Field sleeping...which, why... etc.

Tent every time.
Usually the reason you have the van is that it's full of bikes and kit.
Unless you've got a van big enough to have a garage, then it's going to be full of stuff too expensive to dump outside overnight.

Pop up tents are so good now and so incredibly easy, it just makes more sense imho.
If your van isn't insulated etc, it'll tend to be colder too.

Tent, you can fit a really nice tent and mats/sleeping bags in the corner of a van while you travel, then get a decent nights sleep.
Sleeping in a van (unless it's been gutted and/or is half empty) isn't particularly pleasant.

Depends on budget really. We have a Vango 6 man inflatable tent for the 2 of us, really nice & roomy, but quick to put up also, so would really recommend something like that!

"Field sleeping"??? It's ok to call it camping 😜

Van every time.
Usually the reason you have the van is that it’s got a lovely full width bed, fridge full of cold beer, lovely soft warm duvet, cooker, cotton sheets, lighting and a heater
Unless you’ve got a van big enough to have a garage, then it’s going to be full of people so dump the expensive bike stuff outside overnight. That's exactly what you bought the 10 metres of Pragmasis chain for.

Vive la difference....

Usually the reason you have the van is that it’s got a lovely full width bed, fridge full of cold beer, lovely soft warm duvet, cotton sheets, lighting and a heater

So, you mean camper, or RV...

Well yes, the van will be just a van... but will only have 2 MTBs in there, so could easily fit a single mattress.

Hammocks....

If you want to sleep in the van, have a good think about insulation and ventilation. If it's a case of only one night at a time, a 2 seconds Decathlon tent is more than satisfactory.

Hammocks….

No need for that sort of language.

“Field sleeping”??? It’s ok to call it camping 😜

Wild sleeping, surely?

Well yes, the van will be just a van

Vans are noisy in the rain and even if it doesn’t rain you get woken up by big fat drops of condensation….. which alway, always manage to land in your ear. The first sudden movement in the morning create a small rain shower. In summer they’re hot and stuffy as soon as the suns up.

it takes a bit of time and work turning a van into an insulated / ventilated space to sleep otherwise it’s just a too cold / too hot damp nosy metal box

Wild sleeping

Tramp Nouveau

If you're racing multiple weekends it's well worth sorting the van with insulation. bed and bike storage.

I've a fitted out camper, but faced with a tent, car or basic van camping, you'll only find me in the car/van if my tent has collapsed or is floating.

Tent is much warmer and more pleasant.

If you’re racing multiple weekends it’s well worth sorting the van with insulation. bed and bike storage.

Doesn't really work IMO as at times we'll have 4 and even 5 bikes in the van. This weekend for example we'll have 4 in there just for FoD and Cannock. Once you get into that you can't really have space for bed/storage as you then need to start removing wheels etc which we don't want to do. So the van is predominantly a van/bike thing with any sleeping aspect being secondary.

Tent is my preference for comfort and a decent night's sleep. Change for a quicker to pitch one if needed. Most 3 hoop tunnels can be put up by one person in 5mins or so. Then the van is just for lobbing bikes, manky kit, tools etc in.

Wild camping

Shirley that should be ... Wild fielding*.
##notabakeoffmoment

+1 for tent.

https://www.decathlon.co.uk/p/3-person-blackout-pop-up-tent-2-seconds-xl-fresh-black/_/R-p-172537?mc=8492484&c=WHITE (or the 2 man if it's for one person, or you want separate ones) is literally a 2 min job, if it's not windy then just a few pegs around the sides and don't even bother with the guy lines. Plenty of vents/mesh for if it's hot and to keep insects out.

Thick self-inflating mattress and you'll have a decent nights sleep.

