packing light .. Edie - how did she do it ?

[fatbikerbill]

I'm pretty bad at packing light & I'm definitely someone who appears to own ever expanding gear.

So tell me - how the heck did Edie fit all that in her rucksac ?

She even took a whole fish !

[Alpinum]

1. Take less. Gain experience and learn with what you have to go and what can stay at home, balancing comfort (in camp) and weight/bulk as you wish. Use experience first, not gear.

2. Know your gear. Learn where and when your gear performs best. Learn what bulk and weight it has.

3. Start packing with the smaller bags/rucksacks. If it doesn't fit in or is so tight it's annoying to handle, pick a larger sack.

4. Never stop experimenting. Every trip is different, you never stop learning. Use this to adapt better to the next trip.

I just recently found out, that despite 5 damaged discs, I can sleep in comfort on a torso length Z-Lite only. Yet, due to its bulk would not take it on most of my bikepacking trips.
For that 5 day trip on which I tested the Z-Lite, I was so insecure, I took a mini Klymit with me in case I was uncomfy. Didn't use it and will not find it's way into the rucksack again.

Food for 5 days/4 nights, a two person tent, 1.3 L pot, two mats. The rucksack is a GoLite Ion imitation with about 26 L volume.

Why? To easily hike 30 km/day with up to 1800 m vert loss & gain, with hardly any hiking legs in a landscape new to us.

No fish inside though. I don't know who Edie is, but packing light is much about going with less step by step. And suddenly, you can use a daypack for long weekends out.
This translates to any outdoor pursuit.

[whitestone]

Pretty much as Gian says. Experience weighs nowt

After a trip split your gear into three heaps.

1. Stuff you used
2. Stuff you didn't use
3. Stuff you didn't use but it's sensible to take like FAK and tools/spares.

There's a grey area where you might take something like a waterproof because it was forecast rain but it didn't rain and you didn't use it. But in general it's fairly straight forward to split your gear as above.

Try seeing what you can pack from #1 in smaller bags and packs. Weighing kit is easy but figuring out its volume when packed is a bit trickier. Look at the heavy/bulky items first as you'll gain most by upgrading those - no point in sawing the handle of your toothbrush if you are carrying a cheap synthetic sleeping bag for instance.

On your next trip, assuming it's the same distance, season, etc just take items from #1 & #3. Keep repeating the checking and splitting into piles and you'll soon be down to minimal (for you) kit.

For my HT550 attempt this year I had a 3 litre Gnaro, 2 x 1 litre Revelate Feedbags, a 1 litre Loop bar bag, a custom frame bag of between 2 & 3 litres and a 6 litre dry bag in the saddle harness but I only used about 4 litres of that. So that's roughly 11 litres of space for kit plus 2 litres for trail food. Compared to some on the starting line, that was a lot.

[ZeroDarkBivi]

Who is Edie???

[In Reverse]

Can't go comparing yourself to Edie Bill - that way lies madness mate. Or at least a sense of failure at not achieving the Edie's TLS excellence.

Who is Edie anyway?

[benp1]

Don't know who Edie is, but I'm liking that Golite Ion imitation

I still have my Golite Ion and Golite Jam, use the latter a fair bit still

[Alpinum]

Then lets talk about the Ion then, instead of Edie.
It's a first gen of this piece
https://www.nigor.eu/backpacks/moyo.html
260 g. Crappy zipper but I still like it.

For those who like small rucksacks for bikepacking, I quite like riding with Inov-8's former offerings, most of which still available here and there.

[Asposium]

Pretty much as Gian says. Experience weighs nowt

After a trip split your gear into three heaps.

1. Stuff you used
2. Stuff you didn't use
3. Stuff you didn't use but it's sensible to take like FAK and tools/spares.

Whilst still novice, one thing I discovered on my Le jog trip; group one can be further split.
Stuff you need
Stuff you want

It is the “stuff you want” that starts to separate a bikepacker from a tourer.

For example, one needs a jersey or t-shirt, but might want a second. No real need though.

[Mariner]

So does the fish come under want or need?

No idea who Edie is.

edit - In a wonderful piece of synchronicity R3 has just been interviewing the composer of the soundtrack to Edie.

[voodoo_simon]

I’m thinking Edie is a red herring...

[benp1]

Then lets talk about the Ion then, instead of Edie.
It's a first gen of this piece
https://www.nigor.eu/backpacks/moyo.html
260 g. Crappy zipper but I still like it.

For those who like small rucksacks for bikepacking, I quite like riding with Inov-8's former offerings, most of which still available here and there.

It's a nice little pack that.

I like that the Golite Ion (and the Jam) came in a long back length, which mean they actually fit me. The Ion has a little minimalist hip belt that does help a bit while the Jam has a proper one.

Inov8 have a generic back length (which at 6'3 means none fit me)

[Charliecres]

Ooooh, Edie!

CGI

[fatbikerbill]

who is Edie - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3823098/

a very batty Sheila Hancock who goes walking up Suiliven with a tiny little tardis like rucksac .

A rather silly film but great views.
Really made me, even more want to do the HT550 sometime.