Camping with a Camper Longflap

[Cudzoziemiec]

ISTR the Barge Inn changed hands a couple of years ago? Anyway, it's still going and judging by the testimonial on their website, it probably hasn't changed much – except that they now have glamping!

“I have no idea how I’ve not come across this pub and campsite before but man… I’m so glad I did 🙂 It’s set on a canal, has amazing walks and countryside a great campsite and brilliant pub. It has an amazing feel to it all, really great people and so down to earth. Campsite staff were friendly and really welcoming, the food was so good and well priced at the pub, the whole place just has this vibe to it, best night I’ve spent in a long time and one I can recommend to anyone. I’m going back Saturday lol, literally didn’t want to leave. Thank you to all the friendly staff that made my stay what I needed. Fun, relaxed and with plenty of laughs. You lot are stars.” Nathan Wiblin, April 2021.

https://thebargeinnhoneystreet.uk

[mzjo]

I have once done a w-e (one night) camping excursion with only a Camper Longflap. It was at school. A mate and I were monitoring a group of DoE bronze trial expeditions at Cowley manor. I took the tent for the two of us and my sleeping bag and probably one or two other items (underwear, eating irons etc), my mate took the stove (Primus, 1960's style) and his sleeping bag. My bag was one of those cheap fibre-filled supermarket jobs which filled the saddlebag and the tent, which went on the bag loops, was a Vango Force 10 4 person size complete with steel poles. This was in the Cheltenham area. AIR I went out via the Kilkenny, getting out of the saddle to climb was an alarming experience and I spent a lot of time sitting on the nose of the saddle to stop the bag rubbing on the tyre (the saddle clamp was one of those steel collars with well worn serrated washers in it, no rack,no mudguards of course, typical junk school bike, 5speed 14-24 with a 48 ring). The things one does in one's youth!

[Oscar's dad]

@Kim and @mzjo - We have experienced the sort of French campsites you're both referring to (very noisy late at night and shocking loos) but mercifully we manage to avoid them most of the time and we have done a lot of camping and caravanning in France.

The shameful incident I recounted occurred HERE which is a smashing site, we have stayed a number of times. 

[Kim]

To be fair, I'm mostly in the not-bothered-by-noise camp.  I don't mind people sitting around chatting, excited children or the occasional vehicle door opening and closing or whatever.  It seems unreasonable to expect silence on a big campsite.  But playing music and shouting all night is a bit much.

Still, it's good for people to have the option, if that's what they want.  It would be helpful if they spelled it out a bit more clearly - the main indicator of rowdiness is whether a site allows campfires, and that's hardly reliable.

Large commercial French campsites aren't always ideal, but at least they're pretty much a known factor.  As with C&CC club sites, they're often in useful places, and the facilities can be handy partway through a tour.

My main objection to my night at the Barge Inn was having to breathe paraffin fumes all night, and the ongoing worry that some uncontrolled dog (or drunk human for that matter) would decide to tear holes in and/or empty itself on my tent...   

[Cudzoziemiec]

I don't think allowing campfires is at all a reliable indicator. I recall somebody saying they would judge by the type of accommodation in use: if it's mostly tents or caravans, it's fine. If there's a high number of campervans, it's likely to get a bit noisy, and if it's converted Transits, ambulances and similar, then it's full on rave. But that probably involves high degrees of prejudice.

[nuttycyclist]

The site I was on allowed camp fires, but only with expensive supplied wood.  I rolled my eyes and didn't take my own homemade burner.

Site owners kept trying to sell me wood, which was clearly a good income for them.

But as I said to Mrs Nutty, the site was smoke-free and everybody was happy sitting around their hired washing machine drum.

[Manotea]

Thread resurrection... Cos I've got a camper and I'm bored.... 😄

Basically, inflatable mat, clothes and stuff go in the bag, lightweight one man tent goes under the flap or attached to the top side d rings depending on how much stuff you have, and the sleeping bag assuming you're taking one goes on the bars in a frame mounted drybag.

Plan on making a hotel stop periodically and wash your kit in the shower and you will need far fewer clothes than you might think...

PS adds a bit of weight but I use a post mounted SQL uplift which makes it easier to accommodate a fully loaded camper on the bike and means the bag can be removed at stops.

PPS stuff you need ready access to goes in side pockets which are actually quite big...

Disclaimer... never been far enough away from civilisation to make it worth carrying cooking gear. Solo cycle touring is rather a lonely pursuit so better to make use of eateries along the way and sample the local colour, methinks?

(My last such meal was at a village chippy somewhere on the Boarders of Belgium route where I was greeted like royalty 😁)

[Wowbagger]

Some years ago, Jane and I spent a weekend at a campsite near Great Malvern. She had intended to take her Roberts Roughstuff, as it's a purpose-built tourer with racks & stuff, but due to some sort of mishap in her bike storage area at home, it was hors concours (buckled wheel, I think). She took her Sabbath titanium bike with no racks at all.