When we had a van it was just used as a mega estate car.
Put a false floor in the back with a double row of (large) storage boxes underneath, bikes bracketed on top and space to seat 6 (or 4 with loads of space.) With the spinny front seats we could sit and eat in there. Space to get changed if the weather was properly bad. Enough space for 3 or 4 days worth of race kit, plus food/camping/glamping/BBQ/gas hob/lighting/cooking etc from a mains hook up. And a massive tent in it's own box, then another box for camping mats/sleeping bags etc.

Toured and raced the length and breadth of Scandinavia in it, plus Germany/Netherlands/Belgium/Holland/UK.

Then we had kids.

So we reconfigured to a kid friendly of mega estate.
Then we sold it when they were about 4 and got a caravan instead.

the van will be just a van…

Sleeping in an un-insulated van is a miserable experience - choose one of the other options.

I thought this was going to be about some audax type ride where you hide behind a hedge for 1hr and what hedge to choose

Sleeping in an un-insulated van is a miserable experience – choose one of the other options.

Exaggeration. There are better places to sleep but with a window cracked and a good self inflating mat it is fine. In the ops case I would choya tent because of the amount of gear but in general sleeping in a van is fine.

Well yes, the van will be just a van… but will only have 2 MTBs in there, so could easily fit a single mattress.

Never that pleasant rolling over in the night and getting a face full of DMR Vault! 😂

I think I’d have a basic easy to erect tent purely to sleep in since you have the van and gazebo for shelter you can move about in. Whether I actually used it would depend on laziness, weather, space.

Mostly I’m looking forward to seeing how all this pans out over the next eight months once the Weeksy’s have a race season behind them and know what actually worked for them

BTW I have slept in cars and vans but only out of laziness/lack of options/drunkenness

Mostly I’m looking forward to seeing how all this pans out over the next eight months once the Weeksy’s have a race season behind them and know what actually worked for them

As with bikes, vehicles, layouts etc, this is definately going to be a 'suck it and see' type situation that changes, develops and moves fluidly as we learn, develop and grow. There's things like food, catering, heat, cold, etc all that again will be different one week to the next.

I'm leaning towards the Gazebo at the moment, but that doesn't help in terms of flooring if it's rainy/wet, which obviously one of the 2sec tents from Decathlon will work for as it's got a dry groundsheet... but currently we've got 5 weeks to come up with plans 😀

I would sleep in the van, with the bikes, but have a tent or gazebo immediately outside to get changed in, sit in, leave all muddy stuff in etc. A decontamination zone! A van is always watertight and takes the headache out of wind/rain for the sleeping part, but if you keep it just for sleeping in and keeping bikes in it keeps the faff and chaos factor down. But if you can't sleep in the van with your bikes then I would go for the tent option - I wouldn't want my bikes outside with me in the van. Even with big locks, it's too much risk.

100% the bikes won't be outside... that's simply not happening.

You can get a bed that drops down from the ceiling, so if you can get the bikes low (or stored on their side for when you sleep), this might work ok?

I sleep in my uninsulated van no problem. It's no worse than bivying outside, but is also roomier and drier with more space and comfort

Tent would be the simplest though

I'd get a tent with some kind of canopy; whether that's part of the tent or a separate gazebo chucked over the entrance area.
That allows you to get out of the wet & rain to take your shoes off without dragging it into the tent & soaking the inside every time you open the door.
You could probably lash something up from the side of the van with a tarp.

You can then sling all your kit like clothing, pads, shoes etc. into the living area of the tent, keep the gazebo for servicing & cooking perhaps. The van stay as the bike storage area.

Something LIKE this, with a canopy, is what I would be thinking of (link below).
You can keep the front door open & peer out without getting covered in rain & you can de-robe under the canopy without getting the tent soaking wet.

Hampton 4

Or go hybrid.

Those ultra blacked out decathlon tents are awesome. We got one last summer after decades of camping in “normal” tents. Waking up at the right time and at the right temp rather than baked in sweat at dawn was a revelation.

Those ultra blacked out decathlon tents are awesome.

