WRT packing

[PaulB2]

Does anyone else agonise over what to bring and what to leave behind?

My sleeping bag & mat near enough fills my (15l?) bar bag.
Pocket bag has map(s), small wash kit, emergency packet of couscous, gilet, buff, beanie, phone, sunscreen and smidge.
Front top tube bag has snacks.
Rear top tube bag has key, debit card, usb battery & wires.
Small frame bag has pump, inner tubes, repair kit, multi-tool and small first aid kit.
Waterproof Jacket strapped to top of seat pack

All I need to do now is work out where to put water, cooking kit, tent and clothes.

Option 1: spare clothes & stove in 6l seat pack, water in bladder with tent in a small 10l back pack.

Option 2: Ditch the backpack, stove and pare the spare clothes down to a down jacket and a pair of socks, tent in the seat pack. Water in 2 stem cells and a frame mount.

Option 2b: As per 2 but buy a 8l(?) dry bag, put tent in dry bag along with contents of pocket bag and strap to bar bag. Stove and clothes can now go back in seat pack.

Option 2c: As per 2 but buy a trailshot so I can drop the stem cells and only have one bottle on the frame. I'd need to find a home for the trailshot.

If money were no object:

Option 2d: Get a revelate terrapin 8l which would give me a 2-3l bigger seat pack with the same amount of clearance as my current pack which would be just about enough space to squeeze in some extra clothing.

Option 3: Get some gorilla clips, gorilla cages and dry bags, attach to forks. I can now carry a kitchen sink.

Option 4: Buy a new rigid or front suspension bike with enough room in the frame for a partial frame bag and 2 or 3 bottles and a much bigger seat pack.

[whitestone]

Agonise over what to take/leave behind? Always I take it you've read the TLS piece in the reviews section?

What bag and mat fill a 15 litre sack? That's chuffin' huge!

Until we are closer to the actual weekend I wouldn't fix what to take, we could have wall to wall sunshine or we could have three days of horizontal rain or anything in-between. Temperatures could range from 5C - 25C.

Spare clothes? A set of light thermals and a spare pair of socks, this isn't a fashion parade! Down jacket? unless you really feel the cold then it's likely to be necessary. Buff and beanie?

Option 2b: why put a tent in a dry bag?

Option 2c: most definitely.

If money were no object: Get lighter, more compact kit rather than getting bigger bags to put your current stuff in, once you've applied TLS of course

This is what I took on last year's HT550 http://bobwightman.blogspot.co.uk/searc ... nd%20Trail, obviously it's aimed at being light and going quickly but even for more leisurely riding there wouldn't be much more. Some items like the sleeping mat would be swapped out for comfier versions, the cuben fibre kit is fairly fragile so Alpkit tarp, things like that. If you read down the linked page there's my reasoning for taking what I did

[Asposium]

What to take /leave is most certainly a learning curve.

[PaulB2]

Agonise over what to take/leave behind? Always I take it you've read the TLS piece in the reviews section?

What bag and mat fill a 15 litre sack? That's chuffin' huge!

It's just a 3-season down sleeping bag that I got off ebay and a decade old thermarest self-inflating mat. I just loosely packed it so I could probably have a bit more space if I really compressed the sleeping bag.

Until we are closer to the actual weekend I wouldn't fix what to take, we could have wall to wall sunshine or we could have three days of horizontal rain or anything in-between. Temperatures could range from 5C - 25C.

Spare clothes? A set of light thermals and a spare pair of socks, this isn't a fashion parade! Down jacket? unless you really feel the cold then it's likely to be necessary. Buff and beanie?

I'm probably just overthinking and trying to cope with too wide a temperature range. That and I was thinking of something to change into for the journey home by train.

Option 2b: why put a tent in a dry bag?

To stop it getting wet . I was just thinking that it'd be a convenient way to keep all the bits of the tent in one place.

Option 2c: most definitely.

If money were no object: Get lighter, more compact kit rather than getting bigger bags to put your current stuff in, once you've applied TLS of course

This is what I took on last year's HT550 http://bobwightman.blogspot.co.uk/searc ... nd%20Trail, obviously it's aimed at being light and going quickly but even for more leisurely riding there wouldn't be much more. Some items like the sleeping mat would be swapped out for comfier versions, the cuben fibre kit is fairly fragile so Alpkit tarp, things like that. If you read down the linked page there's my reasoning for taking what I did

I'll have a more thorough read of that this evening, thanks.

[whitestone]

The self-inflating Thermarests are somewhat bulky I'll give you that! Mine is definitely relegated to car camping these days. There's no point in saying why not use bag/quilt X as different people have different requirements for sleeping.

