Looking to hopefully do a few mini bike packing trips this year.. (May – october) Just not quite sure where to start with camping kit.. I only weigh 60kg so don’t want to laden myself down with masses of shit.

Don’t really want to get a tent as that’s a large % of weight. Any opinion or recommendations on useful key pieces of kit to acquire over the next few months..
Sleeping bag
Mat
Bivy bag
Tarp
Cooking stuff

A lightweight tent needn’t weigh any more than a tarp and bivvy bag – which is not to say there aren’t good reasons for bivvying 🙂

Outdoor gear exchange uk on facebook.
Gumtree.
Bearbones forum.

All good for secondhand gear.

Stove -cheap chinese gas ones are under £10 on eBay.
Likewise a pot and lid.

A bag and mat – worth hunting half decent ones. Decathlon or a good sale. I just picked up a pair of Robens mats for £34ea, we have two Vango Ultralight bags that cost @£60-70 and are great – as good as my old ME down bag.

Tarp – again, cheap chinese Sil nylon from ebay. But I’m also with scotroutes – my tent is Alpkit and sub 1kg.

I could be tempted to ‘organise’ a bivy ride in the peak this summer. I’m in a position where I can lend several sets of kit.

Would anyone be interested in coming along?

Light, compact, cheap – pick two!

As Scotroutes says, a tent needn’t be heavy. Something like the Terra Nova Lasercomp is less than 1Kg and costs £250, it’s a bit cosy for two 😆 A tarp, poles and bivy bag – let’s say the Alpkit Rig3.5 tarp, Alpkit Hunka bivy bag and some Bearbones poles will come to around 800g and cost about £110.

Sleeping bag: down is lightest for a given warmth but good down costs. If you are prepared to try a quilt then something like the Cumulus 150 costs 160 Euros but weighs under 400g

Sleeping mat: Exped symat or Thermarest Neo-air are the upper end of warmth/comfort and cost, circa £90, but you can get a non-inuslated inflatable mat for £30 or so.

Cooking stuff: depends on how you want to cook really. If you want to replicate your kitchen then it will require more kit but if you just rehydrate stuff then you only need to boil water. For the latter a beer-can alcohol stove and a windshield along with an Alpkit Mytimug are all that you need. Slower boiling times than with gas but you aren’t usually in a rush, also you don’t have the volume of the gas cylinder to deal with.

Bulk is as big a problem as weight. I had a reasonable amount if kit beforehand most of which I’ve ended up replacing.

A thermorest ultralite replaced any an exped (40% of the bulk of the thermorest).
Mammut synthetic bag replaced with a Rab Endurance Neutrino 200 (old one didn’t fit in the handlebar bag…)
Rig7 tarp, Outdoor Designs AssaultBivi and Bearbones poles v Force Ten Helium 2
Fortunately not had the need to replace cooking stuff (MSR Pocket Rocket & Ti kettle). But then I’ve only boiled water for a brew thus far…..

What are you going to carry it all in?

As a starter, here’s my set-up from 4 years ago.
http://www.blog.scotroutes.com/2013/05/bikepacking-kit-list.html

I was in a similar spot a couple of years ago buying gear to start out. Not been used as much as planned, but at least i now have the option.

Went for good value kit that packed down fairly small.
Vango ultralite bag – a little big but workable.
A mid priced self inflating mat
And a vango 1 man tent (around 1.25kg i think and packed down really small).
And a luxury item was a self inflating pillow.

Personally i didn’t bother with cooking gear, sandwiches do me fine for a night or 2.

Thanks everyone.. bivy vs tent has given me a great distraction to research for the rest of the week whilst im pretending to work. I have some great little 1 or 2 day trips in mind already.. Havent informed mrs cloudnine yet.

Funnily enough scotrotes.. you keep popping up on google whenever i look at certain bikes, bikepacking equipment etc..

What are you going to carry it all in?

Pockets? I already have a wildcat seat pack and have been eyeing up frame and bar bags for my Tripster

I’ve only tried bikepacking twice – both one-nighters. Haven’t wanted to spend too much money in case I didn’t get into it but I’ve found some fairly decent stuff with minimal expense.
I bought a bivvy bag from Mountain Warehouse – it’s ok but doesn’t breathe too well, from what I’ve read Alpkit is the way to go. I use an old sleeping bag that I already had – just layer up to stay warm.

For carrying I bought a KTM saddle bag
http://www.ktmbikes.eu/ktm-bikes/eshop/4-1-CYCLING-ACCESSORIES/0/5/1023-KTM-Saddle-Bag-Tour-XL-18L

To carry the sleeping bag I just bought some compression straps from Trespass for a couple of quid and tied it to my handlebars.
Rucksack for my clothes and bit of food – I haven’t cooked on a trip yet, just carried sandwiches etc. Means I havent had to buy any cooking equipment yet.
I’d just recommend your first trip to be somewhere near to home so that bailing is possible if you really don’t like it.
And for a tarp I went super-cheap – I found a ground sheet in B&M bargains for £3 and tied it out with guy ropes and pegs. I’ve found that bikepacking can be done pretty cheap and if you get into it you can start spending more money on better kit.