True dat 👌

Depends on how cold it is...tent will be warmer than gazebo and van as it is likely to be a smaller space to keep warm.

Van would be good as it means if anyone is trying to break in to get the bikes/kit, then you'll also be there, but it probably isn't the best place to sleep as it will be full of all your riding gear as well, so space will be tight.

Gazebo - it would work but tends to be a much larger area so unless it is a warm day/evening/night then it wuold be a cold place to sleep.

I thought this was going to be about some audax type ride where you hide behind a hedge for 1hr and what hedge to choose

Bus shelters are so last years audaxing......

Depends on the weather, temperature. Tents can be warm, which becomes too hot,... but, how big tent you thinking?

Unless it's very warm the gazebo will be cold, ditto hammocks.

Van will work on that horrible night you arrive late, lashing rain and don't want to get the tent up.

Any 'easy-up' tent for me. Either pop-up or inflatable for comfort. Having said that, and given this is @weeksy, I fully expect to see this in a thread appearing near you soon 😜

Roof tent?

There wouldn't be any room for the helicopter, silly

we’ve got 5 weeks to come up with plans 😀

New tent / gazebo / Winnebago incoming in 5,4,3,2,1…….

could easily fit a single mattress.

Have you consulted with Weeksy Jnr about spooning with dad? 😂

at times we’ll have 4 and even 5 bikes in the van.

So is that the Weeksy family weekly shopping run?

The helicopter will go on the pop-up roof tent. A few velcro straps over the helicopter runners around pop-up roof and all will be fine when the tent is in use with helicopter also fitted.

Also, you can sit in your tent and get wrecked.
Do that in the van and it's harder to explain to the feds should the need arise.

Bit of everything mentioned,Gazebo next 2 van,wind breaks either side unless you get a fancy walled type then tent(s) entrance underneath that..see it as like..well.. your lobby.

@kayak23 - if you're in a field of other people camping and you've got a bed in the back of your van, the chances are almost impossible

On a related matter, I was talking to a team coach the other day and he said it’s always the people who stay in hotels that are late, turn up to race not having had breakfast etc! There’s something to be said for camping on site and having your head in the game from the moment you wake up.

– if you’re in a field of other people camping and you’ve got a bed in the back of your van, the chances are almost impossible

Yeah, good point I suppose.

There’s something to be said for camping on site and having your head in the game from the moment you wake up.

Or just being organised...

Or just being organised…

I'm incredibly organised, but often races are 3-4 hours away, we can't afford £100 a night for 2 nights X 17 weekends. So camping has to be an option.

Know where you are coming from and it soon all adds up. We did the maths early on and plunged for the camper. It was and still is the right decision for us taking into account we were also travelling to Europe for races.
If I was you I think it would be one or two Decathlon pop up tents. They go up in seconds and don't take long to put down. They are easy to dry and don't take up much room.
The main thing, which ever way you go, is a good comfortable nights sleep for him.

Van as kit store, gazebo for living space and a small tent as a clean area for just sleeping in. Trug to bundle the tent in if it has to be packed wet or it's just too windy to fold.

What does that cantilever on or is the ladder structural? Is the floor rigid?

How do roof tenters deal with the inevitable night time wazz?
Lethal climbing out of one of them half asleep in the dark at 2am
It's bad enough in a normal tent when no amount of willing makes the need disappear 😊

The correct answer to all this is a small cheap caravan. Can keep the basic eating and sleeping kit in it all the time, hitch it up and off you go.

The correct answer to all this is a small cheap caravan. Can keep the basic eating and sleeping kit in it all the time, hitch it up and off you go.

Well apart from the inability to get it down certain lanes, the lack of parking at venues, the lack of parking at home and the expense to purchase, it's perfect 🙂

I struggle to sleep in hotels but not so in a tent. Might be the cool fresh air.

I'd take a tent, campsites can be noisy especially during school holidays and weekends, I prefer to wild camp. Sounds like fun..

