Camping Gear review

As promised in an earlier blog, here is my review of the stuff I took camping - a bike gear review will follow shortly...

Tent:
Kelty Gunnison 3.1
This was the first piece of camping equipment that I bought shortly after signing up for the Tour du Canada. There was much discussion in the past and current regarding the size of the tent (1-person, 2-person, 3-person,…) you should bring. You will be spending a full summer in it, and other than schlepping it back and forth from the truck, you won’t be carrying it, so my recommendation is to go for a good 3-person tent. You won’t regret the extra room, especially on wet nights. Speaking of wet nights, the fly did a great job of keeping the tent and its contents dry on some very rainy nights, and on the occasions when the tent was packed away wet, it dried very quickly once re-pitched in the evening.

Once I got into a routine (it took about 2 times) the tent was a breeze to set up – it usually took no more than 5 minutes. The tent itself is suspended by clips from the two cross poles which clip into the opposite corners of the floor. Once assembled, the fly attached over the poles. I used a Kelty ground sheet, but you would probably be just as well off with a sheet of thick plastic from your local hardware store, cut to just under the floor size of your tent. The hardest part of erecting the tent was driving in the tent pegs at some of the campsites – a 3/16” aluminum peg has very little chance against the granite of the Canadian Shield.

The only downside of the Kelty design, that I found, was that you could not pitch the tent fly first and then attach the tent underneath it. This meant that when pitching the tent in rainy conditions, the tent and floor got wet before you could get the fly up. I was very glad I brought an extra “sham-wow” so I could mop up all the water on the tent floor, after the fly was up, and before I brought in my other gear (clothes, mattress, sleeping bag, pillow).

The tent had two “vestibules” one I used for entry/exit, and the other was where I stored my “hockey bag”.

Bottom line is if I did the tour again, I would take the same tent. On a scale of 1 – 10 with 10 being the best/easiest here are my ratings:

Roominess: 10
Ease to put up: 10
Storm worthiness: 8
Rainproof: 8
Durability: 10

Sleeping Bag/Mattress:
Big Agnes Mummy Bag 20°F Savery SL
Big Agnes Air Core Mummy Pad
As described in one of my very early posts, I opted for the Big Agnes Bag/mattress combination where the air mattress slips into a “pocket” on the ground-side of the sleeping bag. A great design as you never “roll off” the mattress in the middle of the night.

The 20°F bag rating was perfect for the conditions of the tour – I think the coldest night was in the mid-30°Fs in Field BC in the Rockies. On that night I was thankful for the “no-draft” collar and “no-draft” tubing along the zipper. It took a little while to get used to the Mummy as I felt a little constrained for the first few nights. On the warmer nights, the only thing I would have changes was to add a cotton or flannel liner, as the synthetic liner felt a little clammy. The bag has an integrated “pillow case” in which you can stuff clothes for a supplemental pillow.

I brought my own full sized pillow and don’t regret it, although after 10 weeks of stuffing it into a “stuff sack” every morning, the memory-foam lost its memory at the end.

With the integrated mattress, you blow up the mattress the first time, and slide it into the pocket of the sleeping bag, and never take it out again until you wash the bag. It took about 15 lungs-full to blow up the mattress, and you could easily adjust the “firmness” as desired with the valve.

The only downside here was that the mattress developed a slow leak about 6 weeks into the tour, which meant that it had to be re-inflated after about 4-5 hours.

When I got home, I contacted Big Agnes about the leak, and they replaced the mattress without hesitation, all I had to pay was shipping charges to return the defective mattress to them. Great Customer Service!!!

Bottom line is if I did the tour again, I would take the same mattress/bag set-up. On a scale of 1 – 10 with 10 being the best/easiest here are my ratings:

Comfort: 8
Ease to inflate: 10
Durability: 5
Warmth: 8
Customer Svce: 10

Baggage:
I would recommend two small waterproof, very durable, “Hockey-type bags” for camping gear. On the tour, you will have access to two “laundry” baskets, for in-shelf storage of clothes toiletries, etc. and bags that carry bulky stuff (camping gear) that are stored on the floor when going between camps. The bags on the floor are loaded each (by the day’s galley crew) morning just before the truck leaves, and unloaded each afternoon (by which-ever riders get into camp first.) By rugged stuff (well sewn, strong straps, if any) and waterproof material – you never know what the weather will be like before you get to camp to retrieve your bags. I started with a duffel bag with wheels that I had for a few years, but the handle loops tore the canvas within the first week. Luckily, I found a hockey arena in Salmon Arm and bought a Hockey Bag which lasted for the rest of the trip. If I had to do it over again, I would opt for two smaller bags (one for camping gear and another for sleeping bag, pillow and the evening and next day’s clothing) as it is easier to carry, and sometimes the tent sites are far away (as in 1/4 mile) from the truck.
Clothing (off-bike):

All the riders from previous years advise you well in advance that you will take too much clothing.

YOU WILL TAKE TOO MUCH CLOTHING!!!

If I were to do it again, I would try to restrict my material selection to quick-drying materials – I spent far too much time at the laundry waiting for stuff to dry after a few drying cycles. In addition if I were doing it again, I would bring two pillow-case sized “mesh-type” bags in which to put my laundry, and wash the clothes in the bags – minimizing the potential for single socks…

Bring a jacket to keep you warm and cut the wind on those nights when it is in the low-40°s to mid-60°s. I took a Patagonia Nano-Puff pull-over jacket which did a great job. It is probably the most versatile top I have. Keeps you warm when the temperature is in the 30°s and not hot when it is in the low 70°s.

Basically what you will need are:

1 pair of long pants
1 pair of shorts
1 long sleeve shirt
1 short sleeve shirt
1 warm sweat shirt
1 fleece pants
2 T-shirts
A “beanie” and a ball cap
Fleece gloves
Bathing suit
Warm Socks
Sham-wow type towel
Socks
1 pair of running shoes
1 pair of sandals

That is the "minimalist's" list (try saying that ten times quickly) you will bring more, and probably use more, but from what I can remember that is what you can get by on - oh and yes, don't forget the mosquito netting/hood/jacket unless you want involuntary blood transfusions in Ontario and Nova Scotia.