[Closed] What backpack/luggage for off road touring with?

Having seen one in use, I'd go for a trailer, personally.
🙂

depends how much kit you want to take - i used the osprey stratos and dry bags inside. the talon looks good too.

Is May getting into midge season? If it is midge season, then I'd not bother taking the bivvy bag etc. unless you really need them for an emergency.

The most important thing to keep riding being fun is to take a minimal amount of gear*. Trailers might be great if you really need to take the kitchen sink (camping, climbing gear or whatever), but if you're only carrying a bit of bivvy gear and a change of clothes, it'd be overkill, any small rucksack will do the job. I've got a 25 litre camelbak that is good for this - although my sleeping/bivvy bag is a very small (very expensive) one. If you don't have small gear, you might need something more like a 35l bag.

Joe

* don't forget you can usually wash clothes in sinks where you are staying rather than taking multiple changes of clothes (especially at youth hostels with drying rooms and the like)

Trailers are expensive, good if you taking the tent etc stoves and kitchen sink 🙂

All my kit is pretty light already, RAB Summit 300 sleeping bag, thermarest etc, probably just one or 2 pairs of cycling kit and a t-shirt, trousers, lightweight jacket for night. I read somwhere its difficult to fit hydration systems in a full pack? The bottle mount on the Orange 5 is not ideal. Still at lest it has one unlike the new bent top tube models 😉

I think May is still ok for the midges?

Maybe take the SLR aswell but maybe just the small compact camera for weight!!

first up , the gourdon is a shit bag....fine as a waterproof short term rucksack but for any length of time and its shit ! (ive got a 25l)

Id look at how some of the GDR riders load their bikes ... and youd be onto a winner ...dry bag strapped to the bars with stuff in and a small back on the rear rack and a wing nut pack or similar ....

Get a trailer ben, then you can carry all our crap :0)

I think joe has it right tho, minimal kit is the way forward for the Trans-Scotty, if only we can pursuade scotty not to pack 4 of everything LOL!

Personally I would never use a rucksac. good quality panniers and rack. distribute weight around the frame.

A rucksac will give you backache and be a pain. Raises centre of gravity and flops about

To some extent it depends what sort of riding - looking for gnarly trails then forget luggage - looking to take luggage then forget gnarly trails. thats my experience from many trips cycling up north. The weight of the luggage unless it is just a spare undercrackers / credit card / toothbrush ruins the single track riding.

Rucksacs are a total pain IMO / IME

Others will disagree of course

Yes rich I might get a trailer and carry the wheel jig and work stand 🙂

Its a difficult one. Its going to be a weeks riding and we want to experience what the west coast has to offer, I know we will be riding the devils staircase and onto Skye etc, so gnarly trails there will be!!

If I was riding smother stuff I would take the on one and fit a rack but not an option with a single pivot suspension bike.

I know you can get pannier racks that attach to the seat post and STATO has a nifty rack that attaches to the saddle but with a lot of off road abuse I am slightly worried about there durability!!

I find that spreading the load/kit around the bike is fine:

20l rucsac with bladder and hip pockets (Decathlon one) - clothes mainly and bladder, gas cannister/pot.
Bar bag for snacks, maps, mobile, cash, 1st aid n midgie reppellant etc
Frame bag for more clothes/repair bits/stove.
4-bolt seatpost rack with drybag with sleeping bag and bivvi bag, sandals on top for evening.

Job done for a couple of nights out, or week+ round hostels.

I was on a Sub5 BTW last trips like that - and used cheap(ish) bags from Ebay etc. I agree with the trailer thing - great if its a proper, winter/bad weather camp and you need lots of kit - overkill most of the time.

If you're hostelling a Carradice Camper Longflap saddlebag is more than big enough.

ssben - seat post rack with some of your kit and small rucksac with the rest of it? Might be the best comprimise. Keep the weight down for gnarlyness fun. If you know where you are going to stay you can post packages of clean clothes to them and post the dirty ones home.

STATO has a nifty rack that attaches to the saddle but with a lot of off road abuse I am slightly worried about there durability!!

I think what we need is minimal luggage, poss in a rucksack and spread across bike (barbag/saddlebag combo maybe?). Then we can ditch it at a hostel for a day when on skye/mull.

So what rucksacks do people use? i had thought my Alpkit gourdon might not be too bad, but i see how it might become uncomfortable after a while compared to my camelbak.

What rucksack? A comfy one.

Sorry, but there's no short-cut to this. I could recommend one I find comfy and you could find it hellish.

TJs idea of spreading the weight around is a good one. Bottle cage for water, saddle bag for tools (don't s**** at the back), a seatpost-mounted rack (bolt-up, not QR), strap the tent across the bars? Anything you do will be a compromise. Personally, I've bothied carrying only a decent sized rucksack and got on fine, whereas I know others just can't do that without back pain. I also prefer a proper rack and panniers, and limit the riding accordingly. An Inbred will easily cope with the Devils Staircase btw.

4-bolt seatpost rack with drybag with sleeping bag and bivvi bag, sandals on top for evening.

If you're hostelling a Carradice Camper Longflap saddlebag is more than big enough.

this is my current plan, a combination of the above. Its a bagman rack with a drybag strapped to it (currently my Gourdon for lack of bigger drybag). This in combo with a big camelbak should do i reckon. Going to modify the bagman to make it sit lower/more stable and add a reinforcing bar against the frame to stop flex.

