I think the new Exped mats might have some sort of trickery built into the valve to prevent over-inflation. I can't get ours to inflate really hard anyway, no matter how much I lean on the schnozzle. Maybe its just the difference between the old palm style pump and the schnozzle though.

Maybe it's a bin bag....

I have mine in one of these. It also takes my mat, liner, pjs and other stuff. https://www.alpkit.com/products/airlok-xtra-dual-20-litre As Stu says, you can do fine just using the two straps it comes with to attach it, at least til you get the hang of things and refine your needs. http://i1249.phot...

Thanks :) I am missing the weather there already. It has been very sunny here lately but you just don't get the warmth to go with it. You may well be right about it being illegal to cycle on beaches, but I think you would need fat tyres for that anyway. We did try in a couple of places, but just sun...

Can't find that on the map, but after our wee soujourn off piste, the boy won't let me try that sort of thing again in a hurry. I thought the firebreak wouldn't be that hard to push through but it is very wild country for sure.

What's the price difference? I have the Synmat HL and it's great. I have only used it down to around 3.5C overnight but was very warm in my down bag. One thing to be aware of is that Exped's R-values are American ones, which means they are something like 6 times higher than UK ones. From memory I th...

I have just bought this lightweight, credit card sized power bank for my mobile phone. It was £10 delivered. It is one to keep in the bag for those emergency 'oh crap I have broken my leg and my phone is dead' sort of moments. Weighs 86g on my scales and will put 20-30% into my Moto G4's battery. It...

Thanks guys. Yes Ray, I am trying to do one of these trips every week at the moment. The weather is so good just now. I must have a closer look at the route of the B350 to see where else it goes.

Hi there,
I am looking for a small seat pack to fit on my son's bike, as it doesn't have a great deal of clearance.

You can see the problem here:


Cheers

Another wee trip - an overnighter to Greensykes bothy near Eskdalemuir. We arrived to find another cyclist there already, also inspired to make the trip by the bothy bible book. Total of 91.5km round trip (57 miles) it was 37.5km there (23.5 miles) and a tougher 54km (33.5 miles) on the return. We f...

Dash4it the OS map seller has 10% off just now:
Code 10BDAY

https://dash4it.co.uk/ordnance-survey-m ... lorer.html

Hopefully I now have the two of these that I am after.
Many thanks

Hi, looking for one or two Alpkit Hunka bivvy bags in regular size please.

Not fussed about the colour,

Cheers

I just got one of these down blankets for £20 as a top-up for our sleeping system when needed. It weighs 460g including the stuff sack on my scales. I think it is the same 'Costco throw' that the bespoke ultralight guy makes his hammock blankets from. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/162403044814?_trksid=p...

Isn't this what Tom and Rich did last year?

http://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB ... ide#p97595

....oh, and you probably know this already but - fit derailleur guards before the bikes go on the plane! I read a lot of online tales of woe where people had their derailleurs or drop outs broken in transit - the bike boxes will get thrown on their side by the luggage handlers so for a couple of qui...

Thanks Rich, I should probably have said that the campsites were very cheap - usually around 8E a night for the pair of us at that time of year. The last one just south of Porto was only 4E a night as it was a municipal one. I think the most we paid was 14E a night. There were of course, abundant wi...

Thanks guys. If nothing else it toughened us both up a bit!

Sounds very chilly. We were good to 3.4C overnight in our bags in Portugal but we also used thermolite liners which maybe made the difference. I feel a bit bad about the idea that the bags scuppered your highland trip!

Another cycle touring trip I'm afraid! This is a very long post - the potted version is here - do the north bit, not the south unless you have fat tyres and a fondness for hike-a-bike. http://i1249.photobucket.com/albums/hh518/Borderer13/17353469_10211258037542905_4395743441025386702_n_zps3y5uwzol.j...

Sorry the Scottish bit didn't work out but good to see that you made the best of it. Do you know what sort of overnight temps you were dealing with in Scotland?

I think you might be thinking of the Gordon Arms no?

No, you are correct. Friends of ours bought it and let it out and now it is open again. Sadly it is closed on a Monday though, so we couldn't sample the all day breakfast on the way back.

2/4 for me and the boy. Sunday was sunny so the boy and I put our new bikepacking gear to the test on a wee overnighter to Over Phawhope bothy. Fitting the bags took me ages, mostly due to a stuck bolt on Joe's bottle cage, so we didn't manage to leave til 2.45. Springtime in Hawick's Wilton Park......

Me too please