Newbie bikepacking advice please

[Mactheknife68]

So I’ve gathered up kit and bags, my bikepacking bags consist of a handlebar harness with 8 L drybag, a Wildcat ocelot frame bag, a revelate gas tank bag and a soon to be purchased Wildcat Tiger. So where do you guys pack everything, apologies in advance for newbie novice question

[whitestone]

Try and put the heavier, denser, kit towards the centre of the bike so that would be frame bag, front of the dry bag in the seat harness and the gas tank. After that try and keep stuff you really want to keep dry like your sleeping bag separate from "wet" kit like tarp, bivy bag, etc.

You won't get it right first time, maybe never. I'll pack things differently depending on season, current weather, bike, my intended pace, or any other number of reasons. Just try things until you get something that works for you.

Here's my bike from a trip at Easter



The front handlebar bag (Revelate Salty Roll) has sleeping mat, sleeping bag and quilt (these are both summer rated but are good to -6/7C when used together)
Stem cells: Alpkit mytimug 650 with cooking kit in one, trail snacks in another
Yellow Top tube bag: stuff like first aid kit, water filter, glasses, powerbank battery, charging leads.
Grey bag in frame: actually also a top tube bag - spares and tools. Pump is next to the water bottle.
Tiger Harness with Alpkit tapered bag: spare clothes, small microfibre towel, dry clothes for bivy. These are all in another dry bag inside then there's an Alpkit r-i-g7 tarp and bivy bag in the outer bit.

[Mactheknife68]

Cheers Whitestone probably is going to be a bit of trial and error,

[ianfitz]

there's no right answer to this. trial and error, mainly error (!) will see you finding what works for you.

Bob's advice is sound though.

I tend to put clothing in my seat pack, shelter kit in my bar bag (and stove if 'touring'), spares/tools/phone/wallet/lock/food in framebag. usually have a feedbag on the bars too, sometime an 'in-front' pouch for extra food too. that separation works for me. Once my shelter kit is packed I know it'll be there all day and I wont need to touch it.

I use extra dry bag for sleeping bag/quilt and for any 'emergency' clothing. us a backcountry research tulbag to keep tools in one place as I figure the extra weight is worth the time saved when I need to find them!

tend to carry one bottle and a filter if I think it'll be needed. Arrive at a stream gulp down a whole bottle, flll up - ride on.

[Scattamah]

It's taken me a few years to square it all away but i'm finally down to...

Bar bag - tent, mat, down jacket, beanie
Feed bag (optional) - food, rope, sunscreen, lip balm, rubbish bin, chain rag (optional)
Gas tank - phone, battery pack, sh!t shovel + paper, zip ties, misc. odds and sods
Jerry can - multi tool, skeletool, patch kit, chain lube, gorilla glue, tenacious tape, spare links/bolts + more
Saddle bag - spare tube, med kit, sleeping bag, sleeping clothes, cook kit (optional)
Waist pouch - food, money, card, keys, bike lock (optional), more food, SPOT

YMMV.

IMG_1338.jpg (127.15 KiB) Viewed 3000 times

Greetz

S.

[Mactheknife68]

Great ways for me to organise things, really liking the pics and things I’ve never thought of

[Mactheknife68]

Anything I’m missing?
Cooking kit
Alpkit kraku stove
Alpkit 650 titanium pot
Evernew 700 pasta pot
Windshield
Titanium Spork

Sleeping kit
PD400 sleeping bag
Exped DownMat 5 sleeping mat
Zephyros 1 EP tent (1.57kg) which I can lighten further with titanium pegs

[Scattamah]

Fuel and ignition?

Unless your pegs weigh a ton, ti isn't going to solve much in the peg dept for overall weight. I don't know much about that tent, but if it's a double skin, consider stripping out the inner and taking just the outer skin. You'd save much more weight than moving to ti pegs for a lot less outlay.

Greetz

S.