I reckon 2x pop-up tents so you and your lad have your own 'rooms' supplement that with a pull-out side awning and/or windbreaks as necessary if wind/rain start challenging those pop-up tents.

Fast pitching and flexibility to deal with different sites and weather is really what you're after.

I think it's going to start off as being 1 pop-up 2" tent from Decathlon/Ebay, along with the boy in the van on a memory foam mattress. We'll also for the first 2 have the Gazebo with us for day to day 'room' stuff, but obviously that doesn't have a floor so won't work for sleeping if it's raining/wet. So tent for me, van for him (it's carpeted on the walls to give some insulation, but we'll leave side door ajar to cut down on condensation and give ventilation for the first tests. I don't sleep that well even at home so a crap sleep won't be a massive issue for me.

Pop-up Tent in the gazebo could work maybe? Just doubles your protection from the elements and wolves.

Blackout pop-up job

Don't forget a couple of folding chairs. Makes a big difference having something other than the van or the ground to sit on camping

I think it’s going to start off as being 1 pop-up 2″ tent from Decathlon/Ebay, along with the boy in the van on a memory foam mattress. We’ll also for the first 2 have the Gazebo with us for day to day ‘room’ stuff, but obviously that doesn’t have a floor so won’t work for sleeping if it’s raining/wet. So tent for me, van for him

You knew that when you started the thread, didn't you? 🤣😉

Can't both sleep in the van, gazebo useless for sleeping in. Should have just asked 'what 2 man tent' and saved 2 pages 😜

No, not really, But it was obviously on the list. But was nice to get ideas from people who've been there done it. We do the camping thing twice a year but i'm usually very drunk at that 😀

Don’t forget a couple of folding chairs. Makes a big difference having something other than the van or the ground to sit on camping

Yeah we have plenty of those, along with a table for food/helmet and a semi-workbench, along with the back of the van for chilling out.

New tent

Weeksy I have an older version of one of these sitting in the garage you can have for nothing: https://www.vango.co.uk/gb/camping-equipment/1327-omega-350.html albeit the 400. One or two of the base peg loops have failed but it’s easily fixed and wouldn’t blow away without them.

Maybe try it, if you don’t get on with it keep it or pay it forward.

That's incredibly kind fella...Thank you... but honestly we have multiple 'normal' tents... So i was really thinking of one of these super quick ones to help with time in the mornings. For example at Rheola you can't camp on site. Camping is 1 mile away, so in the morning we still need to get up, get packed, loaded and shipped back to the hill. Hence me thinking of quicker solutions. In my experience, getting a normal tent up/down etc isn't the quickest job in the world and on these mornings, we want to be up and out easier rather than slower.
Not all meetings are like this, at a fair few we'll be camping at the actual course, which means putting the tents down is less of an issue as i can do that while he's getting kitted up and signed on etc... But sometimes, up and away ASAP is of the essence.
Great offer though, thank you.

The correct answer to all this is a small cheap caravan. Can keep the basic eating and sleeping kit in it all the time, hitch it up and off you go.

Well apart from the inability to get it down certain lanes, the lack of parking at venues, the lack of parking at home and the expense to purchase, it’s perfect 🙂

Yeah, caravans are good, but have a very narrow envelope of usability when you're looking at having one as a race HQ. Unless you're only doing "proper" UCI events at "proper" venues.

Most of the racing i've done over the last 20-25 years would have been fine with a caravan. I've either been parked in, or close to the main arena (so easy access) or it's been a larger event, with requirements to get trucks/generators/TV crews/ambulances etc on site.

CX/local MTB events would have been a non-starter though. Some of the sites they barely even had access for cars.

Well apart from the inability to get it down certain lanes, the lack of parking at venues, the lack of parking at home and the expense to purchase, it’s perfect

You forget the extra fuel cost and slower speed limits. Might work for some events at a cost but real issue for others.

