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Wednesday, July 6, 2011

crazy awesome: bikamper tent



(via geekalerts)
the thing i love about the homie chirosangaku is that he posts the weirdest stuff on his blog. case in point- the bikamper by topeak. holy shit this is extremely smart as hell. and it doesnt look that hard to set up, and looks like most of the support comes from the bike rather than those long sticks tents use. kinda want one. follow chirosangaku too!

//edit// i change my mind thanks to a reader. this is smart looking, as smart as i was ranting on yesterday. if zombies were after you and your noble steed was disabled via tent shelter, you'd better hope you have guns because there ain't no runnin'. so yes, this isn't zombie apocalypse approved nor is it as smart as i thought it was. and yes the zombie apocalypse is eminent.  thanks "aushiker" for setting me straight! =]

jmik

3 comments:

Aushiker said...

I wouldn't go so far as to suggest it is really that smart at all. Think about it .... you roll into camp after a solid days riding, its raining and you need to get your tent up. First you need to disable your bike (bad luck if you need it later), then you need to support your bike whilst you try and use it to pitch the tent itself. So you get a lot of hassle for what in return? The saving of one poles weight? Seriously this is a heavy tent anyway. There are much better, lighter tents on the market that don't need a bike as a pole.

Sorry, but it looks like a silly idea to me.

bhsk said...

i can respect that. now that i think about it, if you need to make a run for it you're kinda screwed because the wheel on your trusted steed is completely off... 

Aushiker said...

Yep, plus there is a lack of proper vestibules (to keep gear sheltered outside of the tent); the tent weighs in at around 1,7 kg, more than a good lightweight two person tent that would have more room inside (and protection); and there is a lack of protection from the fly for the tent itself. 

I wouldn't want to be in this tent on a wet night.  It walls are only made of water-resistant material and that fly wouldn't provide much protection. It wouldn't take match to get a wet out situation with the walls and a pretty unpleasant night of "sleep" due to a wet sleeping bag etc.

Plus it  would "sweat" like anything (read condensation) due to the limited of ventilation.  Single walled tents, which effectively is what this tent is, are really only good in the high mountains yet this is a "three season" tent designed for lower altitudes and milder temps.

It looks like a neat idea until you want to actually use it :)  Sadly it lacks the technical aspects of a good quality tent for three seasons. I think Topeak should stay out of the specialist areas such as tents and focus instead on good bike components.