[Mactheknife68]

I have a 100g gas and a little msr push button igniter, great tip about the tent, cheers

[Bearbonesnorm]

Two cooking pots both of a decent (large capacity)?

[Mactheknife68]

One for my son when he comes, he lives on supernoodles.

[Bearbonesnorm]

Put noodles in a pour and store bag - eat directly from bag

[whitestone]

If you look on the "Reviews" part of this site, Stu has written a post "TLS - the revolutionary packing system" (or something like that) which is worth a read.

To begin with just head out on short overnight rides. When you get back sort your gear using that brilliant storage system of gravity and the bedroom floor Make two piles: the kit you used; the kit you didn't use. Make a note of what you didn't use. After a few trips you'll get an idea of which bits of kit are just coming along for the ride. Obviously stuff like tools, spares, first aid kit you'll want to take but never use but even here it's a case of taking the bare (bear?) minimum.

The advantage of the above "techniques" is that they cost nowt other than a bit of thought.

Sometimes it pays to think differently - cooking for example. Trying to replicate your home kitchen on the move means a lot of kit. Just using the stove and a small pan/mug to boil water and then rehydrate stuff, ideally in its own bag, means less kit and little or no washing up!

Backpackers have been geeking out on going lightweight for a lot longer than we have so it's worth checking out how they approach things - this site http://www.backpackingnorth.com/ultrali ... -overview/ is a reasonable starting point. Backpackers talk about the "big three" of shelter, sleeping bag and backpack and aiming to get the combined weight of those under 3kg. In terms of bikepacking, start with the heavy items first - no point in sawing your toothbrush handle in half if your 2 season sleeping bag weighs 2kg. Unfortunately this point starts to be where your bank balance starts to look a bit lighter as well

Fortunately for you most of us have gone through the same process and a search through the forums will show a few dead ends to avoid. There's a kind of convergence going on with most people ending up with one of a few options for certain items - sleeping mats are a good example: the usual recommendations on here are for one of the Exped Synmats or the Thermarest NeoAirs. They work, are of good quality, lightweight (my insulated Synmat is lighter than a cheap uninsulated inflatable mat) and pack up small.

[Mactheknife68]

Bearbonesnorm he’s carrying it !!
Whitestone as usual great advice and some great reading

[whitestone]

In one of those coincidences (or synchronicity as our multi-syllabic cousins would say) Bikepacking.com has just posted a piece on advice for new bikepackers - http://www.bikepacking.com/plan/advice- ... kepackers/

[Bearbonesnorm]

Something of a similar vain written some years ago ... but as relevant now as then.

http://bearbonesbikepacking.blogspot.co ... -tips.html

[Mactheknife68]

Some fantastic evening reading cheers

[sean_iow]

There's some good advice on the bb blog, although I'm a bit concerned about this little gem

"Go touring in the Scottish Highlands, it's not as hilly as you think.....at least it doesn't have to be.
Alan Goldsmith"

mmm, we'll see about that

On a serious note, for you're first trips make sure you have enough kit to be comfortable, especially overnight. Being cold all night and not sleeping is no fun and a sure way to get put off biving. On my early trips I was always toasty even if it meant I was carrying a heavier load. On my most recent trip I was frozen and kept waking up shivering 2 nights in a row but I can remember the warmer nights from the past so know it was just over-optimistic weather prediction/kit selection

[Mactheknife68]

Tbh that was my first priority, to sleep warm and comfortable
I’m hoping the PD400 sleeping bag and Exped DownMat 5 paired with this

https://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ripstop-Alumin ... 2610072017
Should sort that out

[sean_iow]

You should be fine in the PD400 on the Downmat. I was under a 150 quilt on a Klymit Xlite 3/4 mat. It would be ok probably down to 5 degrees, the hail landing on my tarp suggested it was colder than that

Back to your original question, I use the same system as Ian, I put all my sleeping kit in my bar bag, that's bag, mat, tarp, bivi bag and pillow, along with my lightweight insulated jacket. I know I won't need to touch that during the day. It's packed in the order I need it when I stop and I use extra dry bags to make sure my sleeping bag stays dry. When I stop the first thing out is the warm jacket so I don't chill now I'm not moving. Tarp up next and then even if it's raining I can now get under it in the dry to sort the rest out.