If you search on here for threads on sleeping systems (bags, quilts, mats) and tents/tarps then there's a repeated learning curve and what feels very much like convergence on a standard set of kit that might currently be seen as "best of class". Ultimately there's no right or wrong just what works for you in a given set of circumstances.

If you are getting there/home by train then something non-smelly might be an option for the way home though I didn't bother when I did the Trans Cambrian Way - having a set of seats to yourself can be an advantage

Tent: depending on model and the length of the poles they can fit in the "map pocket" found on many frame bags, likewise the pegs.

Sometimes a bit of "thinking differently" can pay dividends - perhaps the most obvious of this is using a simple stove just to heat water and rehydrate food in its packing rather than try and replicate your home kitchen. A home-made alcohol stove along with a couple of hundred ml of fuel is more than enough for a weekend. By "cooking" in the bag you don't have any washing up either

[psling]

That and I was thinking of something to change into for the journey home by train.

Assuming that you'll be starting and finishing at Bearbones Towers I'm sure I'm not being presumptuous to suggest that Stu would hold a bag of kit there for you so you don't have to carry it around with you for the event.

[Bearbonesnorm]

I was just going to suggest the same thing Peter.

[RIP]

Yep, dump non-WRT kit in a bin liner at Stu's (next to mine ((opposite the one containing Steve M's ten T-shirts )), sorry to clutter the place up Stu ).

I'll be train-ing it as well Paul (what trains are you on? Might bump into you!) - as Whitestone says, keep the same gear on that you rode in because indeed the extra room is welcome . Last year I was away from home for five days, sleeping outside for three of them, and had no spare clothes at all! If you're bothered about offending people's nostrils, whack a bit of high-powered deodorant on before you leave home, and pile your socks and boots full of foot powder. Oh, and install some of those carbon-based smell-absorber insoles in your boots, they work a treat.

As said above, best time to pack is about ten minutes before you leave the house - if the weather's going to be nice(*) just leave most of it at home.

Good on you for starting the thread though, part of the fun is seeing what everyone else is enjoying/risking.

(*) - admittedly there will be an infinite variation of interpretations of this word on Here

[chris n]

TLS first. You don't need a buff AND a beanie. If you've got a waterproof you don't need a gilet. You probably don't need a full camelbak bladder. Use a GPS, not maps (put the maps on your phone). You only need one tube. Pare the tent down to the bare minimum (ditch extra pegs, guys, bags, maybe even the inner if possible). Do you really need multiple charging cables?

If you've got the budget, cutting volume seems like a better investment than saving weight (and often they go together anyway). Lightweight meths stove, inflatable mat (https://www.blacks.co.uk/activities/104 ... r-bed.html ?) etc.

Sleeping bag, spare clothes and stuff you need to keep dry goes in the dry bag up front. Only open this if you need to. Tent, sleep mat (if it fits) and stove in the saddle bag. One large water bottle on the frame should be enough.

Having a little bit of spare capacity helps as it allows you some flexibility in packing on the second and third days, and gives you space to fill with food on the way round.

I'm going to aim for no backpack this year, but it will mean I have to use one of Stu's 8g stoves for cooking. Need to dig it out of the garage and have a play, as I've not been able to make it work properly yet.

[PaulB2]

I was just going to suggest the same thing Peter.

Ta muchly, I'll probably take you up on that offer, especially if the forecast is leaning towards wet & chilly.

I'll be train-ing it as well Paul (what trains are you on? Might bump into you!)

I've not booked anything yet but I'd have to leave Stafford around 05:30 on Saturday to get to Caerswys and then cycle to BB towers in time so leaning towards heading over on Friday afternoon but still need to negotiate with SWMBO about when I can escape. I've not made a plan yet for where I'd sleep Friday night yet because I've been too busy obsessing about what to take.

[RIP]

Prob'ly teaching me granny to suck eggs here, sorry Paul, but I'd get that bike booked on pronto m8 - bank holiday remember so trains'll be pretty solid, and only 4 velocipedes per train to Caersws. I see there's a 05.25 from Stafford, change Wolves, arrive Caersws 08.13. (Unfortunately that one takes longer than trains later on - maybe it hasn't woken up properly at that hour....) Maybe 1.5/2 hours from there to Stu's via Staylittle, just in time for cake tin opening time. .

[PaulB2]

Prob'ly teaching me granny to suck eggs here, sorry Paul, but I'd get that bike booked on pronto m8 - bank holiday remember so trains'll be pretty solid, and only 4 velocipedes per train to Caersws. I see there's a 05.25 from Stafford, change Wolves, arrive Caersws 08.13. (Unfortunately that one takes longer than trains later on - maybe it hasn't woken up properly at that hour....) Maybe 1.5/2 hours from there to Stu's via Staylittle, just in time for cake tin opening time. .

No, that's a good point - I'd found the train but not noted the fact that it only took 4 bikes.

