[Closed] Sick as a dog so, show me you Bivi / Bikepacking / Adventure racing gear.....

Looks like the STW chaps are out bivvy'ing tonight.

Cheers for that Kev. I've got volume 1 so here's hoping volume 2 is just as good 😀

Right so water bottles....

I'll probably use a camelbak but I also have a handlebar mount for a waterbottle that I may try like this

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/raleigh-handlebar-mounted-cycling-bottle-cage-p137149
or you could use this to adapt one you have

http://www.swinnertoncycles.co.uk/ProductInfo.aspx?productid=260677

http://www.jejamescycles.co.uk/topeak-bottle-cage-item161310.html#info

(picture upside down)

Is it? look again 🙂

you saw nothing there carry on! 😉

Just thought I'd pop in this thread and see if people had any comments on my kit ideas. Live in cheltenham so was going to ride out into the wilds of the cotswolds friday (40km) camp out somewhere, 60km ride, camp out sat, 60km home again.

Vango helium 200 tent (1.3kg) - ex-demo £67
Lifeventure 660 sleeping bag (600g) - borrow my dads
Pacific outdoor peak oyl lite mat (540g) - hopefully £25

all three to go on a topeak mtx seatpost rack

then,
primus gas stove, some mess tin thing, couple of pieces of spare clothing, dakine 3L bladder, "add water pasta and sauce" packs for dinner, cereal bars in the morning. all in a 22L osprey talon bag?

Probably pub lunch. Only thing i'm thinking about is water, streams be alright for that though i guess?

Taking it easy for the first trip, then thinking about heading elsewhere in the country.

dirtbiker100 - looks like you are sorted with that lot 😉

as you may know you could save a bit of weight using a bivvy bag and maybe a tarp set up but each to their own.

Post some pics of your adventure 😉

All above sounds spot on, I found that I wanted to change my (refine it) kit after trying stuff.

What you've got will work

Right so water bottles....

I had a thought about them recently and you saying a chalk bag wasn't sturdy enough, what about a lens case?

Sounds a bit odd but I bought a peg bag that will (easily) convert into a bar feed bag type thing, like this one

http://www.sainsburys.co.uk/sol/shop/home_and_garden/laundry/pegspegbags/120128228_brabantia_clothes_peg_bag.html?CAWELAID=867855423

Not very heavy, drawcord top and not expensive for when it all goes wrong.

Before I got my mountain feedbag I used an insulated bottle holder... I used this for arrowhead race to hold my trail mix..

... only has one velcro strap on bars but I looped a little strap round the head tube and round bottle holder to hold it steady.. worked a treat

http://www.outdoorresearch.com/site/water_bottle_parka.html

sorry can't find a UK site for it but I bought mine from Wildtrak in Newcastle.

good shout there Stu 😀

In order to keep this thread alive, here is last Thursday nights trip out into the Dark Peak. The grouse were very vocal overnight!

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someone was camera shy 😀

A lot of tarps and tents.. no one just going for a straight up bivi bag ??

Moi, £25 from TKs, 300gm.

I've only used a tarp in a harbour area in my old job.

Now, I just use a Bivi bag on it's own.

Tarp went up as a wind shield, it was really quite blustery up on the top.

The smaller, lightweight, non-hooped bivvy bags are miserbale in the rain so the extra 300g of tarp and pegs is worth it ime. It also offers somewhere to cook, get changed etc for when the weather is foul.

I would have died last week in the wilds of Knoydart if i didn't have my ME dragonfly xt tent. My buddies vango helium tent got blown down twice.
Bivvies and tarp are all good but sometimes you need a tent, or you have to be double hard.

I've just fashioned a rear-rack drybag from an old 20 litre Alpkit Gourdon. The top end of the straps tuck into the hydration bladder compartment and the bottom halves clip around the rack to help retain it (along with a bungee strap or two). It can be converted back into a backpack without too much trouble. Hopefully it'll come in handy for the forthcoming Welsh Ride Thingy 🙂

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looking good Slugwash are you mounting panniers on the front too for WRT and are you using a bar bag?

just thinking how much you can get in the gourdon?

Did the first bikepacking trip of the season on Friday.

Last minute overnight stay in the Lammermuirs.

Loads of fun, really easy and quite comfortable. All the kit I have been accumulating worked out really well, happy with it all!

[b]Outside the Spar in Gifford for beer, crisps, and sweeties ( the main 3 Scottish food groups!)[/b]

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[b]
Sun setting, time to camp at the top of Hope resevoir[/b]

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[b]Last rays of sun on the packed bikes[/b]

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[b]Best. Campsite. Ever.[/b]

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[b]Local flora[/b]

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[b]
Above the camp[/b]

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[b]Rush hour in the Lammermuirs[/b]

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[b]Fresh water, as much as you want[/b]

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[b]Best seat in the house![/b]

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[b]Visiting the local hippy woodlands on the way back home[/b]

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Stuff that works:

Bikes - old and new.
Less gears.
Alpkit titanium spoon and drybags
Revelate (Epic Designs) handlebar harness and pocket
Buggybags custom framebag (review coming soon!)
Old man mountain rack
GoLite 3 season quilt
Spare cotton T-shirt and boxers to sleep in.
Using one pan for everything
Readybrek + powdered milk + sugar premix breakfast fuel
Brandy

Nice pics 7hz, looks like you had a good time. Is the Tarp Tent yours and how do you find it?

Looking a bit tooled up on the tent Dept. 😉

How was the Scarp / where did you purchase?

Damn, we don't have these things in Belgium 🙁 It's all crowdy over here, just a few miles between villages.

looking good Slugwash are you mounting panniers on the front too for WRT and are you using a bar bag?

just thinking how much you can get in the gourdon?

