I just heard back from a Danish guy that I rode down the Pacfic coast with.

Before his trip started he bought a folding picnic stool from REI in Seattle. He carried it all the way down through the Washington ad Oregon Cascades, then down the Calfornia coast to San Diego. He never used it once. He tried to give it away to homeless people and other bike tourists. No one would have it. Rather than dump it at the airport, he took it back to Denmark.

What have you taken touring and never used?

Condoms. Hey ho.

first aid kit

in our super light pompino trip we used everything we took but that

Kryptonite New York Fahgettaboudit lock seemed like a good idea when I set off. As did “going out clubbing” shoes, shirt and jeans. All made it to paris before being sent home. Conversely, I left my towel outside a bike shop in paris when I was replacing a rack bolt, and did the next 6 weeks camping without buying a new one 🙄

Apart from 1st aid kit, tools and maybe a spare cable or two my biggest problem is faffing over too many choices of clothes. Will it be cold, hot, wet, dry. I seem to end up taking spares of everything!

An inner tube… And no, I wasn’t running tubeless either!

Last trip in northern France I used every single thing.
Chilli, saffron, five spice, herb.
These are very light things that make touring better.

Only things not used we’re spare parts: cable, tube etc… But that is a good thing.

However Dave took 5 bags, with three sweatshirts etc etc on a five day trip. It was his first tour.

My gas stove, minus the gas. Flew so couldn’t take the canister with me thinking I’ll get one in France. Never did, didn’t miss it either to be honest

once spent two weeks in the alps, never used my cape, but that’s a good thing

about 2/3 of the stuff I took I didn’t use – therein lies an important lesson

just found this old pic & list. And I lied, we didnt use the first aid kit OR the needle and thread.

[list]Camping

2 man Go Lite Den 2 Tent
2x Thermarest 3/4 sleeping matts
Custom double duvet
JagBag double silk sleeping bag liner

Cooking & Food

Titan titanium pas (1.2l, 0.9l, lid)
2x titanium sporks
MSR pocket Rocket stove
200g gas canister
Full set of folding plates/bowls/mugs
4x 750ml water bottles on bike
lighter & matches

Bike gear & tools

2x On-One Pompinos
Topeak mountain morph pump
Kryptonite cable lock (10mm x 6′)
Cateye 7 computer
2x Carradice Super C saddlebags
1x Altura Bar bag, 1x Karrimor Bar bag
2x rear LED lights
Spanner, bike tool, tyre levers, repair kit, spare cleats & bolts, Chain tool, spare links
Spare brake cables, spare spokes, zip ties, pva tape, rag, silicon lube

Clothes (each)

Riding shoes, convertible for walking and bar flying
Flip flops
2x pairs socks
2x pairs riding underwear
Underwear for off bike
2 ride tops
1 off bike top
1 pair convertible trousers
1 pair of overshorts
Montane Litespeed splashtop
Swedish Down Smock
Bike gloves
Sunglasses
Helmets

Toiletries

Shampoo
Sunscrean
Aftersun
Bio soap
Bar of soap
Toothpaste
Toothbrushes

Stuff

2x Penknives
Sony SW radio
Digital Camera
Phone
Phone 9v power converter
note pad
Pencils
Silva 7 Compass
Travel towels
Spanish phrase book
Candle
Medipac
Bag straps
Map
Needle & thread
2x LED Headtorch[/list]

Took a headtorch to Norway in June on a motorbike tour. 😳

Go somewhere hot, you don’t need anything much then. I even ditched my tent in Italy one summer and just slept under the stars.

What did you carry and never use?

A sense of responsibility. 😀

Touring sets you free…

Stoner,
what model of saddle bags are those please ?

Carradice Super C

They ate caradice super c bags.

Bags

Great bags but impossible to do business with.

