Packing - Do you really need all that stuff??
 

I was glancing through photos of people setting off for their trips like this one:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/167/4...59dba3.jpg?v=0

(sorry Matt). And I just wondered, what on earth all that stuff was on that bike? And I've seen plenty more equally fully packed. I've come from a backpacking/cycle touring background and I can carry everything I need for a month or so in one 60 litre rucksack. Ok so biking gear can be bulkier but the bulky bits tend to be worn. I'm wondering, am I fortunate to be able to pack light, or am I missing something bulky that bikers need and I don't?

I ask this as a total novice to packing and going for anything more than an overnight trip, but I'm intrigued.

i agree - some bikes look way overloaded BUT there are some things i need on the bike but don't need when i'm backpacking ...like the oil, chain lube, spares, tools, jerry ...ok, you might need them for cycling, but i find all cycle spares and lubes etc are a heck of a lot smaller than motorbike ones.

Also depends if you're camping & cooking - that stuff takes up a lot of space.

Think you would have enjoyed Dave Lomax's controversial presentation at the UK HU meet 'Overweight, Underprepared' ...that guy can get by with just one small holdall ...no creature comforts on his 'holiday'!

i agree man, just packing myself (not literally because that would be foolish) and having a hard time. really tempted to go pete fonda style, just me and the bike hmmmmm.....
and even avoiding roaring petrol prices:
http://www.joe-ks.com/archives_may20...Motorcycle.jpg
sorry, really sorry.

Looks like a Lot but...
 

Here's pics of my 'load' on a recent two week trip....looks a bit big, but here's what's in it....

Tank Panniers (Dual Star)- 2 x 2 liter water bags -

Tank Bag (Dual Star)- maps, headlight (reading at night), Extra Fleece jacket, waterproof gloves, ear plugs, camera, neck warmer (cold fall mornings), book(s), tire pump, pressure gauge, latex gloves

Duffle (North Face Basecamp 90 l) - tent gear (Marmot Swallow 2 tent, poles, pegs, footprint), sleeping bag (+20f), eXped 9 DLX Air mat (this is the BEST), stove fuel - large format gazetteer maps in plastic case on top

Left pannier (GIVI T421's soft)- stove, nesting pot, tire tools/repair patches, two spare tubes, two plastic flat 'bits and pieces' tool trays (fuses, sockets etc), toiletries bag

Right Pannier - clothes (3 socks, 2 undies, 1 t shirt, 1 light sweater, 1 pair jeans, swimsuit, light towel), BBQ/Fire starter, multitool, sometimes quilted lining from jacket or pants, and because I'm older, the (I kinda question mentioning this...but)...the nalgene pee bottle - you don't have to get dressed at night you know...

My sense is whether 2 weeks or 2 months, pretty much everything is needed. In the recent trip, weather permitted not needing the extra fleece jacket - also didn't need tubes or tools but...used the camp gear each night, stove, fuel, reading material, camera, etc. Had one laundry session.

Planning to stay in hostels or motel/hotel or pensions would significantly reduce load....however, camping can be cheap - accommodation costs for 2 weeks with camping gear were - free, free, $39 (motel), free, free, free, free $12 (state park with shower), free, free, free, $18 (National Forest site), free, home. MeThinks the tent's worth loading up the bike....

(Pics are from Alvord Desert Playa area, near Fields, in southern Oregon...)

Would be interested in hering any ideas on things I could do to reduce the kit....

Well, you could probably lose the tank panniers/water bags and the tank bag, and just use a camelbak (3 litre) for water and stash the bits and bobs in your other luggage/jacket pockets/camelbak stowage pocket?

Also, most people get by with just a single (front) tube, saves a bit more space in one of those panniers. You might also be able to condense the contents of your plastic 'bits and pieces' trays - how many fuses/bolts/connectors do you need to get you to a town/shop? A jetboil can combine the cooker/pans and fuel (a small cylinder lasts a long time), while CO2 cannisters can replace a tyre pump - this is all bulky stuff...

I managed to get my small (freestanding) two man tent (no need for the footprint), thermarest and sleeping bag into a 35 litre rollbag along with my jetboil, rather than the 90 litre North Face duffle you have (although your camping kit sounds a very nice set-up)...

