it arrives and I discover whether it packs small enough to get in my Peli case pannier. At £12.59 you can't go far wrong for a short kip :)
 
#2
"Can't go far wrong" In theory any shelter is better than none, and I lost a similar tent to wind on a britt butt. now use a bivvy tent really simple to use had no issues since then.
 

Niesmann

Tour Master Eurotour 16
Premier Member
#3
I remember it well, then some bloke woke you up just as you dozed off in a lay-by, thinking you were dead :):)
 
#4
I'm planning on travelling with the following this year:

Multi-mat camper compact: (last year was some cardboard scavenged from an ASDA garden furniture display)
http://www.millets.co.uk/equipment/103669-multi-mat-camper-compact-25-self-inflating-mat.html

Blacks Quantum 200 mummy sleeping bag: (Last year was the unknown one that came with my tent, disposed of during a house move)
http://www.millets.co.uk/equipment/133131-quantum-200-mummy-sleeping-bag.html

and a Goretex ex-army bivvy bag purchased off of eBay for a few quid. (Last year was a roofed trolley parking bay in an ASDA car park)

Should be positively luxurious this year lol

None of those three things above are particularly small though, so it might be subject to change yet :)
 

FJRPilot

Brit Butt Rallymaster RBLR1000 routemaster
Premier Member
IBA Member
#5
IMO a sleeping bag takes up too much room (for this particular rally application) and means you either have to remove your boots, or as I do inside a bivi bag just put a rubble sack over your boots and climb in.

I use a Snugpak Snumper top which has the same thermal properties as a thin sleeping bag. This then doubles as my warm layer if riding when it's cold and I then put it on under my bike jacket before getting my head down for a few hours. I think they're now discontinued but there's a few about and you can get similar tops if you shop around.

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/i/261131706720-0-1/s-l1000.jpg


I also use a pair of ex-surplus insulated trousers like the ones below. They zip up the sides and are large enough so I can throw them on over my bike gear, boot and all.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BRITISH-A...492997?hash=item2816570305:g:8C4AAOSwHgVW7o7x

I wrap both items inside one of these tough vacumn bags and together they take up very little space.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/EAGLE-CREE...r=8-1&keywords=eagle+creek+pack-it+compressor

As with all things we lug about on our bikes it will depend on how much space we have to carry such items, what the weather will be like, and what our budgets are. The easiest thing I guess is to find a room somewhere :rolleyes: I was severely tempted a few years back, but as it was the bank holiday wekeend and stupid o'clock and in Kent everywhere was full up or extortionate. Anyway, thee weather is going to be lovely this year I'm sure o_O
 
#6
Yeah, I was surprised how big the sleeping bag was when packed in its stuff sack. My previous one was quite small, but this one (even though it's a mummy one), is a lot bigger. I like the look of those over trousers, will give that some thought.

I'd thought about using vacuum bags before, but my thinking was "You might get it packed in before you leave, but how are you going to compress it on the road once opened and used?". This year I will have some panniers on the bike (previous years I've made do with just a top box), so I have the space for a few creature comforts to be chucked in as well.

My first year I got a hotel, but I had a pillion and had to wait until 7am for the petrol station to open so it was "decision made" :) Travelling solo I'm quite content to rough it for a few hours - it's part of the fun IMO :) Last year, despite it being very cold and having no sleeping mat (hence the improvised cardboard) as well as soaking wet gear, I slept very well indeed - far better than I thought I would. Maybe it was the thought of all that money I was saving not having a room!!! :D
 
#7
niesman wrote"I remember it well, then some bloke woke you up just as you dozed off in a lay-by, thinking you were dead :):)"

some years its just one thing after another - sleeping bags are great but I do not use one space packing etc that's why I went for a bivi tent rather than a bivi bag you can get in the tent with your buts still on and if the temperature drops I use a survival blanket so small it goes in a pocket, its a pain to refold but so cheap you can throw them away. The bivi tent just keeps wind and rain off a square of 6x4 plastic sheet used as a lean to would do similar.
 

FJRPilot

Brit Butt Rallymaster RBLR1000 routemaster
Premier Member
IBA Member
#8
I'd thought about using vacuum bags before, but my thinking was "You might get it packed in before you leave, but how are you going to compress it on the road once opened and used?"
These aren't like those ones you use at home to store duvets in. You roll and compress these ones yourself. They have tiny valves along the bottom so you just bung your stuff in, close the slide zip thingy along the top then roll or kneel on it. And they're incredibly tough so will protect and waterproof whatever you put in them. If you buy the triple pack you can decide which size you need for the stuff you want to compress. :D
 
#9
These aren't like those ones you use at home to store duvets in. You roll and compress these ones yourself. They have tiny valves along the bottom so you just bung your stuff in, close the slide zip thingy along the top then roll or kneel on it. And they're incredibly tough so will protect and waterproof whatever you put in them. If you buy the triple pack you can decide which size you need for the stuff you want to compress. :D
Aaaaah, the penny dropeth, cheers :D
 

FJRPilot

Brit Butt Rallymaster RBLR1000 routemaster
Premier Member
IBA Member
#11
Has it come yet? What's the pack size?
Yes it came last week. Yes it's cheap and nasty but that's why it was under £13 o_O

It's a single skin tent with sewn in groundsheet and (hopefully) fly proof mesh inner door and small mesh top section which is protected by a removable waterproof outer piece. The poles are fibreglass as you'd expect for this price and are also quite long still when folded (60cm). They're too long to fit into any of my cases but I can either strap them diagonally across my top case lid or down the side of the bike.

When I re-folded the tent I could get it down to approximately 35 cm long and rolled to about 15 cm so it's quite compact really. There's four pegs included, one for each corner but unless it's going to be a howling gale I won't bother using them.

It took about 5 minutes to put up in my living room and the poles slide through external sleeves.

Once it's up I plan on just diving inside and then sorting my sleeping gear out. I could even sit and use my laptop to re-organise my second day's route.

Overall for the price I reckon it should do the job quite well. It doesn't look the most waterproof of materials but I don't plan on being in it for more than a few hours and as I'll be in my bike gear they're waterproof so it shouldn't matter if it leaks a bit. If I'm anywhere near a bin I could just dismantle it and chuck it away if the weather is grim after my rest break too :)