Great bags but impossible to do business with.

that’s northerners for you 😉

most of my touring is done over 1 week periods now.
and i tend to pack very very minimalist.
on this years week away i carried in a 20ltr rucksack

1 x waterproof
1 x pair of shorts
1 x t shirt
1 x innertube
1 x multitool

i washed socks and undies when needed. i wore the same shoes day and night.
i probably stunk by the end of the week. 😀

merino is ur frend
really does prevent niffage even after 3 or 4 days sweaty riding without a change.

as a total opposite to my luggage, one of the other blokes was loaded with 2 rear carriers (which ejected themselves from his bike at regular intervals), 1 large saddlebag, and a rucksack loaded with a winterweight hi vis work coat.
he struggled on the offroad sections……. 😆

My first aid box and toolkit.

Great bags but impossible to do business with.

I thought it was just us! Feel better now.

Great bags but impossible to do business with.

With a few tweaks to their designs and better supply they could be the best bags in the world…

instead they are resolutly ‘British’ with all the associated quirks

Still very good though.

Unused items – pair of pants.

A folding stool?! : ) travelling in comfort eh. We met some Dutch guys on ‘proper’ Euro-tourers earlier this summer in northern Spain, they had fold-out mini chairs, mulitple changes of off-bike clothes, a full-size caravan stove with 2 burner rings and a huge expresso maker pot etc between them. I suspect there was a spare unused Rohloff hub in the bags somewhere. We rode the off-road route quicker than they were going on-road, but was fun meeting up where it crossed over and speed isn’t the aim.
I was riding with a guy doing his 1st week+ trip and he posted back a heavyweight wp jacket, books, a pair of shoes, a load of spare stuff that weighed about 4kg from the halfway point.

I learned similar lessons fumbling around easy routes in the Alps, taking spare penknives and prussics and 3 sets of gloves etc in a himalayan-sized rucsac for fear of being in a ‘void-touching’ experience on the glacier )
So my bike touring now is pretty well stripped down, excess kit per trip is always the spare gear cable – aside from general servicing in the garage I’ve never, ever needed to replace a broken gear cable in 25yrs of riding but I always carry one?
Or when in Europe – one of my 2 stoves. Until I started using pop-can meths stoves I’d take 2 gas burners as I’d never be sure which fitting the shops would have.

thanks,will give them a try

On my first big tour a few years back (across Spain and Portugal) we ended up sending all our cooking stuff home. YMMV but for us it was just less hassle and more pleasant to eat out.

once spent two weeks in the alps, never used my cape, but that’s a good thing

Why do i get an image of rudebwoy descending gnarly trails in the alps whilst wearing one of these?

It’s > 10 years since I toured in NZ, but I started off with front and rear sets of panniers + bar bag and got rid of the front ones pretty quickly. For me it was clothes, I just had far too many but it quickly got trimmed down to basically a riding set and a not-riding set, with stuff like a spare base layer and fleece. Also things like 2 cooking pots trimmed to 1 etc.
There were lots of things I didn’t use but would still take again- 1st aid and spares/tools. Depends on how remote you’re going of course.

We took just a little more than Stonor, including chairs 🙂 and used everything.
In our defense it was our first time and we were on the road for 3 months so needed a bit of comfort.

June 25th. Where’s the Kitchen Sink? by crewlie, on Flickr

August 1st. Asleep by crewlie, on Flickr

crewlie, that photo of the 2 loaded kona’s on your flickr, are you sure you have not loaded for a years tour. 😉

I never needed the imodium.

Great bags but impossible to do business with.

They’ve got some nice looking new bags out. Spotted them at the NEC with their whole range on display. I actually asked if they’d been taken over as I’ve always struggled to get hold of their stuff in the past! No, they hadn’t 😳
“Is any of this for sale?” strike whilst the irons hot and I know it’s in stock!
“Just for display”…..

crewlie, that photo of the 2 loaded kona’s on your flickr, are you sure you have not loaded for a years tour.

Well we didn’t want to come home so it might have ended up that way.

My wife has trouble with reynaulds so we had loads of clothes for every possible condition, with backups just in case as well 🙂 )

This summer’s tour round the west and north of scotland, I didn’t use my waterproof jacket! 😮
More of an anomaly than anything I suspect. But I did need and didn’t have an emergency spoke, which I will now purchase and never need ever again.

Managed to not use most of my tools this year but did use my spare folding tyre after wearing out/knackering my rear on a pothole at 40mph.