Motorcycle Camping Gear: Why Ordinary Camping Gear Isn’t Enough
Adventure Rider Radio – Motorcycle Podcast
Adventure Rider Radio | Adventure Motorcycling
4.9 • 961 Ratings
🗓️ 26 June 2026
⏱️ 113 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
How to Choose the Best Camping Setup for the Way You Ride
Before you start comparing motorcycle tents, sleeping pads, stoves, chairs, pack sizes, and weights, there is an important question to answer. In this episode, Ben Williams from Moto Camp Nerd talks about a simple way to think through your motorcycle camping setup before you start buying gear, so your choices are based on the way you actually ride and travel, not just someone else’s packing list. Michnus and Elsebie Olivier of PikiPiki Overland and Turkana Gear also share lessons learned from years of motorcycle travel, including what they've overpacked, what they've replaced, and what has earned a permanent place in their kit. It's a practical conversation about choosing gear with purpose, not just following the latest trends.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Checking specifications and chasing down other people's must-have list for motorcycle camping gear |
| 0:05.7 | is starting at the wrong end of the problem. And it's easy to do because you start looking at |
| 0:11.3 | tents or sleeping bags or stoves, whatever, and they have all the little details with it and you |
| 0:16.0 | compare them with other ones. Then you find someone's list online of must-haves or a recommendation where |
| 0:21.7 | they're telling you this is the one for motorcycle camping and you can't help but think, well, |
| 0:25.7 | maybe I need that one too. But before any of that, there are more important questions to answer. |
| 0:32.3 | You're going to find out what they are today. Because the way you think about camping from a |
| 0:36.1 | motorcycle is going to change the way you think about camping from a motorcycle is going to change the way you |
| 0:38.3 | think about what gear you need to buy. So rather than handing out a must buy list, this episode is |
| 0:45.0 | about the thinking behind a better motorcycle camping setup. First, we're going to talk with Ben |
| 0:50.5 | Williams from Motocamp Nerd about a simple way to look at your camping setup before |
| 0:54.9 | you start buying gear that's going to point you in the right direction. It's going to show you |
| 0:59.8 | what you need for you specifically, not someone else's list. Then we're going to talk with Mickness |
| 1:05.4 | and Elsipi from Piki, Piki Overland and Turcana gear. They've spent years, many years camping from |
| 1:10.7 | their motorcycles in different countries with different climates andana gear. They've spent years, many years camping from their motorcycles in different |
| 1:11.9 | countries with different climates and different conditions. They've done it all. They've overpacked. |
| 1:16.4 | They've changed systems, replaced gear, retired gear, given things away, and they've learned a lot |
| 1:20.9 | along the way. We're going to get some of that today. So today we're talking about motorcycle |
| 1:25.8 | camping gear with a purpose. |
| 1:27.8 | Not necessarily the lightest gear or the most expensive gear or the gear that everybody says you need, |
| 1:33.2 | but how to figure out a setup that fits your motorcycle, your trip, |
| 1:37.7 | and the kind of experience you want when the day's ride is done. |
... |
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