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Monday, August 26, 2024

Back To An Old Idea ...

There are commercially available "hitch tents" and other variants for vans and SUVs. When I rode a bicycle, I wanted something similar, but never found it, and never quite successfully invented a working model myself.

Here's your basic pup tent:

Dutch army tent 1955

The version I want would come in a stuff sack that it never full detaches from, and the bag would have straps for mounting to a bicycle or motorcycle rack. Open the bag, pull out a bundle, unfold it. A collapsible ridge poll sewn into the top line with an elbow at the far end and a collapsible top to bottom poll and attached guy-line. The pegs would likewise remain attached to the bottom hems. Might even be able to manage without the ridge pole.

Nothing to lose. All the parts are attached to each other. You'd open the bag, pull out the bundle, stretch it out behind the bike, fit the internal polls together, and peg the guy-line and tent sides into the ground. Boom, you'd be camping.

Next morning, pull the pegs up, collapse the poles, and stuff the whole thing back in the bag ... while the bike is warming up. Strap on anything else that's not already mounted on the bike, ride away.

It seems to me there'd be a bit of a market for such a thing. Dirt/adventure bikers who like to get out into the wilderness and stay a little while. Long-distance riders who prefer quick overnight camps to expensive hotel stays. Etc.

If I don't find one to buy pre-made, I will eventually perfect the idea myself, and likely publish the blueprint as an "instructable" kind of thing.

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