Field Testing the 'Best Value' Motocamping Kit + First Camping Trip on the 2024 KTM 790 Adventure

Oh my god, the Easter Bunny has been here. And this is all the gear I kind of recommend if you're trying to get into modal camping without spending a ton of money. I'm not just like robbing someone else's campsite right now. As far as you know. Obviously, I like cookies. I think I've decided to go for a hike. I'm so sweaty. I don't think I had a heart attack. 18-inch zucchini, keep that between us. And then I was like, hey, fire, stop being dumb. You can be selfish and unselfish at the same time. No, it hates me. Remember that commercial? Cookie crisp. The pad holds air even though I ran it over with the car. Can't say I've ever had a whole campground to myself before. Hello, friends. Winter is over. It's springtime. It's time to go modal camping. So I'm here at a new place. I've camped here before. I've never modal camped here before. So I've certainly never made a modal camping video here before. But we are at the hidden gem, which I'm reluctant to be sharing. But here it is. Cascadia County Park. The campground itself is awesome. And as of right now, nobody's camping here. It is completely empty. The rains have just stopped. It was raining this morning, in fact. And there's just a lovely little campground. I don't love how close the sites are to each other. But there are a few gems here. And it's a small campground. Got a good ambiance. Good tree cover. It's old school. There used to be a much bigger, like, a big bathroom shower facility here. But a tree fell on it. So this campground was closed for like two years. They just reopened it, I think, this year, actually. The back area here is my favorite. Let's just pull right in. I like this spot. Let's pull into this spot. See what this spot's all about. Take a look around the spot and see if this is going to be the one. It's got a fire pit. Nice flat tent spot there. And another one over there. I like that better. It's a little bit more hidden. And... cool trail in the... What's this? Oh my god! The Easter Bunny has been here. There's firewood here. What a lucky find. Already stashed and hidden behind this tree. It's almost as if someone came up here earlier today, reserved this spot, and dropped it off. But I don't know who would have done that. Who would have had that kind of foresight? No idea. Let's get unpacked. Let's set up camp. This video is sponsored by Motocamp Nerd. Because we're not just motocamping for the first time on the 790. Which we are doing. We're also testing out, in a real-world scenario, the contents of my Best Value Motorcycle Camping Kit. The video that I made a month or two ago. Which I will link for you. And this is still all the gear I kind of recommend if you're trying to get into motocamping without spending a ton of money. Because you could spend a lot of money. But you don't want to buy the super cheap stuff. That's not going to last either. Motocamp Nerd sells all this stuff. And we're going to put it all to the test. Tent, sleeping pad, pillow, sleeping bag, and a cooking system on this trip. Probably the most crucial piece of gear is the Helix 2 Backpacking Tent from Alps Mountaineering. We're going to set that up first. All right, footprint first. Footprint does not come with the tent. You have to buy it separate. But I think it's absolutely worth it. Tent set up. I'll put the fly on after I get everything else in there. Got my sleeping bag. I stuffed it in this dry bag. So it's in there. Everything else is in this dry bag. The doors on this tent open super wide, as you can see. No flap hanging down. Actually, they stuff right inside here. There's a little pouch right here. Perfect for the door if you really want like a cross breeze or you're just trying to take a really cool picture. But anyway, sleeping bag. I'll leave that in there for now. Silica gel. Wouldn't hurt to leave it in the tent. It'll soak up moisture by getting in here. And then the other parts of our kit. Oh, dinner. Toiletries. Dessert. Lighting. But pillow. Backup pillow. I always bring two. And air mattress. This is the Big Agnes Divide Insulated. And yeah, it's the one I ran over with my forerunner. I trust it so much. After that, even. I'm gonna sleep on it tonight. I have no backup. I have no qualms. No doubt in my mind. Ugh, I hate this yellow. Much prefer the orange. They're equally visible. The other one's not as ugly. It's the Exped Widget Pump. It's also a light for your tent. So kind of cool. Dual purpose. This is my Nemo pillow. My favorite camping pillow ever. Pro tip. Don't blow it up all the way. Pro tip number two. A neck gaiter makes a great pillowcase that you can take off and wash. This is the Sea to Summit Eros. It's not part of the kit. But I always like to have two pillows. So I always throw this one in because it doesn't take up any space. But it's not as comfy as the Nemo. Holding air just fine. And the piece de resistance. My Big Agnes Echo Park 20 degree bag. And for those of you who aren't familiar, if you didn't see the other video, it attaches to your sleeping pad. So it's a very comfortable bed-like environment. The most comfortable camping sleep system I've ever used. It's just like the Diamond