[Closed] Am I taking too much junk? (aka critique my packing list)

If you're staying in a b&b do you really need the power pack? Similarly two chargers seems overkill. The days are long at the moment so I wouldn't have thought you'd need to be charging the lights much, which just leaves your Garmin and phone? Can you charge one in the evening then swap when you go to bed and charge the other?

Do you need all your spares, or the pressure gauge? Do you want enough to have a good chance of being able to carry on with no problems, or just enough to get to civilization if you have a mechanical?

Could the apres ride trousers be shorts instead?

If you're taking bog roll in case you get caught short without a nearby toilet I'd suggest a trowel too (plenty of lightweight options specifically for this).

Anything you’d bin in that lot?

Not really. Maybe the 'emergency fleece', if that's all it is - you seem to have a lot of potential extra layers (and the bivvy) you could use if it turns nasty. Maybe add a midge headnet, even though you're not camping.

Exactly what neilc says, no need for powerbank.

Other than that, nothing obvious really, I'm all for taking clean keks n socks, it's the nice wee things that count!.

Looks fine to me.

One of the tubes

Some of the snacks, nick a load of stuff from the b&b

Pressure gauge

One of the chargers

Waterproof shorts - I tend to sweat in them so end up just as wet

small digi tyre pressure gauge (paranoia from having WAY too many pinch flats recently)

Bin this and use your thumb.

Powerpack - I get about 8 hrs out of my garmin before it starts giving low battery warnings, and I'm not guaranteed to be home by then. Likewise - if I have to resort to my phone for nav, I've no idea how long the battery will last.

2 USB chargers - I've got 3 things I *have* to have charged (phone, garmin, powerpack), so 2 ways of charging feels OK. I might be lucky and have rooms with USB outlets on all the sockets, but I might not. The chargers are the MU style folding ones, so box of matches size. (cheaper to buy another of the Alpkit knockoffs, than a proper double MU outlet one). Both the phone and the Garmin can lose a noticeable % of battery overnight (both could really do with new batteries I suspect)

Fleece and waterproof shorts. I've been freezing cold, soaked to the skin and borderline hypothermic up Lakeland mountains in the middle of a british summer often enough to value insulation and (near) full windproofing. I'm at the skinny end of the spectrum, so not much natural insulation and feel the cold.

Trousers feel more midgeproof for Scottish evenings than shorts!

Snacks. I might be able to "nick a load of stuff from the b&b". Or I might not. Skinny = not much natural storage, so easily available calories = good.

The tubes and pressure gauge thing is down to recent bad experiences riding locally - I must have had half a dozen rides on the trot where I was pinchflatting every ride. Putting Vittoria Tyreliners in has helped a bit, but not eradicated the problem completely. Add the extra luggage weight in and the possibility of destroying a tyre goes up exponentially. Past experience says that once I've got a tube in, it'll last minutes before I flat it, so having a second one available feels like a good idea. The pressure gauge is only 40g and at least means I can start each day *knowing* I've got the correct amount of air in the tyres (they lose 5-8psi overnight which is difficult to gauge accurately with a squeeze). Not really knowing how rough the trails are I'm pretty paranoid about leaving myself stuck in the middle of (genuinely) nowhere.

For me if yo want to go light:

ditch:

spare brake pads
one of the tubes
Glasses case ( but I have cheapo glasses and just put them in a pocket)
One of the water bottles ( maybe not - river levels are low but I only carry one and refill from rivers)
Arselard
Powerpack
Wet wipes
Lights - are you really going to need them - its only dark for 5 hours ish
one of the charger plugs
Garmin - just use your phone
Pressure gauge
Waterproof shorts ( and maybe jacket but I havent seen the forecast)
Arm and leg warmers - you have other kit

Also I never carry chain lube - advantage of putoline but it you do then those little tiny fish things that contain soy sauce when yo buy sushi allows yo to take just 5ml of oil and weight nothing

That's way too much.
You're going on a bike ride, not invading a country.