In the morning if it's raining it all gets packed away under the tarp which is the last thing down. If the tarp is soaking wet I'll just roll/fold it up and put it under the straps on the front rather than back in the bag. If it stops raining it will dry during the day, you could do the same with the tent flysheet. if you're only out for one night then packing up is not so critical as even if it all gets wet you can dry it out when you get home. It's when you need to sleep in it again more care is required. I also find that there is nothing my wife likes more than to have damp kit hung over every door and chair in the house to air after a trip

[Mactheknife68]

That’s what I was thinking, sleep kit in bar bag, tent poles inside the Wildcat ocelot bag, good idea with the down jacket
I’m thinking cooking kit and clothing in the Wildcat Tiger seatpack?
Snacks and light in my revelate gas tank?

[whitestone]

I tend to go with the cooking stuff in the frame bag but if you've pans the size you state then the seat pack would make more sense but they are likely to be at the back end of the bag and thus tend to cause more movement of the bag. I made some tarp poles out of old tent poles and cut them so they'd fit in the "map pocket" of the Ocelot, pegs go in there as well.

I use the small bags like Stem Cells. Gas Tank that are close to hand for the stuff that I'll need during the day whilst riding. So snacks, cash, etc.

Oh, yes: first few trips should be close to home (or car) in case you totally mess things up and the elements get the better of you. (Says he whose first trip was on the West Highland Way in a hoolie )

If you've a lawn in your back garden then it's worth practising there, gives the neighbours a chance to certify you mad rather than just having their suspicions

[Mactheknife68]

Yes, plan to practice in back garden , I think my Alpkit mug with gas and kraku stove in it will fit in the centre of the ocelot and first trip is only 13 miles away so if it all goes tits up I would need airlifted out

[Asposium]

Hi,

I'm also fairly new to bikepacking, though been backpacking and cycling for years.

As mentioned above it is a learning curve.
I have a list of EVERYTHING i take, i often go through the list and remove stuff not used. it is a good way to TLS.

Thereafter, it is a case of thinking "what do i need?" recently i thought, "do i really need a multitool?" a chain tool, 3 /4 /5mm allen keys, and spoke key are lighter, and work better.
Another TLS example for me, i want a "bowl" for the Le Jog trip I am planning from which to eat breakfast. Did consider taking a pan (~200g), then a titanium pan (~125g), then not cooking, so take a plastic bowl (~85g), now taking a yogurt pot (~17g) With the lid makes a handy food container.
Also learnt that where possible "things" should have multi-use. Rather than taking a down jacket and a warm sleeping bag, take a slighter cooler sleeping bag and wear the down jacket to sleep.
Does one need a stove if food is available en-route? No need to carry lots of food also saves weight.
Don't carry water, take a filter.
For the most part people don't seem to take spares "just in case", though i do take a spare means of navigation and a spare power source (USB battery pack). Most failures can be worked around, loosing the track is fairly terminal.
WRT really helps as it's useful to see what the others do, ask lots of questions, and ride with one of the groups; then, the year after maybe go off on your own.

The great thing about bikepacking is that there is no right way, right gear, right bike, or right clothing; simple because there is no wrong way.
As a group we don't tend to care about strava times; after all it is all about the journey and the experience along the way.
Mistakes are inevitable, analyse what went wrong and learn from them.

Above all else, no matter how dark, wet, or cold it might be always keep in mind the sun WILL rise, it WILL (eventually) stop raining, and it WILL (possibly) warm up. If all else fails there's always cake.

[Mactheknife68]

Cheers for that