Depends on what you are riding and where you are going. If the plan is to ride from A to B on fairly non technical trails then do a loop and continue to C etc etc - well you could take a trailer or panniers and detach them for the day. Allows you to carry some luxuries...

If it's a point to point gig with overnighters en route I'd forget bivvying, sleeping bags and travel ultra light stopping in bunkhouses. As others have said, you don't actually need a change of bike gear or clothes and a big sac is back breaking over along day. Aim to get everything in a 20/ 25l sac and if you cant then ditch something non essential

Ok so its a saddle bag for my sleeping bag and camp mat etc 🙂

Possibly a smallish back pack for clothes and hydration pack. I do like the look of these

[url= http://www.ospreypacks.com/Packs/TalonSeriesMultiUse/ ]http://www.ospreypacks.com/Packs/TalonSeriesMultiUse/[/url]

The 33 litre one even has two pockets on the straps for energy bars 🙂
I know they tested one in the lightweight camping feature issue 43. Maybe a bit big if I use a saddle bag as well, but maybe the 22?

Heather Bash - we havnt pinned down the route yet so that is a distinct possibility.

if you don't need to fit the sleeping bag+mat in, the stratos will be big enough. be careful to get the right back length, and beware helmet/rucksack interface when you're in a riding position - you can easily hit the top of the bag if you wear it too high. waist/hip belt works well, little pockets on there are ace for camera/snax

i did coast to coast off road with my five and the stratos, and had no problem with backache, or bike control on single track, although you do need to get used to the higher CoG and compensate a little

the back system is really good, and can be used for extra storage - especially for water - if space does become tight

Personally I dont like any additional dead weight on the frame for technical riding - not even bottles. More so if the routes involve portage. Have used TJ postal sugestion in preference to this in the past.

Good sacs ime:

http://www.inov-8.com/Products-Detail.asp?PG=PG2&L=26&P=5050973035

ben - if you go for a Talon pack expect me to make full use of the 'Tow loop' feature 😆

Heather - bottles and things like that dont bother me unless in racing (and even then id rather a bottle than camelbak) and im used to humping about a pannier laden commuter so its not really an issue. Those bags do look well thought out but are hideous a colour!

Got a Talon 33, used it for a short tour in the Lakes last year. Worked well but as above make sure the back length is right. It held my Camelbak bladder too.
Just cos you carry a large sack doesn't mean you have to fill it - spare space is useful for carrying food etc if you do bivvy.
On road touring it's panniers every time, off road I don't like weight on the bike in case of lifting/carrying needs (plenty in the Lakes!)

[img] [/img]
I think you are carrying a lot of kit...mebbe...

This is me, for a week, C2C Scotland, no bivvi/wild camp:
[img] [/img]

matt - a sleeping bag plus campmat and bivvybag are quite bulky (that bag in my pic has all 3 plus space for a change of clothes). If we went without camping kit then space wouldnt really be an issue, but i really would like to spend at least one night outdoors, maybe i need to leave that for another trip :0(

In my pic I am carrying sleeping bag as well as bivvi (for emergencies).

IMO, carrying all that kit for one night is not ideal....

Carrying it to spend all the time outside = worth it.

All or nothing?

We managed Polaris with 2x 25l kimm/OMM sacs. took us a few years to get down to that though, and we must have looked lightweight enough to get kit checked every time.

Others will disagree of course

Have you watched the video "new world disorder"

Personally I wouldn't want to have too much weight on a bagman for decent off road riding. I did some gravel tracks on my tourer with a reasonably weighty carradice and you get a real "tail wagging dog" feeling out of the saddle. I'd put the relatively bulky, relatively low weight things on the bike but a bit more distributed - maybe rolled sleeping mat and bivi bag on the bars, sleeping bag in a dry bag compression sack in the main triangle if possible or strapped to the seat if not, tools in a seat pack and a water bottle on the frame. Then you can put clothes, some food and more water in a camel back and have weight spread around nicely.

matt - 😯 you must have some seriously nice (read small) kit if that pic shows everything you took for a week. I can cut down to only carrying a spare pair of pants and it'd look like i was carrying more than you.

momentum - know what you mean about weight on a bagman, it can be distracting and prob not that secure (this is what [b]ssben[/b] was worried about). I dont think we will be able to spread kit about as much as you suggest (all 3 of us will be on full suss'ers) but im seriously considering a barbag for easy access to the essentials and to put my SLR in.

keep up the suggestions (and pics) folks, ive got bugger all experience at this sort of thing.
Rich.

Stato!

I think if we can make some arrangements for dropping some supplies at one of our mid point stops we would be ok with just packs with enough stuff for 3 days at a time or so... stopping in hostels should reduce the need for a therma and a load of other stuff...

My conclusion after many multiday biking trips is either - go for comfort and forget the gnarly trails or go for toothbrush and credit card if you want the gnarly trails. compromise is the worst of all worlds. carry enough kit to make the camping comfy and it ruins the riding fun, go superlightweight and the camping is carp.
This was us for a week of offroad touring - all nice and comfy camping kit
[img] [/img]

We stayed on doubletrack but still got right out into the wilds - and with that rig some of the double track had enough gnarl to keep us interested.

he-he we'd need a tri-dem for that TJ! im pretty sure i know where you can hire one too 🙂

Stato -yes I do have some nice kit, we also had shared tools/1st aid/nav/emergency kit between 3 of us.

The other guys had the same, bar one who was carrying a (full) 40L sack.

I reckon thats 40L of capacity - perfectly doable for a weeks hostelling.

I can do a week wild camping/waling with a (overly full) 65L pack....