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  • Best Bike packing gear? Deals about?
  • bikerbruce
    Free Member

    I have bags… now need to fill them, but what with. Not alpkit, before suggesting their stuff.

    I need a Mat,shelter (Bag etc), sleeping bag, and anything else. This is for Uk non mid winter bike packing and ultra running.

    Budget is not massive so scouting deals!

    thanks

    B

    whitestone
    Free Member

    The main problem with going to the cheap end of the market is that the kit is either heavy, bulky or both. There are exceptions but you need to search for them.

    Sleeping mat. Cheapest would be a closed cell foam mat (Karrimat or similar), main problem is that they are bulky with little/no option to get them packed down smaller. Having said that I took one on the Rovaniemi race and simply rolled it around the bag holding my sleeping bag and managed to get it mounted in a Wildcat Lion handlebar harness, this was on a fat bike so didn’t look too silly. Advantages of a CCF mat are that they don’t get punctures. There are uninsulated inflatable mats for around £20 which are fine for summer and late spring/early autumn use. My wife has one and it’s been fine. I’ve a Klymit X-frame which is similarly lacking in insulation but a lot lighter. The insulated mats come in at £70/£80 and upwards.

    Sleeping bag: Look at Cumulus (the bags are branded as Criterion here in the UK), excellent value down bags and quilts from Poland. I’ve the 150 quilt which is fine for most of the year then during the colder months I use it as an over-blanket/wrapper for my summer down bag.

    Shelter: Even though you say no Alpkit, the Rig3.5 tarp is decent and well thought out (as far as a sheet of silnylon ever can be). If you do use a tarp then the bivy bag only needs to be lightly water/shower proof so something like the Rab Survival zone should be fine.

    oliverracing
    Full Member

    Agree with whitestone re mat and bag (although I’ve got a Alpkit numo that is excellent)

    For tarp I would recommend the DD Superlight tarp, only £10 more than the Alpkit rig 3.5 if you shop around and only about 100g heavier, but over double the size so paired with a light groundsheet (I use an alpkit tent footprint from back when they were £10) you can ditch the bivy bad in all bar the worst conditions, and have a decent living space underneath in foul conditions. with a total shelter weight of under 580g if you use the bike for support or add 100g for some carbon poles (I use some cheap ones from china)

    whitestone
    Free Member

    Re: poles – for my first set I cannibalised some old poles from a tent that had long since died. I just cut sections to a length to suit my frame bag.

    Also it’s worth checking out the “For Sale” forum on the Bearbones site to see if anyone’s got anything you are after.

    hairylegs
    Free Member

    Not alpkit

    Why?

    before suggesting their stuff.

    You obviously knew that would be the go to suggestion

    ahsat
    Full Member

    ^^^

    There is a reason that Alpkit gets recommended so much – the balance of cost, weight and usability is very hard to beat if you haven’t got a bottomless pit of cash.

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