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Camping Gota Have Gota Leave

Even bad coffee is better than no coffee.

Best worst coffee I ever had was at the bottom of a mountain pass I had just ridden over in Mexico... in the pitch dark, freezing cold fog and rain... in a traffic jam full of tractor-trailers.
 
There is no excuse for bad coffee.

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From my experience I can stay in a Mom & Pop motel for less. Many are not the Holiday Inn but a notch above a KOA cabin. Oh, yeh, this is a camping thread...

Hey, after a week of camping, it is nice to stay in motel for a night. You get a real bed and a shower. Nice to have both before the trip home.

So far, we have looked at tents, sleeping bags, and had at least one stove comment. What about a good cook set? Or a good flashlight? Did we miss those?

BTW, what does a night at a KOA run?
 
Pots and Lids

Riding one-up I don't need to take a lot of cookware. Mostly heating water for oatmeal, mac-n-cheese, or freeze-dried dinners. Maybe I choose food that cooks in a bag because I don't like to cleanup after eating. Was looking at JetBoil, but not sure if worth $100. Any recommendation for cookware?
 
My camping must haves...

My priorities when camping are

1. warm and dry
- make sure that your tent doesn't leak
- a good quality sleeping bag. I can always unzip the bag or use it as a blanket if i get too hot. If i'm cold, i sleep in my riding gear liners
- thermarest to insulate

2. A good nights sleep
- a use a lightweight folding cot. (it's SO MUCH better than sleeping on the ground)
- my camping pillow.

I also usually have my Kermit chair, but that is more for comfort than a necessity.

YMMV
 
BTW, what does a night at a KOA run?[/QUOTE]

Campsites generally run 20-28 per night, includes shower facilities, etc., cabins run 40- -50, sleep six or so.
All other facilities onsite are available for use as well, all have had electricity for recharging on campsite.
Every single one we have stayed at has been super clean and helpful. If you get the Allstate RV insurance 99/ year, Which covers motorcycle towing to nearest dealership then the KOA membership is free. Otherwise it is 25/year. It gives you a discount at each KOA. Great tip thank you very much Paul Glaves!!
 
Under the "gotta leave" heading

Leave most clothing and all cotton clothing home, includingGASP! The much loved pair of jeans.

I pack the same cloths for a 3 day trip as a three week tripMmmm, even though it has been a few years since my last multi week trip..daymn.

Three pair of synthetic soxs
Three synthetic t-shirts
Three pair synthetic undies
Backpacking long synthetic pants/shorts combo
Easy to pack small light pair of footware, often time just Keens

I wash out the t shirt/undies/soxs in camp/motel each night and hang to dry. Even in damp weather they are dry enough to put on the next morning. Your body dries them the rest of the way very quickly under your riding gear.

I use this as my only soap, clothing, hair, shave, dishes, etc, great stuff and it is biodegradable

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I have other cloths, but they fall under my riding gear category; but, of course they can be used if it is cool when in camp.

It is a lot of fun planning and working out the clothing and gear for a motorcycle trip.

Enjoy
 
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Riding one-up I don't need to take a lot of cookware. Mostly heating water for oatmeal, mac-n-cheese, or freeze-dried dinners. Maybe I choose food that cooks in a bag because I don't like to cleanup after eating. Was looking at JetBoil, but not sure if worth $100. Any recommendation for cookware?

My two biggest complaints against most types of cookware are the design of the handles and the price. I hate handles that allow the pan to move or shift in relation to the handle itself. I also like my hand away from the heat source, so short handles are not for me. I would recommend that you look at cook sets also when you look at stoves. Many people buy the "perfect stove" and then can't find cookware that works with their cooking style and/or the stove. If you mostly heat water, there should not be a problem.

If you get a JetBoil or a MSR Reactor, the cookware choice is made for you. You will suffer from a case of sticker shock when you look at the price tags on both of those stoves, but keep in mind that it includes the cookware. Then the price does not seem so bad. Most other stoves, the cookware is separate and you will need to factor the price into the overall cost.

You will find that the cookware is made out of titanium on the best products and plain, cheap aluminum on the low end stuff. Stainless steel and hard anodized aluminum are also used on many high end and very good sets. All of these have trade offs. Titanium weighs nothing, but is costly and dents super easy. Entry level aluminum sets are priced right but don't hold up and cooking with plain aluminum has some health issues.
Hard anodized aluminum does not have the heath issues, but can get $$$$. Stainless steel has a weight factor and the selection is not the best.

Look at cookware from GSI and MSR. They both make quality gear. Snow Peak has some nice items also. Stanley too.

Keep in mind, you have one big advantage over all of the backpacking crowd. Because you are on a bike, you only have to worry about size, not weight.

It will be fun to read about your search. Please keep us posted.
 
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... and synthetic clothing.......

I'll take wool any day over synthetic.

Good wool is comfortable, keeps you warm when it's cold, cool when it's hot, and it does not get smelly.

I've worn the same wool shirt for a week without offending those around me. Try that with synthetic :)
 
I was just going to make a comment about Boxers/R bikes but decided against it. Who knows how many wise cracks about Flying Bricks I would receive in my private messages folder.:whistle
 
Pack a SMALL plastic bottle of Dr. Bonners liquid Castile soap and a small tank-bag size bottle of hand sanitizer (Purell, etc) and you can leave all of the other toiletries --soap, shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream, toothpaste, aftershave, etc etc --at home. Dr. Bonners is fine in the shower, for cleaning dishes, shaving, on your toothbrush or as (man) shampoo; the hand sanitizer is great for cleaning up when you dont have water, or at pit-stops where you'd like to avoid getting hepatitis or amoebic dysentery from the 'restroom', and is good aftershave.

Leaving the toiletries at home saves a huge amount of space.
 
I got a MSR Whisper Lite stove and a stainless camp mug with folding handle (single wall design) to heat water in and another stainless mug that is double wall with no handle, to drink out of. This way I heat water for my coffee and pour it into the double wall mug which is sort of insulated and therefore doesn't need a handle, then heat another batch of water for oatmeal. The double wall mug fits into the larger/single wall cup, and the stove fits inside that. I also pack a Ti spoon and fork, head lamp, SOG flat hatchet, lighter, cigar cutter, cigars, flask (with Roundel on it :brow), and a collapsable jug to carry water. I used to pack larger kitchen ware but found I just didn't use it that much, so got the smaller stove as well. Come to think of it, I don't think I have ever used that fork....... I do take flip-flops to shower in, pack small and dry quickly. When it is warm out they are nice to walk around in rather than riding boots.

As mentioned earlier, a good sleeping bag is a must. A knit beanie hat is good to keep your head warm while you sleep as well.

Most of these items can be found as close-outs (who would guess sleeping bags change model years?) or on ebay. I made the mistake of buying cheap stuff when starting, the thought being that if I dont enjoy this, I haven't lost much. The problem was that I do enjoy it and it gets hard to rationalize getting better gear when you already have gear. Best to get the highest quality you can afford the first time. Plus, if you don't enjoy it, good gear can be sold with not too great a loss. Cheap gear will never sell.
 
I also pack a Ti spoon and fork,.

You ride a bike that weighs over 600lbs with no gear on it and you pack a Titanium fork/spoon. That is really sill.........Oh, wait a minute.....I pack one also:uhoh

What a great idea :D
 
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