Kit list for first bikepacking trip

[Rockbus]

Apologies where I'm sure this has been asked hundred times before but hard to narrow down the search.

I'm planning on doing my very first bikepacking trip at Easter - 2/3 days doing the Rebellion way with wild camping (or if I get too scared by that, camp site!)

Plan is to do it with bags (and poss small mtb rucksack for water bladder and 'bits) rather than panniers.

Appreciate there are loads of lists and videos online but this forum seems to be the best place to get advice on the essentials I need to take.

[RIP]

Stand by for millions of kit lists to choose from , but FWIW last weekend on No Sheep 'Til Buxton, 2/3 days:

Clothes: wore them all, and took no spares: sandals, waterproof socks, fleece leggings, goretex overtrousers, bamboo base top x 2, 100 fleece, hardshell, Bearbones jersey, bamboo balaclava, Temres gloves with silk liners. If not raining, overtrousers strapped to seatpack. Helmet with lights.

Rear seatpack: sleeping bag, down hat, down jacket, sleeping socks, sleeping pants.

Gas tank: phone charger and power bank, paperwork and cards, couple of spare plastic/drybags and elastic bands. Fleece pocket: phone

Stem cell 1: 500ml water bottle

Stem cell 2: water filter, tyre pump, tiny lock, cable ties, one peg to test ground and dig poo holes.

Bar bag: Gatewood cape shelter, pole, pegs, tyvek groundsheet, Exped mat, S2S pillow, mat pump, bin liner to keep day clothes 'dry' or kneel on or whatever.

Frame half bag: tool kit (multi tool, tyre boot, tube patches, hanger, chain finger, minipliers, needle & thread, gaffer tape, cable ties, etc), very basic 1st aid (bloody great big bandage, plasters, painkillers), bathroom (bogroll, sawn off toothbrush + powder, arse cream, earplugs), kitchen (meths stove, pot, windshield, matches, meths, eating pot, spoon, porridge/ovaltine), spare tube, ultralight backpack, 500ml platypus.

Map holder: OS map

Bag of Revels and bag of choc peanuts in jersey pockets.

I reckon that's it.

Most important kit to take: sense of humour, flexibility, curiosity.

[Shewie]

I'm still a noob at bikepacking so take this with a pinch of salt but In brief this is what I tend to take ...

Shelter (tarp/bivvy/pole/pegs)
Sleeping bag/quilt
Sleep mat
Cookset
Fuel
Food
Repair kit/tools
FAK
Headtorch
GPS
Phone
Water filter/water storage
A change of clothes for camp (Ron Hills, warm jacket, dry socks)

Depending on temperatures the last line can change

But I have a habit of filling all available space and taking too much still, I'm working on that

[Shewie]

chain finger

What's a chain finger please RIP?

[RIP]

chain finger

What's a chain finger please RIP?

The experts will have a proper name for it . In Reg's case it's a bit of bent wire to hold both ends of a split chain while I'm fiddling with it with all my other fingers...

You could pay, er, £26 for one here : https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sunlite-3rd-Ha ... B000AO9Q8S

[Shewie]

chain finger

What's a chain finger please RIP?

The experts will have a proper name for it . In Reg's case it's a bit of bent wire to hold both ends of a split chain while I'm fiddling with it with all my other fingers...

You could pay a fiver for one here : https://www.ebay.co.uk/p/1156724877

Ah gotcha, I think I have one of those in my multitool, I keep dropping it

[whitestone]

Generally stuff falls into a few categories:

Stuff to fix your bike and yourself
Shelter
cooking
spare clothing
Electronics

So...

Repair stuff: First aid kit (doesn't have to be to paramedic standard!); multi-tool, puncture repair kit if running tubes, tubeless kit if running tubeless; zip ties; small sewing kit; toiletries (toothbrush and paste/tablets, flannel, microfibre towel)

Shelter: tent or tarp depending on preferences/weather; sleeping mat; sleeping bag; maybe a lightweight bivy bag if using tarp. Inflatable pillow

Cooking: stove (gas or meths according to preference); fuel for same; some means of ignition; pot or mug; fork/spoon/spork. A lot depends on how you decide to eat and cook: pub meals so only really breakfast and a brew or full on cooking everything.

Spare clothing: socks; something dry to sleep in; warm jacket to hang around camp; an extra buff; spare pair of gloves.

Electronics: GPS; phone; camera; spare batteries and/or powerbank and leads to charge.

Inevitably you'll take too much on your first trips. When you get back make three piles: one is the first aid kit and repair stuff that you are going to take regardless of whether you use it; pile two is stuff you used; pile three is stuff you didn't use. On your next trip don't bother with the stuff in pile three.

Reg's list is pretty much the same as above.

This is what that lot looks like on the bike for a four day tour around the Cotswolds (using a tent split between the two of us).



And for a three day jaunt around the Yorkshire Dales

[RIP]

No water bottle on the Cotswold setup, Bob?

Plenty of cafes and pubs I guess .

[whitestone]

I had a two litre Camelbak since I wasn't sure about water supply plus the Cotswolds are limestone so not a lot of streams on higher ground.

OP, have a look on the "News and Reviews" section of the site for a post about TLS.

[RIP]

Rock, what capacity is your water bladder? It has the potential to be some people's heaviest item, but the easiest to lighten depending on your route. Sorry Bob, this post just crossed with yours, water's always an interesting debate .

[godivatrailrider]

2/3 days doing the Rebellion way

Good work ! 231 miles in 2-3 days is not too shabby .
I did a smaller version some years back and was amazed at how hard going Norfolk was ! Flat I assumed... far from it !

