8 Motorcycle Camping Gear Essentials for Under $300
Enjoy the outdoors with these lightweight, compact camping gear deals.
Nothing re-energizes your spirits like a tranquil night of camping under the stars. Adventure Motorcycles allow us to access pristine wilderness areas and remote beaches that few people ever have an opportunity to experience in their life. To ensure an enjoyable camping experience, you need to come prepared with the right motorcycle camping gear.
Motorcycle camping gear is a lot different than what you typically use for car camping. You need compact gear that is easy to store on your bike and it needs to be lightweight to ensure it doesn’t disturb your motorcycle’s handling. Lightweight, compact motorcycle camping gear is especially important when you ride off-road to reach your camping destination. And of course it needs to be comfortable, quality gear that will last for awhile.
For our motorcycle camping gear list, we include all the lightweight, compact, budget-friendly essentials needed to get you through a weekend to week-long adventure ride — all for less than $300 and weighing 10 pounds.
8. Alps Mountaineering Lynx 1 Tent ($71.97)
Floor Dimensions: 90 in. x 32 in. (228.6 cm. x 81.2 cm)
Packed Size: 6 in. x 17.5 in. (15.2 cm. x 44.5 cm.)
Weight: 4.3 lbs. (1.95 kg.)
You can save a lot of weight and bulk with your motorcycle camping gear by choosing a one person backpacking tent. A single person tent is all you really need to stay dry and comfortable when camping for shorter time periods. The weight savings pays dividends out on the trail and a tent with a smaller internal volume also warms up faster on a chilly night.
The Lynx 1 tent is free-standing with a traditional two-pole design that anyone can figure out – a good thing if you are setting up in the dark or are depleted after a gnarly trail ride. Helping to keep the pack size down are the mostly mesh walls that give the tent plenty of air flow for warmer weather (or for a stinky rider!) and the included rain fly keeps the elements out when the weather takes a turn for the worse. The rain fly also includes a vestibule area for your helmet and boots, or anything else you want to keep dry. With a spacious, seam-sealed bathtub floor, it has enough room for taller campers and the entire tent folds down into a small pack that fits inside most panniers.
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Great tips! +1 on that MSR Dromedary bag. Awesome bag for carrying water or even extra fuel.
Good stuff!! I have the GSI cookset and I don’t think you can get anything better for the price. It is super lightweight and everything nests nicely inside the pot. Even a pocket stove can be stored in there.
This is a great article. I wish I had it as a resource before my first pass at purchasing Moto Camping Gear. Mistakes I made buying the wrong stuff meant having to double spend to get the right items.
After many long range bike trips one of my essentials is the Alite Butterfly chair. Size & weight VS comfort, it is as much of a return on investment as the thermarest. Having somewhere to sit back & relax after a day of riding is something I won’t do without again.
I’m on the same page CrazyJ, I love the monarch leg less chair after a day of riding to really get some needed rest!
[…] riders site. It is minimalist so don't expect to be cozy comfy, but it all packs down VERY small. 8 Motorcycle Camping Gear Essentials for Under $300 – ADV Pulse I do have to admit.. I have to have a good air mattress. I currently have a Big Agnes Insulated Q […]
Great info guys, lightweight and enough for a long weekend away
I don’t know where the price $89.97 for the Eureka tent came from, but it is not even close.
Hey Don – As stated in the article, prices shown are the ones found when the article was published. Prices may fluctuate up and down without notice, depending on demand, season etc.
What a terrific article for a first-time motorcycle camper such as myself!
[…] It won’t boil water as fast as a JetBoil but it gets the job done. Pair the X-Set 11 with a portable backpacking stove, fuel, freeze-dried meals and a collapsible coffee maker, and you’ve got everything you need […]
Good list but I like the Catoma Lone Rider or 2up2 tents. Both set up in 60 seconds.
Nice article you got here, I was wondering which are the best gears I needed to the camping I was planning to do. Thank you for the info.
