Shelter — tent, tarp or bivvy

The planner writes this from the ride you describe, so there is no version of it that is true for everybody. Here it is worked against one ride, named below, with a single answer changed at a time to show what moves.

2 nights · wild camping · cold but not freezing (8 °C) · gravel and tracks · towns daily

You said you are sleeping wild, so whatever you sleep under is on the bike. A bivvy is lightest and a tarp is the compromise; a tent is the one that works when it rains for three days.

On that ride the planner marks it essential.

The same requirement, reasoned again from a different answer. One answer moves at a time, so what each one adds is attributable to it and to nothing else.

• Sleeping · Campsites

  You said campsites. A tent rather than a bivvy, because a pitch you have paid for is one you may be sitting out weather in.

One object doing one job, so this is a choice between them rather than a shopping list. Every one carries what it costs you as well as what it gets you.

• Tent

  Works through three days of rain, keeps insects out, and pitches on anything flat.

  but The heaviest and bulkiest of the three, and poles are awkward to pack on a frame.

  A plain web search. We earn nothing from it.

  Find one ↗

• Tarp

  Light, packs small, and far cooler to sleep under in heat.

  but Needs something to tie to, takes practice in wind, and does nothing about insects.

  A plain web search. We earn nothing from it.

  Find one ↗

• Bivvy bag

  Smallest and fastest. You can stop almost anywhere, which is the point of riding.

  but Nowhere to sit out weather, and condensation is a fact of life rather than a fault.

  A plain web search. We earn nothing from it.

  Find one ↗

We hold measured dimensions for bags and for nothing else, so this hands the requirement to a search rather than picking something for you. Nothing on this page has a price, a weight or a maker attached to it, because none of those were measured.

That depends on the ride, and this page does not know it. The interview does, and it is the only thing here that can answer the question — no account, and every line it gives you names the answer that produced it.

Plan the ride →