For my father-son bikepacking go back and forth in the course of the Kii Peninsula, Japan, I wished dozing preparations that have been as mild as imaginable, but in addition comfy. And, up to imaginable, a roomy tent.
Sea to Summit is likely one of the few manufacturers that provides the entirety had to arrange camp, and so they do it with bikepackers in thoughts due to the original, splittable Telos Bikepacking TR2 tent. We used that plus an collection in their dozing pads, liners, and pillow to take on every week of faraway bicycle traveling, right here’s the main points…
Sea to Summit Telos Bikepacking TR2 tent
Sea to Summit’s Telos tents are their light-weight, backpackable tents, to be had in 1- and 2-person sizes. The Telos Bikepacking TR2 is a cycling-specific model that packs into two separate, water-proof roll-top luggage. It contains straps to mount them in your fork, which is highest completed over a three-bolt cage just like the King Cage Manything Cage or Wolf Teeth’s Morse Shipment Cage:
This design has 3 advantages. First, it makes it in reality simple to pack the tent and steadiness the load in your motorbike, simply put one bag on every fork leg. 2d, it assists in keeping it dry and compact.
However that’s no longer how we used it…we every had a complete set of bikepacking luggage from North St., which brings me to the 3rd get advantages: You’ll be able to break up the load between riders. And, for those who’re packing the tent that means, you don’t want to use the water-proof roll-top luggage and straps, saving you 14.3oz (405g). Cleverly, the pole sleeve has a translucent white panel that clips to the ceiling…put your motorbike mild or telephone in there and it creates a lamp for easy, even illumination at evening.
The ripstop nylon rainfly is water-proof, seam-sealed, and has evenly reflective bits in it (that didn’t display up really well in my picture). It’s the one factor that calls for stakes within the flooring, and that’s basically to drag the edges out to create a sizeable vestible on each side. It’s greater than enough room to stay helmet, sneakers, and so forth., out of doors of the tent.
It additionally has doorways on each side, permitting both user to simply input/go out with out demanding the opposite.
Inside of, it feels roomier than it’s due to a tall, boxy form created through a cross-pole that spreads the roof out to the edges. The footprint holds two in their inflatable dozing pads, and that’s about it. Small mesh wallet on both sides are excellent for a telephone, headlamp, and a pair different small issues.
Key specifications:
Packed weight with the entirety – 4lbs 3.5oz (1.91kg)
Minimal path weight – 3lbs 5.2oz (1.51kg)
Ground dimensions – 84.5″ x 53″ x 43″ (28 sq. toes.)
Vestible space – 19.5 sq. toes.
Height peak – 43.5″
MSRP – Initially $699, lately $524
The Telos TR2 isn’t absolutely the lightest bikepacking tent to be had, but it surely’s aggressive, and it’s boxy inside and flexible split-packing design make it a perfect choice for two-person tenting. It’s additionally in reality simple to setup, wreck down, and pack. Large mesh doorways and considerable roof vents avoided it from getting steamy inside of, even on wet nights, which was once extraordinarily useful since we hardly had time to let it take a seat within the solar and dry earlier than desiring to close up within the mornings.
The standard of fabrics and sturdiness are very good. And whilst the ground “tub” is rather water-proof, I at all times suggest bringing the footprint (~$55) to give protection to the ground from rocks and over the top moisture.
Sea to Summit Napping Pads, Liners & Pillow
The whole thing packs down small and is derived with its personal garage pouch.
For dozing, we introduced alongside the next:
Ether Gentle XT insulated dozing pad (470g)
Reactor Excessive Liner (342g)
Aeros Top class Pillow (79g)
The Etherlight XT dozing pad is, arms down, the most efficient I’ve ever used. It’s thick (4 inches!), didn’t really feel chilly, and strangely quiet for an air bed.
It’s additionally extremely fast and simple to inflate and deflate thank you to split valves with a one-way inflation port. The stuff sack doubles as a bellows, simply blow gently into it to create a large balloon of air, then squeeze that into the pad. This no longer most effective works a lot sooner than blowing at once into the pad itself, it additionally nice reduces the quantity of moisture out of your breath that enters the pad, which will reason gross issues to occur over the years.
The bed makes use of radiant insulation to mirror frame warmth again to you, and it perceived to paintings smartly. Nights have been less warm than expected, in order that helped since we confidently introduced most effective liners slightly than dozing luggage to avoid wasting house. No longer gonna lie, we have been chilly maximum nights and ended up dozing in no matter garments we introduced, together with the Gore rain jackets some nights.
Sea to Summit’s Reactor liner sequence has a large number of choices, and the Excessive could be very comfy. It’s made with Thermolite Professional fleece with an infrared-absorbing ceramic pigment, which I’d was hoping could be simply sufficient heat but in addition no longer be too sizzling. I believe it might be absolute best for temps within the 60’s and 70’s (Fº), however maximum of our nights dipped into the 50s. That mentioned, I believe it’d even be nice as a heat booster inside of a right kind dozing bag on a lot less warm nights, too. Final analysis, it’s almost definitely highest to pack just a little additional heat and slide out of it than be chilly and need for extra layers.
The Aeros Top class Pillow was once an absolute standout. It’s supremely comfy, utterly quiet, and packs down very small. It’s most effective 19g heavier than their Ultralight model, and it’s softer. It makes use of the similar twin valve to inflate, making it fast and simple to make use of. Extremely suggest this for any form of tenting.
In case you’re in search of light-weight bikepacking or tenting equipment that doesn’t skimp on convenience, without a doubt take a look at Sea to Summit’s huge assortment.
SeaToSummit.com