I'm riding my 456 at the WRT I just happened to have ridden into work on my tourer that day so used it to test my old Gourdon on. (and with hindsight all I've actually done is strap a broken backpack to a bike rack and got all excited about it 😉 )

7hz, looks like you guys had a good trip 🙂 I've got one of those Coleman tents, they're great. They're a bit heavy (2.5kg?) but that didn't stop us using it on the Original Mountain Marathon.

(and with hindsight all I've actually done is strap a broken backpack to a bike rack and got all excited about it )

recycling old kit brilliant 😀

pics above look great I can't wait for next weekends adventure 😉

7hz that looks great, nice photography too.

Been busy this weekend finishing some more MYOG for the WRT.

Frame bag done. Very rough around the edges and certainly no looker but it seems sturdy enough and the luggage space is ideal. The wierd fabric was up in the loft from an old banner so yet again it has only cost £2.50 for the zip and £3 for the velcro 🙂 Plus about 4 hrs of swearing.

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Lynx can meths stove. Far stronger than my previous pop-can versions, burns a little stronger and is stlightly more stable due to bigger footprint. Weighs 22g though but the extra 13g is worth it IMO over the red-bull side burner I normally use.

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still s8tannorm - Is the Tarp Tent yours and how do you find it?

Heather Bash - How was the Scarp / where did you purchase?

The Tarptent Scarp 1 http://www.tarptent.com/scarp1.html is my tent, yes. I got it direct from the manufacturer in the states. Forgot to put the tent on the 'things that work' list!

I think it really needs tried in winter with lots of snow, or with lots of wind, to truly test it out, but it was fine for the trip.

Was quite a bit of dew in the morning, but only on the outer, inner was bone dry. It had all dried by the time we broke camp. I really like Henry Shires designs, would like to try one of his more minimal 1 man tents as well, but I felt for Scotland a proper inner / outer tent configuration is the safe bet!

Anthony - 7hz that looks great, nice photography too.

Cheers mate, I was using an old Pentax Asahi Super-Takumar 50mm f1.4 on my Panasonic GH1, just getting into the legacy lens manual focus thing, but I am liking how it renders things, although wide open at f1.4 is has a ton of 'glow' - you can see that most pronounced on the 'Last rays of sun on the packed bikes' pic... it gives everything a fuzzy warm glow, quite good fun, but I may try to baffle it down a little.

Anthony - what does the Lynx can stove look like on the inside? Is it just a cut off can or is it folded in.

It's a twin wall, made from the 'Twist' Lynx cans that have a shoulder. In essence you cut the can in half, up turn the top half and press it into base. The norrower section under the cap is what creates the wall cavity.

There was a guide on a bushcraft forum that I followed.

The cans can still be scored to cut but as they are a lot thicker it requires a lot more effort. I clamped my blade so I could use two hands to spin the can. I also used a little araldite as the friction fit is only about 8mm deep.

[IMG] [/IMG]

I am planning on doing the coast to coast this summer and will knock up one of those stoves to try.

To keep me focussed until the trip I plan to do a number of smaller trips in the NE. I'll be posting my exploits over the next few months on a site I have just created - http://www.bikeandbivi.co.uk/ its just a forum at the minute with a basic format, but that will develop. It's in its infancy at the moment, but I hope that it will build into a useful resource for all.

@unsponsored - I have registered good luck with it, hopefully it will be a resounding success if the interest on this thread shows 😀

Many thanks. I'm just adding loads of kit pics at the moment.

Morning chaps... just got back from the Fargo Demo Bike's First Night... I really like this bike. I was expecting a lot from a bike that is so damned well thought through, so specific, but I am amazed at how well it rides. Its a great mountainbike, very chuckable and nimble, and even with a load it still flys.

It was no straggler on the Tuesday night ride, hung out at the beach BBQ, and then held a guy line down for me all night. Reminds me of a loyal dog.

The Salsa Anything cages are a very good way to carry your gear. There is around 2kg of extra load on the forks (airbed, terra nova 178g tarp, and a Snugpak Jungle sleeping bag)... it has almost no impact on handling other than wofting the front end needs more input from the rider. There is slight pendulum feeling, where going from a left to a right turn needs more input to flick it back the other way, but its no big deal.

The weight is a bit forward, some weight on the saddle/rear would balance the bike a bit. But I really dont need to carry anything else for one night.
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And it carries a bottle of wine 🙂

A Calfornian merlot, served with cheese and crackers on a beach. Sleeping in the woods means you can go extra luxurious on the bivi garnish.

Just looking at the picture of the Fargo again...

I am amazed I managed to ride from Dorset to Moab in an evening.

Bikepacking fans might want to keep an eye out for the next Privateer. Proper bikepacking article ahoy!

To keep me focussed until the trip I plan to do a number of smaller trips in the NE. I'll be posting my exploits over the next few months on a site I have just created - http://www.bikeandbivi.co.uk/ its just a forum at the minute with a basic format, but that will develop. It's in its infancy at the moment, but I hope that it will build into a useful resource for all.

Signed up, sounds like a great idea. Good luck with the site.

 

Give us a heads up when it's out then Aidan.

To keep me focussed until the trip I plan to do a number of smaller trips in the NE. I'll be posting my exploits over the next few months on a site I have just created - http://www.bikeandbivi.co.uk/ its just a forum at the minute with a basic format, but that will develop. It's in its infancy at the moment, but I hope that it will build into a useful resource for all.

Signed up, sounds like a great idea. Good luck with the site.

Thanks, quite a few have signed up already.

Just signed up, too.

Cheers, hopefully will end up with something way better than the US site. Just need as many people as possible to start using it and posting useful/interesting stuff.