No emergency foil blanket ?

Ditch the light and one of the spare brake pads, add a spare hanger.

Why 2 days food when you're staying in B&B's - can't you book an evening meal? Also you've said you'll be passing shops.

I'd take socks for each day and a pair of shoes/sandals etc for the evenings/mornings.

Puncture-wise, I'd not want to going on a 3-day trip when you know you've issues - can you swap out the wheels/tyres?

You’re going on a bike ride, not invading a country.

Helpful - so what would you ditch?

I've taken the front light & charging lead out. If I can't do 80 miles a day in 12hrs +/- I deserve everything I get.

@TJ
I don't even go on a 2hr local ride without a set of spare brakepads. Not unknown for me to get through brand new, properly bedded in pads in 30 miles, right down to the backing plate in the local grinding paste. No idea what the terrain is like I'm crossing, so playing it safe. The weather is looking relatively rubbish compared to recent weeks, so I can see pad wear being high and I really don't want to be relying on being able to find local bike shops.

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Glasses case - I'm blind as a bat without vision correction. No way could I let any pair of glasses just sit in a pocket where they could fall out or get landed or sat on.

Waterbottle - I could possibly ditch one, as I'm not a great drinker, but I don't know the area well enough to know where I can or can't pick up more. Once I have a feel for the landscape I'll be a lot more relaxed about it.

The same with the Garmin. Its an utterly new area to me - never passed through it in any shape or form before, therefore I need some form of backup navigation gear as I've not got a hope of winging it. If I use my phone as primary, then I need something else as backup. The garmin is primary and I've got the route stored as a downloaded OS map on the phone for backup. (That and I only expect 4-6hrs life out of the phone if I'm using it hard - so hence the powerpack).

Arselard is a fingerful in a plastic bag, and I do find it beneficial on long hot days. Wetwipes arguably not - tend to use them when bivvying for post ride undercarriage clean up, but that's not needed when I can have a shower.

Waterproofs, tubes, pressure gauge see above. I'd dearly love to get rid of the whole lot, but it feels way too risky.

Kneewarmers will almost certainly be worn until its 25°C+ as my knees don't like it otherwise. Armwarmers + SS jersey is default riding kit and easily shoved in a pocket.

I know a lot of this is me overthinking, but its what I do (and basically what I get paid to do - analyse tasks and processes and make sure they WILL happen come what may. "Better looking at it than for it"). But also too aware that the more stuff you take the more stuff you need...

I think on the basis of your explanations and the few small things you have ditched then the only other thing I’d leave behind is the wet wipes.

The bike might feel like a pig but once you’re on it you’ll soon get used to it. I did an overnighter in the Peak last weekend and went pretty loaded but it was fine in the end.

Take your time, enjoy the scenery and make the most of it, it’s not a race after all is it? (or is it??!!)

No emergency foil blanket ?

That's what the Sol bivvy bag is

Why 2 days food when you’re staying in B&B’s – can’t you book an evening meal? Also you’ve said you’ll be passing shops.

It's 2 days snacks, not 2 days food - fruit and nut mix, soreen bars, clif bars. Planning to have 3 proper meals/day, but aware I'll need stuff in the meantime.

I’d take socks for each day and a pair of shoes/sandals etc for the evenings/mornings.

Planning to wash socks and shorts each night, at which point I've got 36hrs to get them dry again. Don't have sandals (hate the things) and no way am I carrying a second pair of proper shoes. My SPDs dry out quite quick, so unless its truly miserable won't be a massive problem.

Puncture-wise, I’d not want to going on a 3-day trip when you know you’ve issues – can you swap out the wheels/tyres?

