Where to place sleeping bag, tent and sleep roll

[Kerry Nikolaisen]

I am thinking of doing some light weekend touring and will have a rear rack
and panniers. Where is the best location to place the sleeping bag, tent
and bedroll? How are these cinched down, and what is the best way to
protect them from the rain?

Kerry

[Peter]

Kerry Nikolaisen wrote:

> I am thinking of doing some light weekend touring and will have a rear rack
> and panniers. Where is the best location to place the sleeping bag, tent
> and bedroll?

I put mine inside one of the panniers.

[TBGibb]

In article >, "Kerry Nikolaisen" <f o u r n
i k s @ c h a r t e r . n e t> writes:

>I am thinking of doing some light weekend touring and will have a rear rack
>and panniers. Where is the best location to place the sleeping bag, tent
>and bedroll?

A down sleeping bag goes very nicely in an Ortlieb pannier.

> How are these cinched down, and what is the best way to
>protect them from the rain?

Straps are prefered due to the tendancy of bungee cord hooks to foul spokes.
If you are doing both on top of the rear rack they'll certainly need to be
across the rack (sideways).

Rain protection for the sleeping bag would be a dry bag (Ortlieb panniers,
especially the backrollers, are dry bags), the tent will get along with just
it's own stuff sack.


Tom Gibb >

[Chuck Anderson]

Kerry Nikolaisen wrote:

>I am thinking of doing some light weekend touring and will have a rear rack
>and panniers. Where is the best location to place the sleeping bag, tent
>and bedroll? How are these cinched down, and what is the best way to
>protect them from the rain?
>
>Kerry
>
>

Bungee cords and heavy duty garbage bags have always worked for me.

I put my sleeping pad and tent poles right on the rack Front to back
(not across). My tent is strapped over one pannier and my sleeping bag
over the other - garbage bags at the ready.

--
cycletourist.com

[Per Löwdin]

> I am thinking of doing some light weekend touring and will have a rear
rack
> and panniers. Where is the best location to place the sleeping bag, tent
> and bedroll? How are these cinched down, and what is the best way to
> protect them from the rain?

We usually have a water proof bag, the type used for kayaking on top
http://www.lowdin.nu/MTB/sea02/sea020114.jpg for the sleeping bag and the
matress, tuck in the matress first so it expands along the walls of the bag
then push the sleeping bag in. The tent usually goes in one of the panniers.

Per
http://lowdin.nu

[Chuck Anderson]

Kerry Nikolaisen wrote:

>I am thinking of doing some light weekend touring and will have a rear rack
>and panniers. Where is the best location to place the sleeping bag, tent
>and bedroll? How are these cinched down, and what is the best way to
>protect them from the rain?
>
>Kerry
>
>

Bungee cords and heavy duty garbage bags have always worked for me.

I put my sleeping pad and tent poles right on the rack Front to back
(not across). My tent is strapped over one pannier and my sleeping bag
over the other - garbage bags at the ready.

--
cycletourist.com

[Dave F]

Hi Kerry:

I suppose a lot depends on the gear you have. I put my tent in one rear
pannier, and my sleeping bag and camp pillow in the other, and still have
room for quite a lot of other things. Garbage bags keep things dry. I put
industrial strength velcro on my self-inflating roll-up air mattress (the
velcro is about two inches wide, and runs the length of my rear rack - used
"Amazing Goop" to glue the velcro to the bed roll, because the adhesive that
comes with the velcro doesn't hold). Between the velcro and bungee cords,
the mattress is *extremely* secure - you could pick up the entire bike with
it. You just want to make sure the bungees holding the air mattress are
good and tight. I've certainly never had any trouble with them coming off
or getting tangled in the spokes. I don't worry about the air mattress
getting wet - I usually have to wash the mud off of it anyway.

My tent has fold-out shock-cord poles, so they fit in the tent bag just
fine.

Have fun - and let us know how your excursion goes!

Best Regards,
Dave

"Kerry Nikolaisen" <f o u r n i k s @ c h a r t e r . n e t> wrote in
message ...
> I am thinking of doing some light weekend touring and will have a rear
rack
> and panniers. Where is the best location to place the sleeping bag, tent
> and bedroll? How are these cinched down, and what is the best way to
> protect them from the rain?
>
> Kerry
>
>

[Sergio SERVADIO]

I place tent and poles on the handle bar, parallel to it, between the bar
and the brake cables (old fashioned, no inner routing), held in place by a
couple of straps, leaving just enough space for the hands to grip the bar
and to reach the brake levers.

Sergio
Pisa

[David Dermott]

On Sat, 26 Jun 2004, it was written:

> I am thinking of doing some light weekend touring and will have a rear rack
> and panniers. Where is the best location to place the sleeping bag, tent
> and bedroll? How are these cinched down, and what is the best way to
> protect them from the rain?
>
The advantages of putting tent and sleeping bag inside the panniers
are protection from rain and keeping load as low as possible. I sometimes do
this if I don't have much else load.

But this takes up space for other stuff in my panniers. Anyways,
my tent and sleeping bag don't weigh much. So usually I have them attached
with bungee cords on top of the rear rack, in water repellant stuff
sacks. Plastic bags (small garbage or grocery bags) can be used inside
the stuff sacks to make them completely water-proof. Lately I have
been rolling my Thermarest (TM) sleeping pad around my sleeping
bag which has kept it dry in heavest rain.