This fall I'm heading back to the desert states, but will forgo the camping kit for a credit card and my GPS motel directory... I have a 31 litre Ortlieb bag for clothes, a 5 litre tool pack on the bike for tools and tubes, and a 3 litre camelback with 15 litre expanding stowage for maps, gloves and a spare fleece.

Who knows, next time I might take even less?!

xxx

I like to carry my stuff as low as possible, this is for a year:
http://www.actiontouring.com/pic/sov.jpg

Too Much ??
 

Jenny....thanks for the notes on reducing kit....I have been interested in how many people seem to carry a back pack...camelback or other....I did that for a while but found the extra weight reduced comfortable time on the seat...

Now I don't carry anything on 'me' except clothes with empty pockets except for passport, wallet, sunglasses....I feel lighter and less 'driven' into the seat....hence the extra pack space on the bike...

I could lose some weight I know, but in the meantime.....

I do agree with you on only one tube....except it always seems to be the rear that goes nd I've never been fully confident of fitting the larger front to the rear...also agree on the jet boil, smaller tent etc....but... don't want to buy yet more gear when the existing stuff seems to work OK....

in carrying 'bits and pieces', I've found many occasion when I haven't actually needed the stuff, but someone else on the road is short and I've been able to supply a fix...which adds to the shared experience....just yesterday in fact I stopped to help a cyclist who had a flat and no pump....I did....things worked out...

And, lastly, I do envy those of you who can still sleep comfortably on a thermarest....alas, after hitting 50 I just had to upgrade.....or resign myself to the motel/hostel thing....the eXped is the absolute best option I've found....air mat with down inside....

Always interesting hear others perspective on things.....Do enjoy your time in the southern desert country....check out the Alvord if you're in the vicinity....

Stephen

Mat?
 

Ali...your pic seems to suggest you're OK with a rather 'thin' mat to lay on....or is that a secret 'blow up' ridin suit....???

Hi Stephen - I agree with you about a backpack - I used a 30 litre pack last year for all my clothes, and like you say, it weighs you down after a while and can make you feel like a pack horse.

I have a Camelbak Blowfish now, and it really is excellent - nice and slender, but with 3 litres of water and a decent (expandable) carrying capacity for odds and ends - a fleece/jacket or maps, food etc. a great 'day pack'.

I also wear an Alpinestars 'Venture' enduro jacket most of time on the bike (in good weather at least!) - it is nice and lightweight with loads of little pockets for odds and sods such as passport/papers etc. like you say... plus has zip-off sleeves and a large stowage pocket in the back (primarily for the sleeves) which is great for maps and spare gloves etc.) I also take a small hi-quality Fuji pocket camera which lives in a Lowepro bag on my jacket belt or in a pocket.

Totally agree with you about the spares too - to paraphrase one of your more popular Presidents - ask not what your traveler can do for you, but what you can do for your (fellow) traveler... It's what makes life on the road so rewarding x

Personally I'd still try to get rid of the luggage on your tank/between your knees though, but agree that when you have good camping kit that works for you, it seems silly to change...

As for the Alvord, a return to Oregon is certainly one of my plans this year!

xxx

Traveling light is an art, IMO. Unless you are French,

Oddly enough
 

I live in France, although I'm not French, but I know a few French bikers, I shall have to ask them the art of packing light.

Obviously the rides I've done so far could hardly be classed as adventures, apart from one small spot about 25 mins away from me I'm never out of mobile phone coverage and never more than a few miles from a town where I can probably get spares (except on a Sunday and Monday). And I'm only in one clilate zone (although Brittany can throw sun at you one minute and freezing winds and rain the next). But I'm very interested in the pack-light principle especially as I'm only on a 125 - admittedly quite a large one so there's space if not power.