[fatbikephil]

Warm weather:-


For 3 days and two nights - 150 quilt, lightweight bivvy bag, neoair matt and exped pillow, boxers and t shirt all rolled up into saddle pack, flat tarp, pole, pegs and lightweight waterpoofs in the front roll. In the frame bag I had spare tube, pump, food, basic washkit, phone, money. Top tube bag = tools and head torch. I could also carry a stove (BB meths stone / Ti mug) in this set up but didn't on this trip as there were plenty of food options. Plenty of spare space in the bar roll for more food or beer.

Cooler weather and more of a tour - 4 nights out:-



As above but full frame bag can carry a 2l water bladder and lots of food. I added the front pouch for valuables and snacks. Heavier waterproofs and gaiters in bar roll. Bigger seat pack as I had a pair of lightweight trousers and T shirt as well as my down jacket and sleeping base layer. I was calling in at friends for one night so needed a change of clothes to wear.

Cold weather, two nights out:


No change of clothes but heavy quilt, down jacket, bunnet and thick base layer in seat pack. Same up front and in frame bag as a above - on night one I had four tins of ale as well!

Nothing on back for any of this. Switching the flat tarp for the deschutes doesn't require any more bags as I can get it in the same space. If I use the mesh inner this also goes in the bar roll and the seat pack then just has stuff for inside the tent, all in a nice dry bag.

The trick is to do an overnighter or 12 (BAM!) and really minimise kit taken. Then work up a bit to include luxuries needed for a longer trip. Avoid spare clothes unless you need to socialise, if you use merino or bamboo for base layers you don't smell much. A good mudguard set up means your not going into pubs or cafes covered in gunge.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Not a kit list but a few thoughts.

Generally speaking, there are those who 'camp to ride' and those who 'ride to camp' and which you are can have quite an impact on both how much and just what you carry.

As already said, you most certainly will be carrying too much on your first trip but some of this will likely be caused by your actual kit than your desire to take more ... heavy synthetic bag, 2 man tent, pots and pans etc. When you pack, give some real thought to what is is you actually NEED. It'll likely be quite a different list to the one which contains items you WANT to take. Try and pack as close to your needs as possible and leave the wants at home.

However, do be sensible especially at first. The idea is to be comfortable without burdening yourself under kilos of kit but anyone can carry nothing and be cold and miserable Think hard about whether certain items can double up - got a helmet light, don't need a headtorch. Carry a map? Make it a laminated one and that becomes your groundsheet. Take a jacket with a hood, then no need for a hat. Invest in a water filter so you don't feel the need to carry 3L of water about ... see what I mean?

[Rockbus]

Thanks all, some great tips.

Coming back on couple of Q's
RIP water bladder is 2l
godivatrailrider - probably wont be doing full thing as family staying in Aylsham for week so will probably end early (I have also assumed Norfolk will be very flat!)

[godivatrailrider]

godivatrailrider - probably wont be doing full thing as family staying in Aylsham for week so will probably end early (I have also assumed Norfolk will be very flat!)

Schoolboy error ! It's not massively hilly but it can be sandy and undulating ... I found it significantly harder going than anticipated!

[RIP]

Nothing on back for any of this

A polarising view, but wholeheartedly agree here. Apart from flimsy ultralight backpack (*) for just-in-case 'last mile' evening food/alcohol supplies.

(*) seriously tempted by this https://www.gapyeartravelstore.com/prod ... iQQAvD_BwE at 30g, but have already got a 70g one. Then again it claims to hold up to 20kg so you could ditch ALL your bike bags and just carry everything in that!

avoid spare clothes

A key point. Heavy and bulky.

unless you need to socialise

Nah, if they can't stand the smell they're not worth calling friends

A good mudguard set up means your not going into pubs or cafes covered in gunge.

Agreed. Although see comment re friends

[RIP]

RIP water bladder is 2l

Fair enough, of course if it's full that's 2kg, which is probably then your heaviest item. Then again, if it's only got 500ml at any time then it's less of a problem and you'd have the 1.5l of space left just in case.

However.....

Invest in a water filter so you don't feel the need to carry 3L of water about

.... definitely a top investment (MSR Trailshot, Sawyer Mini, or even just a Traveltap or similar).

Guess Norfolk not hugely endowed with pure streams (lot of agricultural runoff?), but loads of churches, graveyards, houses, village halls, pubs etc, with taps. With my 500ml bottle, whenever I find water I generally drink as much as I can stand then fill the bottle for use until the next water stop.

[dlovett]

As Stu said, TLS !

I look at the pictures of me and my bike for the first trip I did a WRT compared to my current set up. It's so much less stuff as I now as I know what I really NEED for a ITT rather than thought I might WANT to take on a leisure trip.

One tip would be try to borrow or buy cheap stuff for the first time as if you like it and go more often, you will find that you replace most of the stuff you actually NEED, with better, lighter, more expensive multi purpose gear and the old stuff gets sold or becomes guest gear.

Enjoy your trip.

Not a kit list but a few thoughts.

Generally speaking, there are those who 'camp to ride' and those who 'ride to camp' and which you are can have quite an impact on both how much and just what you carry.

As already said, you most certainly will be carrying too much on your first trip but some of this will likely be caused by your actual kit than your desire to take more ... heavy synthetic bag, 2 man tent, pots and pans etc. When you pack, give some real thought to what is is you actually NEED. It'll likely be quite a different list to the one which contains items you WANT to take. Try and pack as close to your needs as possible and leave the wants at home.

However, do be sensible especially at first. The idea is to be comfortable without burdening yourself under kilos of kit but anyone can carry nothing and be cold and miserable Think hard about whether certain items can double up - got a helmet light, don't need a headtorch. Carry a map? Make it a laminated one and that becomes your groundsheet. Take a jacket with a hood, then no need for a hat. Invest in a water filter so you don't feel the need to carry 3L of water about ... see what I mean?