Park except the Echo Park here doesn't have down insulation. It has synthetic insulation. It packs up a little bigger and doesn't keep you quite as warm. But it has other advantages like being half the price. And it's got kind of a cool flannel sheet inside this interior. Whereas it's all nylon on the Diamond Park. So it's actually cozier in my book. Hard part's over. Let's put the rain fly on. The camp host just came by. I'm the only one in the campground. So he brought me some wood. He just left it in the next side over. Because he thought that's the one I paid for. So hopefully I got the right one. But I'm gonna go grab it. Can't have too much wood. And yes, he told me to take it. I'm not just like robbing someone else's campsite right now. As far as you know. I'm not. I'm kidding. Oh damn. That plus my two bundles. We can have a fire all night. I don't have to be sparing. I can have a TIM fire. Tent set up. Bed set up. Firewood gathered. It's not even three o'clock in the afternoon. So I'm gonna run into town for supplies. Mostly liquid supplies. Because I want to keep it super simple tonight. And we're showing off the camping kit. I'm gonna cook with the Jetboil. Because that's part of the kit. And I brought this chicken teriyaki rice. Pecory fuel. Supposed to be the bomb. And cookie bites for dessert. I actually had these on the last camping trip. Forgot to eat them. Not happening tonight. Obviously I like cookies. Since I still have my riding pants on. I think I'll run to town. And then come back and just sit and enjoy. There's a stream over here. There's a little waterfall not too far from camp. Maybe we'll walk up to it. Having a place to ourselves means limitless possibilities. But for now. Gotta run an errand. According to the board. I still have the whole campground to myself. That's pretty awesome. My own private campground. No line for the bathroom. Against my better judgment. And completely against the grain of what I would normally do. Uh I think I've decided to go for a hike. The slower Soda Falls trail is right behind me. So I can pop right on from my campsite. And I was thinking about just sitting here and cracking a beer. But then I'll just feel guilty all night. For not doing anything else for the video. So this way I can go look at the falls. Get some footage. Come back and enjoy beverages guilt-free. Maybe even start a fire. Because once I've gone to the only place worth going. I'm probably not going anywhere else. What sucks is I don't have any hiking boots. And the only other shoes I brought are these slippers. Which are great for around camp. The traction leaves much to be desired. As in there isn't any. I don't really need to be sliding all over the place out there in the woods. Fortunately these Corazoles are so comfortable. And they have a decent sole. That I don't mind hiking around in them. Let's go look at the falls. Okay this is kind of cool. I just came up that. So this trail is a lot steeper than I remember. I thought about giving up twice. Keep telling myself. They're almost there. Even though I looked at Onyx and I'm not. Going upstream sucks. Because they flow downhill. So I have to go up. But we're gonna keep going. Just for you okay. Because I promised you. That's one of the falls. It goes really high. Predictably the battery died the second I got up here. And I only brought one. But I have my phone. Look at that. That's worth the hike huh? Lower Soda Falls. Right through that cliff face. I'm so sweaty. And look. Beautiful. Exercise. Man. Who knew it could be good. Fortunately it's mostly downhill from here. And I mean that very literally. That was an excellent reminder of how thoroughly unprepared I am to go back to Canada. In about five weeks. For Grooves Bait 2.0. Gorgeous waterfall. Much more difficult hike than it should have been. But I'm back at camp. I don't think I had a heart attack. We'll know in the morning. Or at least you will. I may not. I'm not like dying hungry right now. So I'm not gonna make food yet. It's not gonna get dark for like three hours. But I am gonna have a beverage and maybe a pre-dinner Mr. Puff Puff. That sounds excellent. Weather-wise it's supposed to be 40-ish Fahrenheit tonight. Which is eight degrees above freezing for us. So it's probably what? Five Celsius? No. Yeah. Five Celsius. Somewhere around there. So it'll be a good test of that 20 degree bag. Because as you know. I hope. 20 degrees is the temperature you can survive. It's not the temperature you're comfortable at. So about 20 degrees over that should be safe. So we'll see. I have slept in that and pretty cold. I think like 38 actually and it was fine. But it's a good test of like I said the decent quality. Best value sleeping setup. And a tent that I think is pretty good for the money. And it packs down really small which I like. It's not short which sucks. But I have another tent that costs about the same amount of money. It's twice as big around as this. This one's like this big around. Like a squash. Like a zucchini. But you know 18 inch zucchini. No experience with that whatsoever. But I like vegetables. I don't know. What do you think I meant? But it packs pretty small for the price. I like the material it's made out of. It's nice and