Counselling = a kick up the backside

Items sorted by category so bags & harnesses, bivy kit, etc. each with their own subtotal. Each item has columns for weight, quantity, total weight and location on bike. Pie charts for weight by category subtotal and weight by location on bike.

Edit: Look up the "IF" function. It has three parts: the test, what to do if the test is true; what to do if it is false. Example: =IF(a10='H'; a10;0)

All weights in grams and are what I've weighed rather than manufacturers' listings as I might have made modifications.

I've found there's a core set of bags and kit that comes out to between 2kg & 2.5kg then I add what's needed for the ride I'm doing. The core stuff will be tools, spares, FAK, GPS and the like. The "per ride" stuff can be between 1 & 4kg depending on weather, season, etc. Weights don't include food and water, just kit.

Finally there's food/cooking. This really depends on where I'm heading and what I'm doing. For ITTs I won't bother with cooking stuff, I'll eat snacks and cold food and then grab what I can on-route. Touring, I'll add cooking stuff and food.

Further edit: Following on from an earlier post. Once you have the minimal/correct set of items then you can look at lightening things. My wife had an old Marmot 3 season down bag, it weighed something like 1.2kg! She now has a Cumulus 350 quilt at under 600g. Just as warm but half the weight and a lot less bulky.

Asposium wrote:

sean_iow wrote:...with a column to tick to indicate if it's included....l

What is the cell programming required for this?
Sound useful

My columns are titled

Manufacturer, Item, Weight, Pack, Included

The weight is column C , Pack is D and Included is E

The content of the cells in column E is =IF(ISNUMBER(SEARCH("y",D10)),C10,"")

So for the example above from row 10, if I put a y in the pack column then the weight from column C is automatically inserted in the E column. I just have a SUM at the bottom of column E which adds up all the stuff included. If I don't want to include something I just delete the y. There is probably a neater way to do this but I'm not that advanced with Excell.

got to love how message threads snake around here......

bit like riding one of stu's routes.

@RIP: much easier to eat noodles (super or otherwise) with chopsticks. Good for fishing teabags out too. Yes, I've been to the Chinese in Dol. Tasted OK sat in the campsite at Bron y Gader, washed down with a couple of cans of Stella.

@whitestone: I'd use a Joystick (actually the Sirius looks like the best for occasional use) if I had one, but I don't and I'm not going to spend over £100 to save less than 100g. I can get very cold when tired so having two things to cover my legs is good - I'll wear knee warmers and the baggies over the top. Ditto the hat. Good idea about the mug cosy, and I probably don't need a lid. I could slim down my wallet, but there's not much in there already. Keys - I can trim that down to just my door key.

@PaulB2: I've not done lots of bikepacking trips, but soon learnt to make a note of what I used, what I didn't, what work and what was no good. It also helps in that the last trip I did was two years ago so remembering what I did take becomes a problem.

@benp1: I did have a sheet with weights on somewhere, but it included a bunch of old kit that I've since replaced with nicer, lighter stuff (PHD Minim bag, Siltarp etc.). What I have now is what I'm sticking with, unless I break something as I don't have the budget anymore to replace things - so the only scope for weight saving is TLS.

I've already ditched extra clothing, inflatable pillow, gas stove and hand sanitiser. I could swap the Leatherman for a Swiss Army knife and leave the headphones, lip balm and hip flask at home but the weight saving would be less than 0.4kg and the risk/reward balance is poor.

Manufacturer, Item, Weight, Pack, Included

Surely volume should be included?

sean_iow wrote:

Asposium wrote:There is probably a neater way to do this but I'm not that advanced with Excell.

Put this in the totals row at the bottom and delete column E:
Where you've got kit listed in rows 2 thru say 34. The above formula should be in row 35 and if you add more rows then it should auto-update to include the new rows.

HTH

@chris_n - Like I said, it's not that much different to what I'll be taking, just in the detail. They were more suggestions/ideas to consider, as you say, when things break/wear out.

If you are a cold sleeper then you'll need warmer kit, it's not about suffering (see other thread) so there's no use in directly comparing actual kit. Then again if you've a PHD Minim you are at the lighter end of stuff anyway, short of going to a quilt (and not everyone gets on with them) you aren't going to see any gains there. There's a sort of tipping point where the weight but usually the volume of something that you genuinely do need to take means you need either a bigger bag or an extra bag and now you've got a load of "free" space. It's about then you start thinking about "a new bit of gear dear"

There's no guarantee that even with identical kit lists we'd have the same weight/bulk - one of us could be 5' and 10 stone and the other 6'6" and 18 stone! The big guy needs bigger kit shock horror!

Wilkyboy wrote:

Code: Select all

=SUMIF(D2:D34, "=y", C2:C34)

HTH

I knew there would be a neater way thanks

Back to the OP's original question, you should take what you think you need, don't be swayed by the weight of other peoples kit or lack of. A lighter bike might mean they get to the top of a hill first but if the pay off is a night shivering in damp clothes then was it worth leaving a dry top to sleep in and a warmer bag at home?

The WRT is also a social event (I understand as never actually been on one - next year as I couldn't afford 2 trips to the mainland in May this year) so you also need to think about comfort. If you'll be spending a longer time in camp then warmer kit/more kit is worthwhile if it adds to the experience. As has been said, there is no need to suffer.

whitestone wrote:They were more suggestions/ideas to consider, as you say, when things break/wear out.

Oh, yes - got that. Sorry if my reply came across a bit too directly.

It might be a fun exercise to weigh my gear and see where I can save weight. My bag is a Minim 300, bought in a sale in 2012 for £170, but I dread to think how much it would cost now.

chris n wrote:

whitestone wrote:They were more suggestions/ideas to consider, as you say, when things break/wear out.

Oh, yes - got that. Sorry if my reply came across a bit too directly.

It might be a fun exercise to weigh my gear and see where I can save weight. My bag is a Minim 300, bought in a sale in 2012 for £170, but I dread to think how much it would cost now.

No problem.

I've the Minim 200, also a sale item. Not cheap at regular prices.

I'm quite geeky and good at spreadsheet so mine has quite a lot of detail...

it also tracks most of my trips (for the last 10 years!) and include notes on what worked well and didn't work well. sort of works a bit like a diary/memoire too. its sad but i like it

I have a spread sheet that tracks my purchases over the last 4 years, my rides from the last 2, I just hadn't got round to adding gear lists. I should hand my geek cyclist card in.