Short of swapping bikes entirely - no. I try to ride a gravel bike like I ride a mountain bike as most of my "gravel" riding is "shit 90's mountain biking". Local trails are moderately rocky, so I tend to try and carry speed and try and float through stuff as the alternative is mince like a good un and hit Every. Single. Bloody. Rock. In. Sight. Its great when it works, but all too often there's something a bit bigger hidden amongst the choss that just smashes straight through the tyre. Usually the front one as I end up with a lot of weight there by being down in the drops. Likewise, I'm not the kind of guy to slow down and bump cautiously over a water bar. That's what bunnyhops were invented for. Except sometimes I'm shit and get it wrong... The tyre liners have helped for sure, but I did put a half inch cut in the front a couple of weeks back coming up short. Tyre pressures are as high as I dare before traction and comfort suffer.

It's only really been an issue since I swapped to a drop bar bike from a bodged up old 26" MTB (about 3 months ago) and to be honest - if I have problems over this trip, I'll be flogging the Fugio as I'm getting pretty fed up with it.

Get proper brake pads then - I get literally thousands of miles out of hope sintered.

When going light its all about marginal things Ask whitestone - he carries half what i do

I take no brake pads and one tube for 2 weeks heavily laden touring ( plus patches)

it all up to you but thats what i would be ditching out of that lot. and i wouldn't be using brakes that wear pads like that ( and I have ridden in areas where folk claim high pad wear)

You can’t always rule out bad luck but on a multi day route with a well laden bike I think by default you need ride canny and avoid all you can puncture risks. Which for me means accepting slowing down, picking lines, even walking the odd bit. More so on a gravel bike.

Any small losses in time from riding canny probably far outweigh what you’d lose from punctures or major mechanicals. Also more time to savour the ride.

If you use everything you took, then you got it right.

If you didn’t use stuff, that, you should’ve left that behind.

Problem is you never know what you need until you need it..

You want to lose weight but you keep justifying everything as 'it's only 40g'etc. It all adds up. (Obviously!) You've either got to rethink your justification or be OK with the weight.

I'd say you're carrying an absolute shedload for a B&B trip. There's a load of cross over.

Take the guage out. Use your thumb or just pump up rock hard and accept the compromise in handling or ride more cautiously. I know you like to blast down stuff but if the bike weighs a tonne you ain't doing that anyway.

Bog roll, wet wipes etc. All bivvy stuff. You're in accommodation. I'd ditch the lock too.

Powerpack, phone, Garmin, many chargers. If the Garmin lasts 8 and the phone lasts 4-6 then you're good for 12 hours in my opinion. If it gets to the point you're using the phone, don't have it actively guiding you, airplane mode on and just, have os maps loaded to check when needed. Charge overnight, phone off until needed etc.

I've also never needed a gerbier style tool but that's a personal thing.

Gilet, warm jacket, waterproof jacket, ss jersey, after ride jersey , baselayer.Loads of crossover there. Would the baselayer, ss and after rise jerseys under the waterproof work in emergencies instead of the warm layer? Would the baselayer and ss work instead of the gilet and arm warmers. Would the baselayer and then swapping to the ss work instead of arm warmers?

Personally I'd ditch the trousers. Wear one pair of shorts to ride in, other pair overnight, first pair back on again. The riding pair should dry overnight and you've got midge spray to keep things off you're legs at night (plus you're inside.)

I'd so ditch the bivvy if you've got that many layers to put on, but I'm aware that's not necessarily wise.

Anyway, sounds like a good trip! Have fun!

Personally:
- If I'm carrying a waterproof jacket I'd ditch the gilet
- why 2 multitools?
- Spare bib shorts. For 3 days, a wash in the sink each night will be totally fine for 1 pair. Squeeze them in a towel before hanging to dry.
- Have a look at your route on the map to see if there's likely to be a few streams. If so you can get away without one of your bottles.
- Waterproof shorts (I've never found them to keep my dry or warm).

I pretty much agrees with everyone.

I'm still not really sure what a gauge is giving you over your thumb.

Aware that the OP might have already set off ...