lightweight. It's pretty waterproof seeming. It's kind of funky to set up. I'll give you that. Because the poles they're asymmetrical. So like there's one on either side. And they both cross the middle pole. But not in the way that I'm used to. Once you get used to it it's fine. I know that pillow is great because I've used it a thousand times. And that Boundary Deluxe mattress I've slept on many times. So thanks to Motocamp Nerd for helping me put together a kit that I feel like is a good value. That's not crazy expensive to recommend to people. You know check out that video if you haven't. Where I go through all the features of this gear. But tonight's about testing it and having a fun time camping. So thanks for being here. I like camping with you. You're my favorite person to camp with. I want you to know that. Don't tell Travis. Don't tell Tim. Don't tell Grace. You're my favorite. I mean it. Keep that between us. I am exhausted. No more hiking in motorcycle boots. But I almost went out in my slippers and that would have been a disaster. So Campo's brought me all this bark which is pretty wet. But if we put it on the outside it'll protect the fire from the wind and dry out the bark. I have my fire. Best part about camping in the spring. You can have a fire. The fire was being dumb. And then I was like hey fire. Stop being dumb. And then I put some of the dry wood on the eyebrow and it's roaring now. So lots more firewood than I planned on having. Which means why not start a fire before dinner. Nothing else to do tonight. Got my exercise that's for sure. I love when Motocamp Nerd sponsors a video. I get paid to go sit in the woods and drink Coors Light and smoke cigars. What a terrible job. You think he's getting his money's worth? I kind of doubt it. Whatever. He knew what he was signing up for. I don't feel bad. His name's Ben. Ben's know things. They drink and they know things. It's a Romeo y Julieta. Someone always asks. No. Autofocus is stupid. That's what I mean. I don't know how to make it work correctly. Anyway. Romeo y Julieta. This was from some that were sent to me by a really cool channel member or patron to congratulate me for hitting 100k. So the least I can do is use them in a video. Also these things are gross and you should not do them. They're bad for you. They're making it very difficult for me to get life insurance right now. Which is stupid because I seriously have like 12 a year. I don't smoke them at all in the winter hardly. Mostly a camping thing. But if you tell them you ever have any tobacco at all you're a smoker. Even though my doctor doesn't consider me a smoker. Some of you are like why did you tell him? You're looking at the reason. Because the last thing I need is for something to happen to me. My wife goes to claim our life insurance and they pull up a video and they're like oh he lied he's a smoker. No good. Just middle-aged things. You know how it is. What's funny to me is I still do the thing where like everything seems like too much work. Going camping seems like too much work. I've had a trip sort of tentatively planned I don't know how many times in the last couple months. I always try to get out every month. Once a month. Like that's my goal. Obviously more in the summertime but just so I don't lose the rhythm. Not always on the motorcycle obviously in the winter. Because like the February or the March one was snow camping in the Forerunners with the dogs and duck van I guess. And February I ended up not getting one in because I hurt my back and I was gonna go camp on my property actually. And I just didn't think crawling around out there by myself was a good idea with my back messed up. So I miss February. Sucks. But April done. And May on it's gonna be a lot camping so. But anyway I get like I almost didn't come. I've talked myself out of coming camping I don't know how many times. Just like it's such a hassle. I focus on all the negatives and not the good things. I got out here today and I set up the tent and I filmed all that. I put this chair up and I just sat in it. And I just sat there for like 20 minutes. Didn't think about anything. Just looked at trees and listened to nature and noticed things. You know who has time to notice things in our daily life. Like there's a really nasty widow maker at the campsite over there. Made me really glad I didn't pick it. And it just is invigorating to just sit and be. And it feels like coming home. Because like in the summer and the fall I spend so many nights just not always in the woods. But camping you know at rallies and stuff and camping on trips. And like it just feels good. It feels weird to do it alone because I'm doing with people so much lately. But alone is when I can get a lot more filming done so. But anyway I guess what I'm saying is the juice is worth the squeeze. Don't forget why you love something. Don't focus on all the negative like oh I got to pack everything on the bike. And like I get so stressed out about things like what if I get there and I can't get firewood. And like I'd still be camping. It wouldn't be the end of the world. And the worst case I just go to town and get some. Like that's why I came up here early and dropped off all this firewood. That and I just