Not sure if this link will work but here’s my bike with bags and kit
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10157052127695294&set=pb.566045293.-2207520000.1484094487.&type=3&theater

😳

Speedsterstove, made in UK – cheap. tiny, durable:

http://speedsterstoves.co.uk/alcohol/meths-burners.html

Couple it with a cheap ti mug and one of the Speedster stands, e.g.

http://speedsterstoves.co.uk/combined-windscreen-pot-rest-for-alpkit-mytimug-650.html

Meths is better for short trips/overnighters – you just carry the small amount of fuel you need in a plastic bottle. Make a pot cosy to increase your cooking options.

Not sure if it is any good as I haven’t had a chance to try it out yet but I just brought this sleeping bag for thus exact purpose. Think it seemed like it should be alright.

I’m new myself to backpacking, but have been ultra light camping and bushcrafting for years, so a lot of the kit is transferable. Most of my new kit came from Alpkit, its cheap and works well.

My mug doubles up as a cooking pot (600ml Alpkit mug), if you use dehydrated rations, you can boil water in the mug, then tip it into the food, and not have to wash anything up. You can use any left over water for a hot drink, and a quick wipe out with a tissue, and its ready to pack away.

I use an Alpkit Kraku stove, smaller than a lighter and light. For £25, it’s a bargain! This combined with a 100g gas canister when packed up, all fits in the above mug.

For a tarp, Army surplus / ebay will serve you well, I had a huge lightweight 4m x 3m one already from bushcrafting. I prefer a larger one than most, so I can store all my kit underneath it if it rains, I also think they are more flexible than a tent.

A Hunka bivi as already suggested.

Maybe an air mat, mine was £35 from Alpkit.

Sleeping bags are a personal thing, I like synthetic ones, yes they weigh more, but also insulate better when wet. Mine came from Amazon in the sales last year for £40, made by Vango and weights 700g.

Get a titanium spork, chances are you are already carrying a leathermans or such like so you already have a knife.

Go Outdoors can be a treasure trove of kit!

Get a titanium spork

one with a long handle. Freeze dried meals can be very handy, but the bags are deep, and no-one wants saucy knuckles.

A fairly good source of info – it’ll either enlighten you or confuse you further ;o)

http://bearbonesbikepacking.blogspot.co.uk/

Do you not have anything at all already?

I’m often sat on the sofa thinking “I could go out for a bivi tonight, but I really want a gas stove/espresso machine/larger bearbones stove/drop barred bike/titanium fleshlight”, occasionally I snap out of it and actually go out for the night and don’t die.

Bare minimum:
Something to keep you dry (£20 army surplus bivi)
Something to keep you warm (sleeping bag, season rating not overly important if not in actual mountains/winter)
Something to lie on (£5 foam mat)

Buy a coffee from a shop a mile or two from your intended camp spot. Buy a sandwich for dinner, ride to a cafe for a full English breakfast.

Then when you get back start deciding if the bivi was too bulky compared to an e-vent one. Is the added weight of a self inflating mat worth the saving in bulk. Did you manage to keep the sleeping bag dry enough that down might be a weight/bulk saving option in the future? Do I want hot (but simple) food enough to make buying/carrying all that extra cooking kit worthwhile.

^ that

It’s better to get out and try what you have rather than put off while trying to collect the ultimate bikepacking setup. What works for others won’t necessarily work for you anyway and finding out what does comes over a period of time.

I’m often sat on the sofa thinking “I could go out for a bivi tonight, but I really want a gas stove/espresso machine/larger bearbones stove/drop barred bike/titanium fleshlight”, occasionally I snap out of it and actually go out for the night and don’t die.

I’ve read many a bikepacking blog, but thats the first time i’ve seen that last item mentioned on a kit list 😆

Depending on where you are, consider an overnighter in a bothy. Removes some of the kit from the equation. Our first bikepacking trip was one such overnighter: Corrour station to Roy Bridge via Meanach bothy. Easily done in a day it was a relaxed affair. We had all our kit (tightly) stuffed into rucksacks – I don’t think anyone was making bikepacking bags back then.

cheap ti

I know it’s all relative, but there’s not really such thing is there.

Am I the only bikepacker who doesn’t own anything made of titanium?

I struggle to see much difference between this and, say, this, other than £16.

Last month I bikepacked 400 miles across New Zealand over 7 days, with an enamel mug, and I’m still alive.

Point is, for a first bikepacking trip, spending £20 on a mug is probably unnecessary.

I have camping stuff already but it’s all a bit heavy, bulky etc as it’s just thrown in the van and driven to a campsite. Most of the stuff I already have was bought cheapish with no concern for weight or size. I don’t mind buying a few better quality bits because I can use them camping anyway.. Or maybe go on little wild camps with one of my older kids..

Sometimes it’s worth asking so you don’t waste time and money getting the wrong thing

Set yourself a budget.

Get a spreadsheet and in one column list every item that you think you might take. In the next column list the weight of each of those items. Duplicate this column in the next one. At the bottom of each list sum the weights. To begin with they will be the same.