This is a very good basic list, especially given the $300 cap, however there’s literally a myriad of options when it comes to brands and features. While 10 pounds is certainly lightweight, on a motorcycle, the final weight is far less critical than the compact size, comfort and usability of the gear. For example, camp gear ratings are always optimistic. A 2-man tent is really a 1-man plus gear. A 1-man tent can be nearly unusable. A 20 degree bag is really a 40 degree bag. A loaded Swiss knife is arguably a better camp knife than a frame-style knife. A ThermaRest pad is less comfortable and compact than a Big Agnes Air Core. For a little extra money, you can spring for the good stuff… Other essentials I bring with me are a lighter, some Ronson lighter fluid, 12VDC plug for the bike and any accessories, like an inflator. Don’t forget a compact lantern, a mil-spec CREE flashlight and even an REI Flex Lite or Monarch chair. I do bring a camp coffee pot and use the interior space to nest my stove, utensils, coffee, lantern and other small items so it takes almost no more space. And of course, a good camp coffee cup with an inflatable pillow nested inside is important.
Great article. A few of the items on this list went with me on Leg 1 of my first BDR and will be coming along for the next 5 legs.
That’s awesome Bill! Which ones are your favorites?
Wow! A gear guide that makes sense! There’s no reason at all to break the bank on any of this stuff and the article highlights that. Here are a couple of things to spend your next $50 on: a see through drybag for your kitchen – makes finding coffee gear easier first thing in the morning. A Crazy Creek chair may be a little pricey but, like a comfortable sleeping pad, it’ll pay you back everytime you relax.
Those are some nice suggestions Martin. We’ll check them out. Thanks for your input!
Personally I find the one person tent too confining. A two person tent to me is actually what I would call a one person model. You need a place to put your gear, if you are in a rain storm you don’t want to be cooped up in such a confined space, and the weight savings on any decent sized bike is negligible.
It seems like a great list..and the comments are very helpful but, as I plan my first trip I wonder….how much space does all this stuff take up? How am I going to fit it on my bike? Am I going buy more luggage?
Hi Dennis. For a short to medium length trip, you should be able to pack all of this equipment plus your clothes into a luggage setup that has about 60 liters of carrying capacity. A pair of soft or hard panniers and a decent sized top bag should do the trick. If you are a really efficient packer, you’ll have room to spare.
Good recommendations. I have several similar items all focused on being super light weight and small for ADV riding/packing on my Tiger 800xc. I usually wait until things are on sale, so my prices are cheaper than daily listings on Amazon. The main items are the GkGk Camping Stove + Camping Pot, Klymit Static V Lightweight Sleeping Pad, ALPS Mountaineering Lynx 1-Person Tent, Suisse Sport Adventurer Sleeping Bag, and a few other odds and ends similar to what you listed to pull my kit together. I stuff EVERYTHING camping related into one drypack, so it’s easy to unload and keep separate for other gear and tools.
[…] Have questions about what kind of gear to take camping with you on your bike? Check out ADV Pulse’s article ‘8 Motorcycle Camping Gear Essentials for Under $300’ […]
As mentioned there are a lot of variables so I’ll only touch on one. Cost. Consider a tent. You might save money at the point of purchase on a less expensive tent, but the first rain/wind storm could have you begging to give that money to someone for better shelter. If you camp instead of hotel, even for a few nights, you get all that money back AND you have the better tent for life. “Nothing is more expensive than cheap tools”.
[…] 8 Motorcycle Camping Gear Essentials for Under $300 – ADV … […]
After 54 years of motorcycle camping all over the USA, Canada and Australia, I have found a few truths about camping and they are.
1. any tent you cant stand up in is a waist of money
2. and air mattress is far better to sleep on and the thermal factor is far higher. don’t throw your money away on a pad.
3. Your knife selection is also very bad, a good all purpose knife will split into three parts. one for knife one for fork and one for spoon. it opens cans or bottles and slice or carve anything you want, and you don’t have to carry extra eating utensils.
4 one good cast iron pan can cook any meal you want including making soup and its a lot cheaper and will last a life time.
enough there are far to many people on the road in their huge campers or loud hot rods who do not know camp ground courtesy, and make it miserable for those of us who use to love the peace and quiet of the camp grounds in the evening. Now one has to travel farther and farther in to the back roads to find that and the farther you go the worse the roads are.
I would be nice if some company would start a CAMP GROUND COURTESY COURSE.
That tent is over ninety bucks now
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[…] Unlike a car, you will have less room to pack your camping gear on your motorcycle. To make sure you’re not weighing down your bike too much, it’s essential only to pack the essentials. […]