wanted to get out with the dog and let her go for a ride. She likes to go for rides in the fore. It eased my anxiety to know that there was going to be wood here. Because I put it here and then I get here and the camp host brought me some. So sometimes problems solve themselves. Don't let the minor inconveniences stop you from the big experience. This is like this much. I'm stone sober. I just think a lot when I'm by myself. If I'm high on anything it's all that exercise. Anyway cheers to Motocamp Nerd. Thank you all by the way for all your support you guys. I put up that video about supporting him and how close he was to his dream. He got so many orders that it was like a cart stacked six feet high and like five feet wide. And then a pile of crap on the floor and that was just the post office. When he sent me that picture UPS had already been there. That was half. It was half of it. And that is what I love about this community. Support this man. Let's help him build his dream. And the cool thing about that is we all win. You can be selfish and unselfish at the same time. We support Ben. He creates the best online resource for motorcycle camping gear. He can negotiate better deals for us. He can put out products and ideas and content that help other people get out into the world. It's just like it all comes back around. What you put out comes back to you. So we all benefit from helping Ben. At least those of us that care about camping. Which I assume some of you do. Otherwise how did you get eight minutes into this video? You waiting for me to cut myself or something? Anyway that's a long-winded way of saying appreciate the little things. Don't forget what you love. And don't let the difficulties and conveniences stop you from experiencing what you love. And put good things in the world. Support the people that you care about. That support the things that you care about. And it'll all come back around in the end. That's my philosophy. Call it fate. Call it karma. Call it whatever you want. The fact remains that if you put good energy into the world. Good energy will come back to you. Learn that from my dad. Watching him. Nicest guy on the planet. And doors just open for him in ways you wouldn't even think. And he doesn't even think about trying to get the door open. It just opens. So thanks dad for teaching me that lesson. That's a good one. Try to live it every day. Anyway. Campfire. Cigar. Brewski. Life is good. It's time for food. Tonight, peak refuel. Chicken teriyaki rice. Generously provided by Motocampnerd. He sells these so if you want to check that out I'll put it in the description for you. Cooked in the Jetboil which is the other component of the best value motocamping kit that we haven't talked about yet. And this is the java kit. So these are the rods for the french press which we're not going to use. And this is the pot holder if you're going to use a pot to cook on. I'm not gonna. I'm just going to cook right in the Jetboil. I'm not going to cook in the Jetboil. I'm just going to boil water. So got my Jetboil canister. Love this thing because it's fully self-contained which you would know if you saw my review of this Jetboil which I'll link for you if you haven't seen it yet. So one thing I have learned with these or at least the last one is this calls for a cup and a third. And I think I'm going to do a cup and a half. I'd like to do just a little bit more because I had some kind of crunchy stuff in the bottom of my last one. The one on the the Montemarini camp at the cabin that I did. Water spigot's right over there so I'm not going to bother to try to get it out of my hydration pack. Instead I'm just going to walk over and this actually has a two cup line inside. So I think I'll just fill it up three quarters of the way to that. Water acquired. Let's see if this is going to light with the thing. It almost never does. No it hates me. It's fine I brought my lighter. But we're just going to boil this water. That's what the Jetboil does. So you can cook your dinner in it. I've cooked in this before. Or you can just boil the water to go in a dehydrated meal like a peak refuel. Now if you look here the Jetboil tells you when it's boiling. So I'm going to get this to a rolling boil because it's got to then sit in here for 10 minutes. So you don't want it to get cold in your 10 minutes. Bro that was fast. Is it done? That's hot steam you idiot. Oh it's done. Turns out hot steam is hot. Who knew? I didn't expect it to be done that fast. Boiling water. We're going to put it in. We're going to stir it up. We're going to let it sit for 10 minutes. Cooks right in the pouch. Boom baby. Long spoon. Essential for eating out of these stupid bags. You really want to get in the bottom because there'll be like little pockets of stuff that didn't get hydrated if you don't. I'll see you in 10 minutes. I've seen one car all night. I have this camp ground to myself as far as I can tell. Camping in April on a random Tuesday. Awesome. So it's been 11 minutes. Let's eat some teriyaki chicken rice. It's not looking bad. A little gooey. I'm gonna stir it again. That's the rules. Doesn't look like teriyaki sauce. It looks more like marinara sauce. So I can give you a look what we're dealing