I was in awe of the way she succeeded in fitting everything she needed onto, into and around a single Carradice saddlebag. Tent, mat, sleeping bag, spare clothes, tools, trangia, meths, and a bit of food. Probably something else that I have forgotten. It was a joy to watch a real expert in action.

[Luke]

I’m forever fiddling with and changing my camping setup, but for short summer trips my camper longflap is my usual starting point.

I’ve never camped with just the saddlebag though. Usually some sort of bar bag and a dry bag strapped to the rear rack behind the saddle bag for either clothing during the summer, or my winter sleeping bag during the colder months.


Pompino camping. by Luke Hayes, on Flickr


Raleigh mtb. Carradice. Sherwood Forest. by Luke Hayes, on Flickr

[Cudzoziemiec]

You're almost into basketpacking territory with the barbag on that Pompino! Looks like a Deliveroo box (in a good way).

[Cudzoziemiec]

Camper camping this weekend just gone.
Sleeping bag, cooking equipment and few clothes in the saddlebag. Waterproof jacket (which I did actually wear for about ten minutes on Saturday) in one side pocket, the other has a book and a fuel bottle. Tent strapped to the top. It could also have been under the longflap, which I didn't use, but I had the straps so why not use them. The roll on the bars is sleeping mat in a dry bag strapped directly to the bars.

It looks a little back heavy but actually handled really well. It meant going without a few comforts but nothing that you'd really miss for a summer weekend, and tbh I could have got more in the saddlebag if I'd used the longflap too. And it felt to so good to be able to ride normally, as opposed to slowing down on every gradient.

[Kim]

Apropos of nothing, it occurs to me that CamperLongflap would be a good name for a YouTube channel about Minecraft.

[Paul]

My Longflap is camp; your Longflap is camper; his Longflap is campest.

[Cudzoziemiec]

The only groupset to use with this would be Campag Super Record.

Which I don't have, but I was fittingly wearing my Campy cap.

[LittleWheelsandBig]

My RSF-edition Camper Longflap was loaded up this past weekend to join HK at the ALC weekend. Unfortunately I put the saddlebag on my fixed (for reasons), so the short ride out over the Chilterns was a bit tougher on Saturday than I would have liked and the return on Sunday involved walking a couple of steeper pinches. Quite a bit of room left in it, mostly because I didn't bother packing food or a stove.

[Oscar's dad]

We have ACME goes Dutch coming up next month and my Longflap will be pressed into service again    No camping but 5 nights away so plenty of kit to take.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Pah! Five nights of bike and beer while staying in hotels? A Barley is more than adequate! You need passport, ferry tickets, spare tube in case of mishaps, underpants ditto... I don't think there's anything missing?

[Kim]

My RSF-edition Camper Longflap was loaded up this past weekend to join HK at the ALC weekend.

I can vouch for its weight...

[Cudzoziemiec]

Talking of weight, I weighed my CL when I got home on our not too accurate bathroom scales, which made it 5kg. That was without the tent on top, which IIRC is 1.4kg w/o pegs. Let's allow 500g for pegs, so call it 7kg. Theoretically the Carradice Classic Rack has a limit of 6kg, but I think the real strain on it is not weight but bumping, seems to stress the little tabs that go in the saddle loops.

[Oscar's dad]

Pah! Five nights of bike and beer while staying in hotels? A Barley is more than adequate! You need passport, ferry tickets, spare tube in case of mishaps, underpants ditto... I don't think there's anything missing?

I can’t fit a kitchen sink in a Barley, I have tried!

[Cudzoziemiec]

Pah! Five nights of bike and beer while staying in hotels? A Barley is more than adequate! You need passport, ferry tickets, spare tube in case of mishaps, underpants ditto... I don't think there's anything missing?

I can’t fit a kitchen sink in a Barley, I have tried!

Not.even.trying.

https://www.dunelm.com/product/collapsible-washing-up-bowl-1000195069

[Oscar's dad]

Pah! Five nights of bike and beer while staying in hotels? A Barley is more than adequate! You need passport, ferry tickets, spare tube in case of mishaps, underpants ditto... I don't think there's anything missing?

I can’t fit a kitchen sink in a Barley, I have tried!

Not.even.trying.

https://www.dunelm.com/product/collapsible-washing-up-bowl-1000195069

My head is hung in shame. I’ll try harder!

[andrew_s]

You're almost into basketpacking territory with the barbag on that Pompino! Looks like a Deliveroo box (in a good way).

Does this count as basketpacking?

(Lerwick)

Note the auxiliary transport (microscooter)

[Cudzoziemiec]

It's either basket packing or a basket case! I like the use of what appear to be washing-up racks to hang luggage from. Very innovative.

[andrew_s]

I'd put them down as fridge shelves