After more than two years of development, the Mountain Equipment Company (MEC) has introduced the ‘2 Kilo Project,’ a capsule collection that includes a tent, sleeping bag, sleeping pad, and backpack that is innovative, warm, extremely lightweight, and just might be perfect for an off-road motorcycle adventure.
I’ve gone through my fair share of camping gear. I was a Boy Scout and spent countless weekends hiking into remote parts of the Pacific Northwest as a kid. My teenage years were spent surfing and camping along the Washington and Oregon coastlines, sleeping on the beach with as little as necessary, or camping out in the back of my Volvo station wagon. In my twenties, I took a job with an adventure motorcycle outfitter and applied the skills I’d learned as a Scout, scaling down my camping kit to fit into the panniers or saddle bags on a bike. Ounces become pounds, as they say.
I’ve photographed cross-country rally racing for more than a decade now, including three trips to the Dakar Rally - once in South America and twice in Saudi Arabia. To be out ahead of the racers at the start of each Special Stage, we remote camp every night in the desert, often with only three or four hours to sleep. That means my camping kit needs to be easy to set up and break down, as well as lightweight and durable. So, for the last decade, I’ve settled on a two-person MSR tent, along with a Therm-a-Rest sleeping pad and sleeping bag. It all packs down into a waterproof Wolfman Luggage duffle bag and weighs no more than seven or eight pounds. It’s a good setup, and one I’ve used on countless dual-sport motorcycle trips.