[middleagedmadness]

Cheers for pointing that out reg I may now get the train down instead of driving ,you reckon the 2030 train back on the monday is the right one

[RIP]

Next one Saturday morning is 08.10 from Staffs, arrive Caersws 10.14 - you get a lie in then, but cutting it a bit fine. Then again, leap off the train, grab a sandwich from the Spar round the corner, eat it on the move, arrive Stu's 12 o'clock just in time to find out you've won some nice prize or other . Or possibly even flag some BBB-er driving through Caersws on the way there too! There's even a 09.10 arrive 11.13 which JUST leaves enough time. Only a tenner each way as well .

Yep there's 18.30 back on Monday, or 19.32 or 20.34. After that it's 06.28 Monday. If you miss the 20.34, you could come and join me in the disused conservatory that a nice lady whom I met in the Spar let me kip in last year! I assume she'll be in the Spar again this year......


Right, off out now up the woods on my "emergency" last-minute-decision April BaM......

[middleagedmadness]

Soon as I finish night shift and dropped young fella to school I'll be up the station to book, hopefully will manage to make the last train home

[Asposium]

Just checked the location of the railway station

Not giving anyone a lift, so could likely pick someone up whilst passing.

Would be driving over Saturday morning from Hull

[RIP]

^^^^^ what a lovely public-spirited person It's a smashing bike ride from Caerwizz to Stu's though.. Quandary

Bit spooky out here now it's dark. Am flapping a bit about those giant spiders (see BaM thread in the other room). Do they eat bikepackers do you reckon? Oh gawd, it's worse than that isn't it. I'll get wrapped up in a cocoon and saved for later like in blasted "Alien". Ohhhhhh bugger.....

[Asposium]

^^^^^ what a lovely public-spirited person It's a smashing bike ride from Caerwizz to Stu's though.. Quandary .....

Not really, the route goes past the station.

So no big issue to collect someone.

[psling]

Bit spooky out here now it's dark. Am flapping a bit about those giant spiders (see BaM thread in the other room). Do they eat bikepackers do you reckon? Oh gawd, it's worse than that isn't it. I'll get wrapped up in a cocoon and saved for later like in blasted "Alien". Ohhhhhh bugger.....

Morning Reg.

Reg?

REG...?

[RIP]

^^^

[middleagedmadness]

Next one Saturday morning is 08.10 from Staffs, arrive Caersws 10.14 - you get a lie in then, but cutting it a bit fine. Then again, leap off the train, grab a sandwich from the Spar round the corner, eat it on the move, arrive Stu's 12 o'clock just in time to find out you've won some nice prize or other . Or possibly even flag some BBB-er driving through Caersws on the way there too! There's even a 09.10 arrive 11.13 which JUST leaves enough time. Only a tenner each way as well .

Yep there's 18.30 back on Monday, or 19.32 or 20.34. After that it's 06.28 Monday. If you miss the 20.34, you could come and join me in the disused conservatory that a nice lady whom I met in the Spar let me kip in last year! I assume she'll be in the Spar again this year......


Right, off out now up the woods on my "emergency" last-minute-decision April BaM......

Right train tickets booked but the very polite lady at wolves station pointed out only 2 bikes per train and no reservations first come first serve

[Scattamah]

Sounds about right fella. Arriva are pretty good about it on that line...I've squeezed in with a 3rd plenty of times.

Greetz

S.

[PaulB2]

Next one Saturday morning is 08.10 from Staffs, arrive Caersws 10.14 - you get a lie in then, but cutting it a bit fine. Then again, leap off the train, grab a sandwich from the Spar round the corner, eat it on the move, arrive Stu's 12 o'clock just in time to find out you've won some nice prize or other . Or possibly even flag some BBB-er driving through Caersws on the way there too! There's even a 09.10 arrive 11.13 which JUST leaves enough time. Only a tenner each way as well .

Yep there's 18.30 back on Monday, or 19.32 or 20.34. After that it's 06.28 Monday. If you miss the 20.34, you could come and join me in the disused conservatory that a nice lady whom I met in the Spar let me kip in last year! I assume she'll be in the Spar again this year......


Right, off out now up the woods on my "emergency" last-minute-decision April BaM......

Right train tickets booked but the very polite lady at wolves station pointed out only 2 bikes per train and no reservations first come first serve

Odd, they gave me a cycle reservation when I booked mine from Stafford. I'm on the 06:44 from Wolves on the Saturday

[middleagedmadness]

I went up the station mate but she insisted I just had to take my chance , hopefully on that early train there's only the 2 of us

[middleagedmadness]

Sounds about right fella. Arriva are pretty good about it on that line...I've squeezed in with a 3rd plenty of times.

Greetz

S.

You training down on sat Scott or you going the friday