I quite fancy going for a decent long ride this summer, camping overnight then coming back. I'd be going with a mate, so we can split the kit between us. We're both fairly broke, so I'm thinking of a sleeping bag & roll mat a piece, the most basic brew kit (hexy stove & army instant tea) and a cheap two man tent (I'm not talking Tescos cheap – more like CCC or Decathlon cheap). Or maybe a tarp if we get a spectacularly favourable forecast.

Now, I don't particularly want to splash a load of cash on luggage and racks. Is it possible to lash everything to the bike in dry-bags / compression sacks? I've noticed these are pretty cheap in Sports Direct and the like.

Anyone got pictures of their setup?

Loads of lightweight setups at http://www.bikepacking.net/category/individual_setups/

Yes it's possible to strap or bungee a dry bag onto your bars, I used a 20ltr one for the WRT. Use a backpack for the rest (I'd recommend an Alpkit Gourdon for the money)

Hah. First link I clicked on from that was a bike that seemed to have the whole world attached to it 😆

I'd prefer to avoid a rucksack if possible – I'm sure I saw someone on here with a some kind of rig to attach a dry bag to the back of their bike. It might have been on one of those seatpost mount racks though.

If you tightly fasten a dry bag's roll neck around the seatpost, you can use a strap to fasten it to the saddle rails. Might rub your legs a bit though.

You can also buy extended seat bags, which might be what you've seen – http://www.revelatedesigns.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=store.catalog&CategoryID=4&ProductID=1

The impression I get from researching this sort of thing, is that it's very easy to take too much stuff. Some of those bikes from the link Mike posted are a good example of this.

I have a bivvy bag and some spare clothes, bike spares and tools packed so far. I'm struggling to figure out if I need anything else (for 3 days/two nights riding).

And some money.

Obviously it depends where you're going but in the Uk you really would struggle to get somewhere that wasn't within easy reach of a pub or a chippy.

If you are only camping out overnight you should easily be able to bodge something together strapping stuff to your bike as you will not need spare cloths, just an extra top for the evening.

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/pics/docs/00/00/58/04/small/bike.jpg

This is an old pic of a setup I used last year including 3 L of water! I carried tarp mate carried cooking stuff, food split between us. No special bags just stuff sacks strapped to bike. Rucksack has food 2 L bladder, jacket and hat for evening and sleeping mat. so the weight was really the water. Saddle wedge in front triangle with tools tubes and other misc.

Alternatively this is from another trip with a tent strapped to the bars insted of a tarp (longer trip).

The impression I get from researching this sort of thing, is that it's very easy to take too much stuff. Some of those bikes from the link Mike posted are a good example of this.

The racing section of that site has some amazingly minimalist kit lists and set ups. Matt Lee (currently leading the Tour Divide race) only carries what he'd take on a day ride, plus a sleeping bag and bivvy bag.

Yep for 1 night don't take spare clothes, just waterproof jacket that you normaly take anyway, and maybe a pair of tracksters.

Food a dehydrated meal that you add water into the bag for evening, and an oats so simple pack for the morning (golden syrup flavour yummy). 600ml pot and screw on canister top stove, 100g canister.

Then its shelter, bag and mat.

thats all you need

Take a pot noodle and then use the pot as your bowl for oats so simple in the morning and for drinks, easy to clean and stops your pan from getting caked with burnt on food.

I do quite a lot of wild camping – trekking and by bike. I carry two different levels of kit – stripped back and comfy depending. Just back from 5 days trekking out in the wild corners of scotland – and Samuri the chippy was miles away – we didn't see anyone for 2 days 🙂

So – for two folk for 5 days – restock on food 3rd day)
Tent ( as light as two bivvy bags and tarps and bungies)
2 foam mats
two snugpack sleeping bags with liners
Mini Led headtorch
a book each ( luxury)

Pocket rocket stove
250 ml gas can and 100 ml reserve
two deep alloy pots and two shallow ones
Salt and pepper
2 plastic spoons
Swizz army knife
3x lighters and lifeboat matches
2 mugs

Food – per day – cuppasoup, pasta and sauce, angel delight for 3 course main meal
Oatso simple for breakfast
bread / crackers and cheese for lunch
cereal bars x 8 a day(each) for snacks.
Everything but the cheese dry – don't carry water
Its important to get plenty of calories
salt pepper
instant coffee sugar
Powdered milk

each
waterproofs
3 sets underwear and socks ( washed on resupply day)
2 t shirts
One jumper / fleece
spare trousers ( light joggers)
Plus the set of clothes we were wearing

Misc
toilet roll
Compass
Map
Bug goo
Sunscreen
Water bottle each
first aid kit

Under 20 kgs between us i/c the rucksacs

For comfy camping add:-
Coffee machine and real coffee
2nd pocket rocket
a couple more pots
plates, knife and fork
real food to add to dryed shite
spare foot wear
spare book
Tent lamp (led light)

I think thats it for us.

4 pots in the lightweight version?!
me and a mate did an 11 day trip in norway earlier this month with one pot, one plate and one mug in total. would have been fine for much longer…

teh 4 pots – we didn't use one of the shallow ones . cooking a 3 course dinner needs two deep pots (or takes longer) and one of the shallow ones doubles as a lid and a plate.

Pot plate mug each? No?

and Samuri the chippy was miles away

It was Scotland. I don't believe there isn't a chippy within half a mile of everything. 😉

guess it depends on how much time between courses you want 😉

nah, between us one of each. ate same food – one ate from pot, one from plate. shared a mug.

fast and light… 😉

Shared a mug? Me and t'missus would have fallen out sharing a mug for morning coffee.

We could have reduced the pots by one or two for sure

hey hungry monkey, was that a bike trip in Norway?

I would love to do some bikepacking up there do you have any details and route info?

MSP – yep, some light road touring.
we were in the south west – bergen/stavanger region, just pootling about.
lots of ferries, public transport is great (bikes on busses no problem etc). getting in and out of cities is a bit of a nightmare – not great signposts for cyclists. bigger roads do have cycle paths alongside, but now and again thy just disappear or stop following the road with no warning – we ended up not trusting them.
£17 for 2 pints – don't drink.
campsites were generally nice, if a little expensive. wildcamping is enshrined in law, so long as you are 150m from houses and not too close to roads etc. we did this a little bit and it was fine.
stunning views
friendly people
gorgeous women
only got one insect bite (definitely would be worse further north)
we had incredible weather
everyone seems very rich
everyone speaks english
roads tend to be in very good condition
drivers weren't too bad
£7.50 for an innertube

more info on set up here…