Motorcycle Explorer Nov 2015 Issue 8 | Page 200

Practicality

There are a lot of features to this tent above and beyond the garage function . There are plenty of pockets to put things in store when set up . An easy and secure place to put the phone and keys as you would normally find in a tent of this class . Plenty of hanging hoops that would serve well for a lamp or dangle a torch for light . This is always a good option I find when you ’ re at a rally if you leave a low power lamp in the tent . It illuminates the tent for easy finding rather than strapping glow sticks all over the tent . I found the light strapped to the plastic water bottle ( see last issue ) worked a treat for flooding the tent with plenty of soft light . I ’ m not sure about hanging wet kit on the loops , that ’ s a lot of weight and while it did take the weight I ’ d not be keen to do this over time and place that much strain on the loops and stitching . The thing is you don ’ t have to with that much space as you can drape your kit over the bike or over panniers if you ’ re nervous about parking a bike in there .
Packing the tent up was very easy as the compression sack the tent comes with is oversized . All too often I ’ ve found tents come with a bag that fits a factory rolled tent as tightly as a gym instructors t-shirt ! So come the morning of the off you ’ re left tucking and stuffing edges and air pockets for 20 mins on your hands and knees and swearing like a docker who just stubbed his toe . The bag is not weather proof and this was a bit of a bummer as it ’ s a great size for just stuffing the tent away and then a draw cord with two straps does the rest of the job for you . Redverz do a dry sack that fits the tent but it would have been better to just make the bag a drysack from the off . That said it does save some pennies and if you take the poles out the tent will stuff into a large pannier ! I prefer the tent on the back of the bike and the straps and handles on the tent bag make for easy bungee strapping and very secure .
The tent when packed down is not very big at all 18 x 53cm and not that much bigger than my sleeping bag in fact . Given that you now don ’ t need an awning for your tent ( you can get one ) I had absolutely no issues finding an easy spot to put the tent . It will fit just fine on a metal pannier top , if the pannier has the metal loops , so much the better . I just strapped mine to the back of the bike . The weight ... really ? Who cares ? It ’ s a tent and it ’ s on the back of a motorbike . I ’ m not lugging it on my back up Kilimanjaro ! Packed up it ’ s around 5.4kg all in and nothing that ’ s going to make my front wheel come up at the end of the day .