Make sure the bungee hooks are well fastened. I've
never had a problem with the bungee hooks snagging my spokes, but
the lower hooks holding down the panniers have snagged in the spokes.
The hook and pannier straps have broken- not the spokes!

--

David Dermott , Wolfville Ridge, Nova Scotia, Canada
email:
WWW pages: http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/dermott/

[Bob Kastigar]

"Kerry Nikolaisen" <f o u r n i k s @ c h a r t e r . n e t> wrote in message >...
> I am thinking of doing some light weekend touring and will have a rear rack
> and panniers. Where is the best location to place the sleeping bag, tent
> and bedroll? How are these cinched down, and what is the best way to
> protect them from the rain?

Related, a little hint I picked up from someplace:

Always carry one tent stake in your front bag or someplace convenient.
When you get to a potential camp spot, you can poke it into the
ground to test how much effort is needed, without unpacking the whole
tent and sleeping bag.

--
Bob Kastigar;
Home: http://www.neiu.edu/~rkastiga Work: http://www.wgntv.com
School: http://www.neiu.edu Play: http://www.neiu.edu/~stagectr
Union: http://www.ibew1220.org (Chicago, IL USA)

"Sweet Old Bob" (or just the initials)

[occupant]

> I am thinking of doing some light weekend touring and will have a rear rack
> and panniers. Where is the best location to place the sleeping bag, tent
> and bedroll? How are these cinched down, and what is the best way to
> protect them from the rain?

Trial and error to some extent are the best method. What works for you
may not work
for the next person. Bungie cords are commonly used for strapping down
to a bike.
You don't say what other stuff you will be taking which may affect where
items are placed.
Are you eating out or bringing stove/pots/food? I have, for instance
put my tent, sleeping bag and roll
in small backpack - slipped a garbage bag over that and strapped it to
the top of the rear
rack. But with panniers, one has to worry about weight - rear weight.

One of my favourite methods is to carry a tarp and just sleep and cook
under the tarp. The advantage
is that everything stays dry including you. Tents can get wet and stay
wet after the first rain. Now you see
why it is all about individual experience and what works for one person
may not work for another. Will you be staying in the bush or in
recognized camp sites with some amenities?

[Mike Kruger]

"occupant" > wrote in message
...
>
> One of my favourite methods is to carry a tarp and just sleep and cook
> under the tarp. The advantage
> is that everything stays dry including you. Tents can get wet and stay
> wet after the first rain.

I've never tried this method because of mosquitos.
Do you camp in areas that don't have them, or are you not bothered?

[occupant]

Mike Kruger wrote:
>
> "occupant" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > One of my favourite methods is to carry a tarp and just sleep and cook
> > under the tarp. The advantage
> > is that everything stays dry including you. Tents can get wet and stay
> > wet after the first rain.
>
> I've never tried this method because of mosquitos.
> Do you camp in areas that don't have them, or are you not bothered?

Point well taken. Actually, I forgot to mention I used d bivi sack
which has a net although you can get a net that covers your sleeping bag
at most outdoor supply shops for only a few dollars.

A guy I know that just sprayed his exposed surfaces with mosquios
repellant and slept outdoors in a sleeping bag. More than I can do.

I currently sleep outdoors most nights at home protected from the rain
and under netting like the do in the tropics. Don't want West Nile if I
can help it.

[theophanc_yahoo]

How about a hammock tent assuming there are trees around. They offer bugne=
tting and Rain Flys....

www.speerhammocks.com
www.hennessyhammock.com


> > I am thinking of doing some light weekend touring and will have a rear =
rack
> > and panniers. Where is the best location to place the sleeping bag, te=
nt
> > and bedroll? How are these cinched down, and what is the best way to
> > protect them from the rain?
>
> Trial and error to some extent are the best method. What works for you
> may not work
> for the next person. Bungie cords are commonly used for strapping down
> to a bike.
> You don't say what other stuff you will be taking which may affect where
> items are placed.
> Are you eating out or bringing stove/pots/food? I have, for instance
> put my tent, sleeping bag and roll
> in small backpack - slipped a garbage bag over that and strapped it to
> the top of the rear
> rack. But with panniers, one has to worry about weight - rear weight.
>
> One of my favourite methods is to carry a tarp and just sleep and cook
> under the tarp. The advantage
> is that everything stays dry including you. Tents can get wet and stay
> wet after the first rain. Now you see
> why it is all about individual experience and what works for one person
> may not work for another. Will you be staying in the bush or in
> recognized camp sites with some amenities?

[gianni]

> I am thinking of doing some light weekend touring and will have a rear
> rack and panniers. Where is the best location to place the sleeping bag,
> tent and bedroll?

I have sofar done 2 weeks tours with 2 Ortlieb panniers and a
handlebar bag. What has always worked fine for me is to put the
sleeping bag in one of the panniers to ensure it stays dry and tie the
tent with 2 bungee cords on the top of the rack between the bags. The
tent is waterproof at least I have always assumed this! I am still
able to squeeze some clothing into the pannier with the sleeping bag
and the other is all I need to fit in the rest.
You will find out by trying what works best for you.

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