Bicycle Touring Tent
My latest acquisition to my kit is the Big Agnes Blacktail Hotel 2, a lightweight three-season two-person tent. And although I’ve only taken it on a few trips, it’s already becoming my go-to tent when heading off on my bicycle. Over the years, I’ve had several tents, some good, some not-so-good. But the Big Agnes Blacktail Hotel 2 is one of the better ones. You can read more about how I choose my touring gear in my Long-Distance Cycle Touring Guide.
It reminds me of the first tent I used when I first started cycle touring, the MSR Velo. It should have been the design MSR stuck with, but that’s a different story, which you can read about here.
The Big Agnes
Although after saying the Big Agnes Blacktail Hotel 2 is a good tent, I have one or two reservations about it. The materials seem a little less superior to some of my other tents. And the zips don’t fill me with confidence that they will last. But time will tell on those. The pegs that came with the tent were cheap and nasty and were discarded immediately, replaced with Groundhog pegs. The top vents on the tent are also a bit of a concern. And Garry’s not too sure how good they would be at keeping out rain in a strong wind.
The inner tent walls are predominantly mesh, which might be a problem when the temperature drops. And there is a significant gap between the sides of the outer tent and the ground. But that, along with the upper vents, allows for plenty of ventilation. Keeping condensation down to a minimum.
It might sound as though I’m not too impressed with the tent, but nothing could be further from the truth. I love its roominess and excellent headroom. The large vestibule allows me to store all my gear inside the tent. The vestibule also allows me to cook inside if it’s wet. And if it’s been a wet ride, I can change out of my wet gear without getting the inner tent wet. You can buy your Big Agnes tent via this link.
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Follow & Support Garry’s Bicycle Touring Adventures
If you’re enjoying the ride and want to fuel my next mile, you can always support me by buying me a beer. Or follow me on social media: Facebook, Bluesky, Threads, X, Instagram, YouTube and Pinterest. I’m also on Flickr, where you’ll find pictures from all my tours, along with regular photo updates that I generally publish each month.
If you want to find out if I’m away touring at the moment and check my location, visit the Where’s Garry page.