Generally:
Reduce
Repackage
Reuse

The list doesn't look too bad but as ever the devil's in the detail. Things like the first aid kit - is it an all singing all dancing paramedic kit or a few plasters and antiseptic wipes?

1x clean socks
1x clean bib shorts
1x apres ride keks
apres ride light trousers
apres ride merino T
Thin fleece for disaster weather warmth
waterproof jacket
waterproof shorts

Ditch the items in bold. No need for underpants, just go commando, no-one's going to be checking. Wash socks and shorts when you get to your B&B and dry them overnight. A pair of lightweight shorts rather than full length trousers.

Not sure what you are doing with a Garmin to only get 8hrs battery life, I'll get 12hrs out of a 510, even so a 10,000mAh powerbank will recharge it five or six times. If push comes to shove, plug the powerbank in while you are riding. Phone on airplane mode, you are on holiday. Should last three days with just a bit of "phone home" each evening. Also many of the tracks in Scotland go on for hours you don't need to be keep checking the GPS - something like the Corrieyairack are one track that takes 3 to 4 hours where you are just following the one track. Just ride.

Both the phone and the Garmin can lose a noticeable % of battery overnight (both could really do with new batteries I suspect)

What!???

Fit new batteries! Li-On batteries should hold their charge for weeks if not months if not in use. Not doing so is just bad preparation.

If your bike's well maintained then other than an accident there's little chance of things going wrong. Your chain is unlikely to need oiling unless you go through that wet paste that grinds everything off, as above those little plastic fish hold enough oil to oil a chain twice.

Your responses indicate that you are trying to justify packing your fears rather than thinking about what's actually needed.

Going lightweight can get a bit silly. I have cut half the handle off my toothbrush before now.

its often a cost / weight / comfort equation and you just have to work out what compromises yo want to make

I could not go as light as Whitestone does - I need a bit more comfort. neither of us are wrong - its just we chose different priorities

Your choice of what to take is absolutely perfect. Don't change a thing. That's what you wanted to hear isn't it? 🙂

Why are you getting so many punctures? Are you sure it's not your rim tape?

I once had a pair of new rims but the rim tape was terrible and the tube pushed into the spoke hole and would puncture.

I think the "what to take " decision just takes a bit of time to get right is all. yea, you seem a bit overloaded, but honestly, next time, you might feel comfortable ditching some stuff, so getting it "spot on" is going to be trial and error. Take what you think you'll need, then forget about it, enjoy the ride, stare at the sunsets , take some time to enjoy. Then when you're done, take some time to reconsider.

have a great ride, hope it goes well!!

Not sure what you are doing with a Garmin to only get 8hrs battery life

Depending on its mood, my 820 can rip through it's battery far faster than that

Is this one of those threads where someone asks for advice, is given advice, then disagrees with the advice they're given?

Garmin - I use my smartphone for everything including navigation
2x waterbottles - Do you have a small water filter? water is the heaviest thing you will carry
rear light - Why lights - its Scotland in summer so its hardly ever dark. I carry a tiny headtorch but thats for camping

Bike mutitool - just take 1 tool
Gerber mutitool - Just take 1 tool
little tube of lube and a rag - ditch the rag - use a leaf
little box of spare parts inc quicklinks, 2 sets brake pads, bolts etc - bolts ?

2x inner tube (if I get to the point of needing tubes, I’ll be in a whole world of pain anyway) I risked 1 (and needed it) but up to you
first aid kit plasters, savlon, pain killers
Sol bivvy bag Not for me but I did have a tent
bog roll/plastic bag for used bogroll use moss

Front light why lights
charger leads for powerpack/r. light, phone, garmin, front light should be just one usb lead and folding plug
2x folding USB charger plugs see above

Far, far too much imho.
Carrying all that gear makes it more likely that something will go wrong (puncture, mechanical, running out of time, etc) because the bike is too heavy and too slow. Plenty of good advice already given.
I reckon you should aim for the water bottles and then minimal spares, minimal food, minimal clothing. All those charging devices, extra tools, wet wipes!.. leave them all at home!

