Blacktail Hotel 2

Can you show some more detail of the tent packed down / in the case? I'm currently running a big agnes blacktail hotel 2 for similar reasons, as it'd fit in the side panniers of my GS / topcase on the 1200r.

I live on Vancouver Island and finally replaced my little Big Agnes seedhouse 2 backpacking tent with a Big Agnes Blacktail Hotel 2. I should say I BIKEpack nw so a little more weight is OK. I got so tired of being stuck in a tiny tent during day after day of rain. 'Tent Fever' is not good, especially with two other people! Go large or go home.

I picked that one up with my rebates and it’s a pretty decent tent honestly. Aluminum poles that even came with a patch kit for them! Packs down small enough for what it is as well. The Big Agnes Blacktail Hotel is a really nice tent as well that is made for bikepacking so the poles are shorter, I’ve also seen that one on sale pretty frequently.

Big Agnes are exceptional. Buy one secondhand, get the two person, and never look back. My buddy and I both use one, they are light, small, and truly worth every cent. 

For quality camping equipment I tend to wait for a holiday then check out REI outlet online. If you are a member you get a 20 percent off coupon that works for outlet prices. I bought a 2 person Big Agnes tent that retailed for over 3 hundred dollars. My cost was about 120 I think. It was years back but it's a great tent. We would budget 2 big ticket items every year until we had everything we wanted.

We each have our own hammock... Def my preference! We have a 2 person Big Agnes that we put our packs in or use if the weather is really bad (even tho I have a rain fly for my hammock now!)

When’s the last time you actually set up a modern tent? If you’re picturing threading tent poles through sleeves then I’d get the hesitancy. Modern tents are extremely easy to set up now Takes me <5 minutes to set up my 2P big Agnes tent. Going bivy seems overly aggressive when just getting back into camping