Any good tent will provide equal or greater protection than your average tent-with-tarp combination. A bad tent will not, no matter what it's combined with. What's more, tarps tend to fly away in breezes, sometimes towing whatever you thought you'd secured them to. Maybe I'm prejudiced since I own good tents for other reasons, and don't need to buy more for motorcycling; maybe I'm further prejudiced by my recent witnessing of various tents collapsing, tearing, blowing away and/or suffering broken poles in the Patagonian winds......but on a once-in-a-lifetime trip I'd rather spend a bit extra and have my gear perform as intended.

Some are more easily satisfied than I, however.

Mark

PS: FWIW, if you buy an extra large bike cover, you can camp out under it along with the bike. You need a bike cover anyway, for security reasons at least. It's worth a thought.

Well, if low temperatures or critters/unwelcome insects are a consideration, a tent is clearly the way to go. Despite using the tent most of the time, I always carry the 'mighty poncho' as the Mono folks call it, because it has just too many uses:

- poncho
- bike cover (keeps rain and eyes off the bike, stops people from climbing on it)
- tent ground sheet
- basha/quick backup shelter
- tarp/sun protection
- work space for maintenance (e.g. on sand)
- hammock
- stretcher
- survival rain water collection

The downside to kit that can do all of the above is that it's heavy, relatively speaking.

I really enjoyed the experience of sleeping under a basha. Waking up and instantly being able to see the scenery all around you is great - The only thing better is sleeping under the stars. Most of the time the only purpose my basha was to keep the dew off me.

Bivvy bag - no real use for a bike trip imo.

A good quality tarp pitched well can withstand almost anything weather wise. I endured one of the worst thunder storms I'd ever seen in greece, camped up on a beach - Almost a worst case pitching scenario with basha between bike and pole, with all pegs going into sand. As long as you get the tarp really taught and low to the ground it shouldn't be effected too badly by the wind.

Whether to take a basha as your sole form of sleeping shelter? All comes down to what kind of trip you want to do. I needed to get a tent as I'd gained some female company, but otherwise I like the experience of 'roughing it'.

A poncho is a good idea to carry if you definately want a to use a tent for sleeping. You don't need to carry rope or poles or things if you just want to use it as a sun shelter for lunch stops etc - Just use the bungies you strap your luggage on with, and stop next to trees/signpost/pylon etc. You don't neccessarily need one of the really heavy duty army ponchos if you aren't planning on using it on a daily basis, a lightweight but good quality ripstop poncho will work pretty well. We used our poncho to make our tent warmer by sticking it inbetween the inner and outer parts, covering all the vents in the inner.

A poncho makes a better shelter and bike cover, than what a bike cover makes a shelter

Long term, effective weather protection - Slept under this basha at a campsite in Belgium for 10days, and it rained almost everyday including really heavy rain. All my stuff sprawled out underneath, but nothing really ever got wet.

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UK to Mongolia 2009, on a DR350

Nath, loved reading your mongolia blog, read it over the past week. I'm so jealous of those landscapes you've seen. Although, I have to say most of the photos depict dry weather. Was this the case?

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i wouldnt sleep under one, i prefer the tent. i do like a tarp for your other reasons though, its great to sit under in the shade/dry and watch the world go by.

a good quality thin ripstop in a good size is quite expensive though, and those cheap woven plastic ones (always blue or green!) made out of recycled binliners are just noisy horrible things. thick and heavy too.

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dave

This is my set up for my TTR250, all waterproof and compact.



Got a great area for keeping my kit dry, plus I can hook the basha onto another bike and even get another tent underneath.

Hi Harty, just wondering but how are you planning on keeping your soft panniers + tent etc. on the outside safe? In terms of when you stop at a supermarket for 20 mins to get food or in a small town for an hour while wondering around / having lunch? – soz but im planning my first tour in June and was thinking of doing the same thing (UK-Russia) yet not quite sure how i would keep it all safe other than lug it around with me,
Cheers.

Couldn't agree more!!



Sam

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http://capetocapeblog.wordpress.com/

If the tent is a bit suspect when it comes to rain, I think the tarp/basha idea is fine. I have a 3 x 3 tarp and I have used it as an additional layer over the body of the tent, as well as giving us an awning over one side.

The tent was waterproof, but I wanted to see if the tent could then be packed mostly dry despite a night of rain.

It sort of worked. Indeed the part under the tarp was drier, except for some condensation. I simply pegged the tarp with the tent's pegs and points, pulled the tarp across the flysheet and then used paracord to lact the corners to trees nearby.

In other words, you can simply drape your tarp over th tent, peg it down and you should be dry despite a dubious tent...

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Adventure: it's an experience, not a style!
(so ride what you like, but ride it somewhere new!)

Worked pretty well.. Didn't rain though so not sure if it would of worked as a rain shelter..

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Did some trips.
Rode some bikes.
Fix them for a living.
Can't say anymore.

Is that a Touratech coffee table?

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Neil's in... (the website)
Also you can follow me on Neil's in... on FaceBook, Neilisin on YouTube,
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Ted

I have just downsized from a 3-man to 2-man tunnel tent, and am going to buy a cheap tarp to supplement the reduced porch space. Previous posts show lots of useful options (with or without the tent).

Millets/Black do a hexagonal tarp and Decathlon do a square one, both about 3m across for under £20, either of which should do the job - but I think the hexagonal one might be more interesting!

Jo

Glad this thread has re-surfaced, as I am in the middle of trying to sort out a lightweight compact camping solution, not for any trips longer than a couple of weeks, but I need everything to fit in a rucksack, so compact is the name of the game.

Currently experimenting with a hammock and tarp set up, using a DD Travel Hammock. The thinking behind this is that the hammock has a waterproof base and built in mosi net, so even if there are no trees it can be used on the floor with the tarp over it to form a (sort of) tent. I have tried the hammock out hanging from trees and it is incredibly comfy, a lot comfier than any camp bed / sleeping mat that I have used. That said the privacy of a tent would still be nice, I like the look of that Gelert Solo set up posted earlier, I may investigate some small changes to my initial idea based on that (and available packing space).

I'm still experimenting with it all at the moment, if everything goes to plan I am planning on getting out and about next week (probably round Wales) to try it all out 'on the road', will post some pics and feedback afterwards.

Keep us posted on how the trip goes using the hammock,have been considering getting the DD travel hammock & 3m Tarp/Basha for a while.

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Andy L

From the midnight sun to the silk & rhubarb roads, 2014
I am not an adventure rider, just a biker that has adventures.