Travel light and embrace the adventure 🙂

Not sure what you are doing with a Garmin to only get 8hrs battery life

Depending on its mood, my 820 can rip through it’s battery far faster than that

This is why I bought a wahoo bolt and have never looked back! Can easily do 15 hours following a route and still have 20% battery left.

ndthornton

I carry an m5 /m6 nut and blots and a cleat bolt. I have had cleat bolts and rack mount bolts come loose and disappear on long gravel rides.

Why lights

I use lights (well, rear, anyway), on anything above singletrack roads in the daytime. Plus even in Scotland it's possible to be out in the twilight, or maybe even heavy rain, where both will be potentially useful. The front light is detachable, so I don't need a headtorch.

My bike multitool doesn't have stuff like pliers for removing stubborn tubeless valve lockrings, which is why I carry both. A small selection of unusual bolts can save a trip, so it is personal choice whether that's a good idea. I'd probably take something to repair an ispec shifter and a couple of others.

Agree on most of the rest, although the leaf/rag thing is getting a bit Ray Mears.

although the leaf/rag thing is getting a bit Ray Mears.

yep...Moss instead of toilet paper?...To save, obviously, the massive weight and acres of wasted space of a few sheets of Andrex?

I personally don't take a tent, bivi or sleeping bag, simply slaughter a sheep each evening, gut it, and wear it like a coat.

Martin - amateur - It should be a red deer then you can get right inside it

Just seen the OP’s biked loaded up on Instagram and my first thought was how light he was travelling! For such an extensive kit list the bike looks very svelte in terms of kits bags. I carried more for a single night in the Peak two weeks ago…

As @tuboflard says I’ve just got on the train at Glasgow.

View this post on Instagram

I have ditched some bits but not anything that saves proper weight. (The tail pack is substantially smaller once I’ve got riding kit on - wearing the apres stuff currently)

I’d be much more relaxed about things if I knew the area, but I’ve never ridden north of the Tweed Valley so no idea what I’m going to be facing on the ground. Drop me blind, anywhere in the Peaks and I’ll know exactly where I am; the Lakes - sans map, I’ll have a good idea of where I can get food, where the nearest bike shop is, the escape options. This trip doesn’t have an escape route - only forwards, so I feel I need to be able to cope with whatever’s coming.

One thing that did occur to me, is that when I’ve Mtb bikepacked, I’m usually carrying water and clothes on my back. 3kg hidden on 63kg of me is barely noticeable. 3kg on a 10kg bike is a massive difference! But probably less fatiguing over a few days.

Enjoy @JonEdwards, I’m sure it’ll be a great trip and any reservations will soon evaporate when you get going.

Enjoy it. Although there might be a wee bot more physical effort, you'll be less anxious knowing you've got a few contingencies covered and so will enjoy the ride more.

I'm far from a minimalist when it comes to packing, but for a three day B&B trip, if I can't fit in a 20l pack it's not going.

Just go with it, you've justified everything, the opinions of strangers is pretty irrelevant.

Enjoy your trip!

You have much less stuff that I will for a 200mile two day ride!

I might need to pack less stuff!

I'm doing a 3 night trip from tomorrow, southern shandy drinking loop. I am taking similar, but no Gerber type multitool, only one tube, no gillet (this an a water proof seem excessive) no post ride clothes except some shorts, no charger plugs, cant use it anyway, no arm warmers as taking a long sleeved thermal top. I will take a spork, brew kit and sleep kit though

So I'm back and figured it might be worth revisting this...

It appears - yes, indeed - I did take too much junk.

[u]I didn't need:-[/u]
The second water bottle (never actually filled it). Weather ranged from tolerable to minging, so I was never sweating that hard. If it had been proper hot, I think I'd have been glad of the extra capacity though. (I also now know, there's plenty of streams and rivers, although I'm slightly wary about drinking from them - seen enough sheep corpses in them!)