So thanks to all of you who've posted the things you carry with you, it's fascinating to see the things I'd probably forget. Now I'm off to make a pile.

two up for a year, camping gear included.
 

two up for a year, camping gear included. and by the end of the trip, we could have fit half-a-dozen bottles of wine. with our keep-warm gear on, that is...
http://bp3.blogger.com/_k9YaCS_gp-0/...Imagen+277.jpg
pack light, live better. cheers,
andy (and emily)

http://i231.photobucket.com/albums/e...eymoon0006.jpg
Spain tour, travelling light

Yeah. Everybody always says less is better. Theyre right. Too bad they are always wrong when you are actually packing :cool4:

Packing light? I reckon traveling with an articulated truck..even for a year would hardly be concidered "light" ( though it has it's merits)
:innocent:

Take a piece of paper and a pencil. If you reach for something that you don't have, put it on the list. Once a year go thru your stuff. If you didn't use an item last year take it out of your kit.

Doesn't look too bad does it? But the shipping fellas have just told me the (crated) weight is 440kg.
And I swore I'd travel light last time...

All this travelling light business is really overated IMHO. I mean, arriving at a campsite without Gin, Tonic, Glass, olives etc. just lacks a certain something. The sidecar helps of course :clap:

On the tube thing I think it is equally a worry what some people don't carry over what they do. I've met plenty in Europe and just beyond carrying a single tube because someone told them it was the thing to do, but with no idea how easy it is to change. The same guys who expect to fit a 21" tube into their 17" rear without ever practiceing at home (and without pinching it) will be carrying a chain and sprockets for a 3 week ride :( because it's on a list they read for a RTW. The G-clamp I carry for dealing with awkward tyre beads (doubles as a vice) probably weighs less and a bottle of slime (or RAC card) would be just as much use to the unpracticed.

Water is another good one. 10 litres per person per day is fine away from civilisation, but why do I see riders getting on the ferry to Spain with full water bottles (although those panniers with the tank build in could be a useful way to shift a gallon or three of dago red on the way home). Lugging 10kg of English water then drinking coca cola all the way can't be the way to do it :nono: (not that I drink the stuff, prefer the whisky neat, although tea would taste better I'm told). Too many people just wanting to say they own a camelbak or Sigg bottle, or not understanding what their own kit is for? The empty Camelbak weighs something similar to a 300ml plastic bottle bungeed to the rack and will be fine until you start buying litre bottles a week later? Up to each person of course, I'd stop to use a Camelbak tube anyway (uncontrolled drinks risk putting my pipe out).

I think I'd rather see inexperienced riders with piles of stuff while they make their lists of what they personally didn't need/can't use, the people doing big trips after a lot of practice having exactly what they need (and no more) and us semi-alchoholic, food obsessed, pipe smoking types safe on our outfits doing it Victorian explorer style. It's whatever makes your trip.

Got to do now, time for tiffin,

Andy

This is an old thread but why not wake it up?

I'm about to set off and looking at the bike and everything I am actually thinking I've got too little ! Honestly there is hardly anything there. Brilliant! That's even with my wife's stuff. It is truly a defining moment for me. I have two 36ltr panniers both only half full. On the rack a tent ( 5.5Kg and sleeping stuff ( minimal weight )

I have just peaked ! :D

It has taken about four years of reduction to reach this stage and much nagging the wife to not take a heated curling brush etc...

This sounds good! You got pics of your loaded up bike?

Get out on the road and let things play out. Believe it or not ... they actually DO SELL common items you might need in other countries! No need for liter bottles full of your special shampoo or biscuits. Give up stuff. Find new favorites out in the world. Jettison what you don't use/need, buy stuff you DO need that you forgot. The road is the best teacher. (and any French RTW biker!)

Yeah, thats the bit I can never get.

I was really badly stuck for a hammer one day in Ukraine so guess what I did??

I bought one!! Cost me about 2 euro and I have kept it. Not because I was afraid there would be a world wide hammer shortage (doh) but because its quite a cool hammer!:innocent:

There is always the "expert" vision I have read a few times and must agree with!:thumbup1:

Pack your bike, then get rid of half the stuff you've packed....repack and get rid of some more stuff and then you're ready to go!!!:scooter:

Cheers,
RN

Exactly ... but don't forget the last part of that "expert" vision: Take DOUBLE the amount of money you think you need! :rofl:

And the middle part allow twice as long as you think.

I ve been doing the dump half of it thing for four years !

Spot on! :rofl::rofl::rofl:

But I tend (or try) to believe that's not always the case!
It's too subjective to make a rule of thumb!

Just stay open minded and fine tune your set up as you go along!

Cheers,
RN

I agree

Travel