Now do some surfing and see how you can spend your budget to reduce the total weight of what you want to take by the greatest amount. Update the second column with the weight so you can compare before and after.

Bulk is a tricky one as you really need to get everything packed to see just how bulky things are. You don’t need to go anywhere to bivy just pack and repack until you can get most of your kit into your bags. It should be obvious what’s causing most problems. See if your budget will cope with sorting those items out.

Once you’ve got most bang for your buck, then time to make purchases, but at least you can justify *why* you are getting it.

I use a mixture of cheap and cheerful kit repurposed from previous sports and pricey bikepacking stuff. If it works then use it! My tarp poles are from an old Wild Country SuperNova tent that eventually died due to UV exposure for example. Ten minutes with a hacksaw and some emery paper got me sections I could carry on the bike.

Soz to hijack but I happen to be selling a very nice Hilleberg Akto: top-end 1-person tent and perfect for bike packing, wild camping, touring, trekking etc. It’s brand new, still with labels on, and I’m looking for £375 ono, cash and collect from Calderdale. RRP is £490 and Hilleberg prices are very rarely discounted, plus they’re set to rise any day now, apparently. Great chance to bag a legendary bit of kit. Email in profile if anyone’s interested. Ta.

Its a nightmare to get started and you can spend a small fortune trying out different tarps, lie mats, cooking stuff and bags to carry stuff

Probably took me 2 years to get to a good setup which i modify slightly for trips over 3 days

Barebones is probably the best place to start – but seeing what other people use / do not use and how it compares to your bivi aspirations & budget is key

I’ve hardly changed my set up in 18 months now and now it’s a wonderful way to have a weekend away on the bike with the only costs being food and some gas

Aiming for the 1st bivi of the year over the weekend 🙂

My first bivi was in June. Loaded up a rucksack and headed into the hills with a couple of friends. Being short notice I used what I already had. I really didn’t like the ‘sack at all. And that was only 3.5 hours combined cycling…

My next trip was the inner cairngorm loop, a much more serious undertaking. I bought bikepacking kit specifically for it. My mate was persuaded (by me 😀 ) to join me and we bought different stuff to see what would work best. The jury still out on that (my mate works in the ME and only used it once so far).

I’ve done a couple of smaller scale bivis (with ScotRoutes) which have been more about putting theory into practice. We did the first BAM last weekend where I took the bivi/tarp combo. I reckon I’ll be mostly taking my tent from now on… Good to see other ways/set ups. All helps.

It’s been an expensive process. Packs, bags, sleep mat, sleep bag, tent and GPS comes to well over £1k but I decided this was a thing I’m going to do. And I have a long term objective/goal, might as well get decent stuff now is my working mode.

I’ve kinda documented it here: http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/joining-the-bandwagon-275-bike-packing

I don’t claim to have arrived at the answer yet, but it’s been fun so far!

Oh, and boltonjons post: ‘like’.

I could be tempted to ‘organise’ a bivy ride in the peak this summer. I’m in a position where I can lend several sets of kit.

Would anyone be interested in coming along?

You’ve piqued my peak interest – had similar intentions

In a similar vein, backcountry.scot in Aviemore are arranging a “Packraft and Adventure Bike Roundup” on May 20/21.

An informal gathering of Packrafters and Bikepackers, Sharing stories knowledge and good times. There is no need to have a packraft or a bike to attend.
So during this round up the plan is to base ourselves in one location, here we will have workshops, talks and a packrafting specific white water safety and rescue course ( small fee)
Oh yeah Im hoping to have some craft beer there too!
there will be some guided rides showing you some sweet singletrack and river trips from grade I up to III
There is also many Lochs, Lochans and river to explore, there will be plenty of local knowledge to send you packingrafting!
More details to follow…………..

Fair point re: ‘cheap ti mug.’ I already had one kicking about, along with most outdoor kit, so the only adjustment I needed was bikepacking luggage rather than a more trad pannier set-up. When you’re immersed in that environment, you forget some people don’t own at least two sleeping bags, a couple of mats, multiple cooking systems…

I went with an Alpkit frame bag, bar-mounted drybag, plus a stuffsack strapped to a rack (both of which I already had). Oh yeah, and a 20-year old rucsac. Works fine, still using it.

I’m finding the sheer range of stuff out there to buy a tad daunting and it’s not easy to try before you buy to find out what works.

Yeah, it’s a bit like figuring out geometries, wheel size and drivetrains!

Some things work better on one bike than on another which doesn’t help 🙄

A lot depends on what you’ve got already but you can get an uninsulated inflatable sleeping mat for £15 that packs up reasonably small, a synthetic sleeping bag for £30 or so, a couple of the Alpkit Airlok dry bags for circa £13 each, tarp might be £20 or so.

Our first bikepacking trip we carried everything in 25L rucksacks, there wasn’t any of the current range of specific bags and harnesses available back then. Having a small rucksack means that you have to think about what you need, rather than what you want, to take.

Worth asking on the Bearbones forum (there’s quite a few of us on both there and here). There’s also all the reviews and advice postings under the “Reviews” section.