How do you carry your tent poles?

Checkswrecks

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I've been able to get mine inside of the old Givi 52L top box, but have also bungled them across the front of the top box.


I also saw a guy with a simple and unusual idea for long pieces on each side of the bike. One was for tent poles and the other was a folding camp chair. For each, he had a piece of PVC water pipe with an end cap on the bottom, presumably with a drain hole or two. Each was mounted on the inside of the pannier mounts and he'd painted the PVC black to match.
 

VPS1

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I use the mosko moto 40 duffel, it has a tent pole pouch! Works great!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 

Powershouse

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I have an ortlieb dry bag that holds my tent, poles, sleeping pad, chair and stove. All my camping stuff in a single spot. Want to go camping just throw bag on bike.
 

EricV

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Some of you are ignoring the actual question. Some of you are just strange. :-*

When I camped solo, I bought a tent that would pack in the panniers. Camping with the wife transformed into a 6 man tent she could stand up in and cots. That all takes more space and wouldn't realistically fit inside any pannier known to man. So I bought a plain canvas duffle at the local ACE hardware store that was long enough to fit the cots and the big tent. Yes, it's a big heavy bag strapped across the back of the bike. Oh well.

And BTW, I am firmly in the camp, (pun intended), of those that pack the poles with the tent. Specifically wrapped up in the tent, just like they came from the factory. Along with everything else needed. Nothing gets lost or broken that way. I upgrade the stakes on every tent I buy. Sucks to have wimpy stakes and hard ground.

Oh, and schedule 40 ABs pipe comes in dark grey. Plus conduit comes in grey too. Conduit is thinner and easier to glue, (no purple primer needed, just glue). Plenty strong for the task at hand if you go that way.
 

magic

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Military surplus 81mm mortar tube. It's 3.5" diameter 22" long, heavy plastic with a threaded cap. Tent poles, stakes and some misc. tools fit inside. It doubles as a water container. It fits in my Ortlieb dry bag with tent, sleeping bag, air mattress and camp chair. $20 at the Sportsman's Guide.
 

Cycledude

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My 2 man tent that realistically only fits one man is also from Cabelas , the reason I bought it is because it seems pretty waterproof and packs small, it very easily fits in a saddlebag .
 

terrysig

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2017 Kelty Gunnison 2. Its a two man or as like like two call it a slightly roomy one man.

Bought it for the small pole size. Easily fits panniers.

Although most of the time it goes in the dry bag.
 

JW

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My wife and I have done a lot of camping on motorcycle. We tend to split the poles seperate from our Big Agnes UL 3 person tent. A coiuple years ago we went from Colorado to Glacier and back. It was about 4 weeks of camping. At the time we had the larger GIVI top case and we would put the poles there. The tent went into a side pannier with the food and cooking gear (all ultalight hiking gear). We combined our clothes into one bag and it worked well. Tight but fun.
 

sjh

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I tend to take a duffel bag for tent/poles/overcoat/trangia type stuff



I just bought a mosko-moto reckless-80 too, it has a neat little purpose-built tent pole section - it is mostly for my DRZ, but i'll try it on the S10 too
 

ABBlender

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Wrapped up with the tent and strapped across the back seat...makes for a nice back rest. Sleeping bag in the wolfman expedition paniers, sleeping pad in it's own bag between the tent and the top box.
 
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ballisticexchris

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I carry my tent poles in my tent bag along with the tent. I have my bike setup with tent, air pad, table, chair, and sleeping bag ready to come off the bike and set up camp first. I don't like separating parts that go along with each other.

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I always pack them with the tent. Too many times I've seen people at rallies complaing "I left my poles at home!" because they pack them seperately to their tent. Tent and poles stay in the same bag and the tent gets strapped across the seat or rear rack.

Al
Good thinking Al!!
 
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craigincali

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I dont understand why this is an issue. They usually come in a sperate bag that fits inside the tent bag. Why would you carry them anywhere else? a 2 person tent is small enough to put on the rear seat, accross the top of a pannier, in a pannier etc, etc, etc. I just dont get it.

Dont mean to flame, I just dont get why this would ever be an issue and if it is an issue maybe you have the wroing tent.
 

EricV

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Like others, I always pack the poles with the tent. When it was just me, I shopped specifically for a tent with poles that fit in the pannier. Very happy with my Apex elite 2 man tent. Now, with the wife, we have moved to larger and larger tents because she wants to stand up in the tent and have "room". Current tent is a 6 man... I do NOT trust those nylon bags to hold the poles during riding. I went down to the local ACE hardware and bought a canvas duffle bag long enough to fit the current tent. They sell an entire line of sizes. You can find them online too. Now the tent w/poles, camp chairs and cots all go in the duffle bag and it straps across the top of the panniers and where the pillion seat would go, if I had a pillion seat on the bike. Easy to strap down. Sometimes sucks that it's a pain to get into the panniers during a ride with the duffle there.

If I rode two up, I'd be getting hotels. Too much crap to pack now, never mind with the wife on the back too! I think our moto-camping days are pretty much over now, but we'll see. She's cold today in the house with the furnace at 72F. I don't think I can survive listening to her bitch about tent camping much more.
 
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ballisticexchris

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If I rode two up, I'd be getting hotels. Too much crap to pack now, never mind with the wife on the back too! I think our moto-camping days are pretty much over now, but we'll see. She's cold today in the house with the furnace at 72F. I don't think I can survive listening to her bitch about tent camping much more.
LOL!! Don't feel so bad Eric. My wife is the same. In fact when she and I camp, Jet boil food is out of the question. She makes real meals.

Wife has declared tent days have ended. Shopping for a new RV.

I wish I'd started with backpacking. You learn how to carry less, when you have to carry it every step of the way.
Camping off the bike is pretty rough these days. The only time I will do it is when the hotel is far from the riding area or some rally in the desert. I just recently tried it and was really bummed at how much work is involved camping off the bike. Just about an hour to fully set up camp. It was a lot of fun when I was younger. Now at pushing 60 years old, I like the idea of pulling off the panniers and a comfortable room with a bed.

It is good to know I can still do it in a pinch. FWIW, I have a 2 man Kelty. It's perfect for solo camping. It's also not too wide so the poles can stay with it and panniers open easily while it's strapped down.
 
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