Only £13k 😉

So i was really thinking of one of these super quick ones to help with time in the mornings

Equally I have a spare Quecha 2-seconds-simple-2 pop up....

Equally I have a spare Quecha 2-seconds-simple-2 pop up….

1. Do you find it literally that quick ? I've watched the video..
2. I'd happily buy that one off you mate.

Do you find it literally that quick ? I’ve watched the video..

To put it up, you literally throw it on the ground and let it expand, & bang in 4 pegs. To put it down yes it can literally be done in 60 seconds, but there is a knack. It took me about 30 minutes the first time albeit I'm not known for being very practical with my hands. It has very clear instructions.

I’d happily buy that one off you mate.

I got it for £20 in a sale some years ago, you can have it, its served me well. I'm en route back from Gloucester on Tuesday night via A40/M40 for a handover if needed.

Well yes, the van will be just a van… but will only have 2 MTBs in there, so could easily fit a single mattress

I can easily fit 2 bikes sideways if I take the front wheels off leaving room for a double mattress or 2x vango 7.5cm self inflating.
Pedals off I can do 4 bikes..
Insulated is a must or you get condensation ..

Never that pleasant rolling over in the night and getting a face full of DMR Vault! 😂

Thick merino socks over pedals is a must... even if its not your face

Van will work on that horrible night you arrive late, lashing rain and don’t want to get the tent up.

Van is far simpler most times as well.
you rock up, park .. couple of beers and sleep or watch some videos then sleep.
stick the heater on if its cold...
leave in the morning (when needed) without a wet tent to pack...
I've carried a tent lots and then not used it.

@weeksy.. take a look if you are at Canada Heights Sunday..

the van will be just a van

Mine's just a van but insulated/heater fitted, cooler in when needed (won't be bothering this weekend) .. insulated and I can still stick a load of 8' fence panels in when needed

Away at a different race this weekend mate sorry.

Away at a different race this weekend mate sorry.

Its "packed" (arranged) for 1 at the moment (wheels on) and I'm away Friday night elsewhere then driving directly to Canada heights for Sat night but I'll send a photo when I rearrange it.

It had 5 bikes in all wheels on Sunday...

I'm biased, but this seems a brilliant layout for a swb van, and would be 'perfect' with a drive away awning with a opening side.

https://flic.kr/p/2ny9GJm

https://flic.kr/p/2ny4xAh

https://flic.kr/p/2ny9GFL

Just looking into sleeping bags now... By eck some of these are expensive.

I want something that'll keep us warm, but not be the price of a small house !!!

Blacks seem to have some Berghuas ones that are not too bad at about £50 each... but open to recommendations.

Or go hybrid

Exactly what eldest did for his 7 weeks this summer. Tent/awning was a basic job on side door. Under bed garage took one bike both wheels on, or three bikes front wheel off. Spinny front seat. Small cooking area in van and 20lt water storage, lots of cupboards and hanging space.
Then two deckchairs and table in awning, and it becomes the changing and mucky space, but also good shelter from weather, including sun.
It works really well, and awning is 10 mins to put up and take down.

In terms of sleeping/living, it's going to be pretty basic. Overnight we'll put the bikes in front of van, wheels off or stacked against the end/side with 1 wheel out... freeing up most of the rest of the area for the boy to sleep in.
I'll be in a tent, he'll be in the van. So we're sorted on that bit. It's now really down to what we sleep in in terms of bags/duvets... i'm thinking bags (as per 2 posts ago) due to storage compared to duvets etc..
First test is coming up in a couple of weekends time

It’s now really down to what we sleep in in terms of bags/duvets… i’m thinking bags (as per 2 posts ago) due to storage compared to duvets etc..

I would be tempted by something like this (currently £100 on AbsoluteSnow)
https://outdoorsmagic.com/article/sierra-designs-frontcountry-bed-20-review/

And an Alpkit Dozer
https://alpkit.com/products/dozer