The power pack. Genuinely surprised by this after this years Jennride. I was down to about 20% on the Garmin at the end of the first day, so it would have started complaining very shortly. Managed to get it on charge at the lunch stop on the second (longest) day, so that was OK. Last day was only 6hrs, so that was fine. Would still take a power pack, but would use a smaller one.

Tubes, although a close call. The back tyre randomly went flat half way UP the Corrieyairack and as I was pumping it back up air was bubbling out in about 20 locations (really!). But it then stayed up fine for the rest of the trip. Strange. I'd also pumped both tyres up proper hard, which made grip and comfort a lot more marginal than I'd like. As a result coming down the Corrieyairack, was an exercise in keeping my eyeballs in place rather than actually riding the bike properly. A bit annoying after turning myself inside out to clean the climb. Maybe just the 1 tube next time.

Brake pads. I was genuninely worried the first day as I was basically riding up and down streams which would have been disastrous on local trails, but the relative lack of traffic and very little silt in the water seemed to keep things pretty clean.

Second pair of bibshorts. Both B&Bs had good drying facilities, so that would have been OK.

Baselayer, emergency fleece, buff. The baselayer took up next to no space or weight, so Meh. Could have ditched the fleece, as it never got that cold, but arguably better safe than sorry.

Could probably have got away without the lock. Probably.

I took too much snacky stuff. After a bowl of porridge and a full english brekky each day, I ate far less whilst riding than I normally do.

[u]What I DID use[/u]
Both chargers. A dual outlet one would have been a "better" answer, but would be £20 rather than £6 for the second single outlet one.

Waterproof shorts were a godsend the first day. Pissing it down as I started, running wet trails most of the morning, then I got caught in a proper powershower type storm for 20mins just after starting up the Corrieyairack. Jacket and shorts meant my torso and thighs just about stayed dry. (ended up wearing them all of day 1, not at all days 2&3)

Gilet was invaluable - never took it off. Likewise kneewarmers. Armwarmers were up and down, on & off.

I used the phone quite a bit at stops for the (offline) OS map app, so I could see more info about where I was and what I was passing, rather than just following the line on the Garmin which gives sod all info about the area. Was getting through 50-60% battery each day doing that in airplane mode plus photos.

Pressure gauge - used because I could.

Oil - used each day. It was only a 7ml sample tube, so no weight. I'll take the point about Putoline for that kind of riding. Otherwise, happy as I am.

Cool. So you took photos.

WHERE THE HELL ARE THEY?

Here

Excellent.

For posterity, I'll say it again. Head North. That way you do the Corrieyairack in the right direction 🙂

(and who the hell wants to ride to Glasgow?)

Exactly!

Glad you had a good trip. Hoping to do the Badger next year.

What B&Bs did you use?

I’ll say it again. Head North

Not entirely sold on that TBH. Yes, you'll get a nicer descent of the CYAK but I'd be bloody impressed with myself if I managed to clean the climb up the Laggan side, luggage or no luggage. BUT, you miss the stunning hairpinny descent on the "High Route" Great Glen Way, and the looong fast fireroad down Rannoch Moor. While I can see Loch Rannoch to Glen Lyon being good either way, I think Brig'o'Turk to Aberfoyle is best N->S (bumpier climb, gravel mag ad descent). While Glasgow isn't a great place to arrive at - neither is Inverness! Also not convinced I'd want to have the hardest, lumpiest day at the end. I'll admit I was lucky with the wind, as it always had a northerly component to it - I could see a typical southerly getting pretty dull pretty quick.

@robbo1234biking
Laggan Hotel and Ardlochay in Killin

Why lights – its Scotland in summer so its hardly ever dark.

Also it's Scotland in summer so a wet cloudy day and a road segment... Lights are a worthwhile weight investment......