with in there. Yeah. Anyway, it's hot and it's dinner. I mean, it's not going to be like a gourmet meal, but it's pretty close to what it's supposed to be. What I love about these is you can just shove them in your bag as long as you have your jet boil and access to water. You have a warm dinner. I'd rather have a steak, but definitely had worse. Pizza corn dog, which is what I usually eat on a multi-day camping trip. Mostly just eating this so I can get to the dessert. Because I've been wanting to try these since they arrived in a box probably two months ago. Dinner a la jet boil. First time camping on the 790. That's it. First time using those Tusk Highland bags. Those are the rackless bags. You can definitely tell the difference when that bike's loaded versus unloaded, which makes me feel like my plan to keep it kind of light and lean, not going to put pannier racks or crash bars on it, is a good plan. It's not unrideable. It's just noticeably different. Obviously more weight up high because you saw the weight being down low because that's where the fuel tank is. Okay, these are peanut butter. This is not going to go good with beer. These are peanut butter chocolate chip cookie bites. Freeze dried. They look like dog food. I keep looking at the instructions thinking like you're supposed to do something to them. I guess not. Directions. Open pouch at Taramark. Remove oxygen absorber. Enjoy. These aren't bad. It's a nice little treat. There's brownie ones too, which I haven't tried yet. Definitely tastes like if you made cookies into dog food. Like cereal. I'd like to rehydrate these with milk. I bet that'd be really good. Kind of reminds me of Cookie Crisp. Remember that commercial? Cookie Crisp! Remember that commercial? You're old. This has been dinner and dessert. I think it's campfire time. Love it. I do miss the slipperiness of the nylon on the diamond part. It's a lot easier to get into, but the flannel feeling is a lot warmer feeling. So it's a trade-off. Now the real test of this setup begins. I have utmost confidence it's going to be great. But if it isn't, I will happily tell you so in the morning. But I am in bed. It is late. I have hydrated and urinated. I'm going to try to get some sleep. I'll catch up with you in the morning. Eight hours for me. Hopefully five seconds for you. Also, you know, if you're enjoying the video, if you like camping videos, maybe hit the like button. I don't know. Helps me sleep at night. Like literally tonight. Don't worry about the logistics of that. Just trust me. Okay, thanks. See you in the morning. Good morning. Slept for a while. It is a little after seven. Well, one, I discovered that my new bear spray, the clip is glow in the dark, which is actually awesome for finding it in the night if you need to. So that's good. Two. Comfortable as hell. Not cold at all. I like this bag a lot. Actually, I didn't even have cold spots in here like I sometimes do with these big bags. But it wasn't like freezing either. It was, like I said, a little bit above freezing. Comfortable. The pad holds air, even though I ran it over with the car. That's pretty cool. Pillow. Rockstar as always. Love this thing. Snug as a bug, as they say. Also this tent. This is the first time sleeping in it. It's super roomy in here. I'm just used to my Tigerwall UL2 bikepacking tent, which is supposed to be a two-person tent. It isn't. It's like a one and a half. Just enough room for you and your gear when it's a tight squeeze. But this, there's a full extra person space here beside me. I could put a lot of stuff in here with me if I needed to. Hell, I want to stay in this cozy cocoon of warmth all day, but my bladder disagrees. Unfortunately, I have a ton of firewood left, so I guess it's morning fire today. Don't hate that. Tent is very wet, so I've got to take it out and dry it off when I get home. But nothing I can do about it now. I thought of this before I dumped the ice on the ground. Whatever. Well, that was a fun and unique trip. Can't say I've ever had a whole campground to myself before. I got my riding pants on and everything else that has to go in the bags is sort of related to the camera here, so I need to put it away to get out of here. I just want to say thank you to Motocamp Nerd for sponsoring this video and encourage you, if you're looking for motorcycle camping gear or even just regular camping gear, because he has really good stuff, to head over to MotocampNerd.com because it is the only site on the internet dedicated solely to the needs of motorcycle campers like you and I. And every piece of gear on the site has been specially selected and curated by Ben and his wife, Mary, and tested by all the people he works with, like me. So it all works well. It's all quality, and it's all stuff that I would personally recommend. Really excited to be working with him and help him chase his dream of doing that full time. And thank you for all your support there. I'm gonna get on the bike and get home. So, what a lovely spring camping trip this was. Looking forward to many more. The season has begun. But for now, and as always, I just want to say thank you very much for watching, and please do not forget to be excellent to each other. A thank you. Excellent!