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The basics of motorcycle camping

Les Madge from Traveldri-Plus has given us some tips on the basics of motorcycle camping:

There are three basic items that you need when you are camping. You will need a tent, sleeping bag and a mattress.

My first recommendation is that you spend 2/3 of your budget on a sleeping bag and a mattress and the rest on the tent, because there is no replacement for a good night's sleep. Ideally the mattress that you choose should have some insulation value. A standard air mattress offers no insulation and even if it's good weather, but the site is wet, you will get very cold during the night.

There is a range of insulated mattresses available and they start at just £5 for the good old foam roll-up mattress. It's not particularly comfortable, but that's not its purpose. It's to keep you insulated from the ground.

The other extreme is for serious campers that will camp several times throughout the year. For £150 you can buy an extra wide single mattress filled with down, which will give you optimum comfortand warmth. You can find cheaper alternatives but you will compromise on the size of the package.

Sleeping bags can start as little as £10 and run into the several hundreds of pounds, however, a synthetic filling is normally perfectly adequate and, in a wet atmosphere, is more reliable at keeping you warm. Remember to buy the product that best suits you. Think of how many times you are going to use it and for what.

As for tents, the more money you spend the less bulky the end product will be. Most tents are waterproof, but not all are storm proof. You need to spend some money for that. I do recommend buying a tent with a decent-sized vestibule, as two wet motorcycle suits can take up a lot of space. Basically, the more money you spend, the less weight or size you will have to carry on your bike and cheaper products are more likely to let you down.

For an investment of £600 you can buy a mattress, sleeping bag and tent that all fits into one pannier and won't affect the handling of you motorcycle.

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