- This topic has 33 replies, 19 voices, and was last updated 3 years ago by duncancallum.
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Bikepack-curious
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rossburtonFree Member
I’m wondering about trying some light bikepacking when travel is allowed and will most likely cheat as much as possible: get a good dinner in a pub for example.
For just a cheap overnight mini-adventure what is *essential*?
chrishc777Free MemberWhen I started (and still now if I feel lazy) my cheat was not a pub meal but a disposable barbecue and a couple burgers and buns. Advantage is that once you’re done with the cooking you just put some wood on the barby and there’s a decent fire lit with zero effort. Plus you can burn the cardboard bit and the alu and steel bits of waste just fold down tiny to carry away
Baggage wise just get a cheapo saddle bag off eBay (mine was 16 quid and the brand was ‘soul of bicycle 😂) they aren’t great but they will last 5-6 trips before falling apart then you can get something decent if you want to carry on.
For anything that doesn’t fit in there bring a backpack and just bungee your bulky items like sleeping bag and tarp to the bars and frame. Again once you know you want to commit to doing more of it you can get a nice bar bag
For sleeping just buy the cheapest camping hammock and tarp off Amazon and bring a yoga mat. I have since bought a fancy hammock and to be honest it’s not much better and doesn’t pack down as small as my cheapo so those are great
Now I think about it those first trips with kit all bodged together were the best!
EDIT: obviously the barbecue and fire bit only applies if you know what you’re doing and the location is suited to an open fire. Obviously
whitestoneFree MemberTent or tarp + poles and pegs & bivy bag
Sleeping bag/quilt
Sleeping matStove for brew in morning + fuel and means of lighting.
mug/pan to boil water inBags of some sort to put the above in.
After that it’s personal preference really. Hip flask with whisky, some sounds, something for breakfast, evening snacks, etc.
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Latest Singletrack VideosFresh Goods Friday 696: The Middlin...ransosFree MemberI’m wondering about trying some light bikepacking when travel is allowed and will most likely cheat as much as possible: get a good dinner in a pub for example.
For just a cheap overnight mini-adventure what is *essential*?
I always have tea in the pub when bikepacking and don’t think it’s cheating at all. It’s all touring whether you’re cycling to a posh hotel or bivvying in a sheep pen.
Anyway, some good value kit I use:
Lomo saddlepack. About £35.
Alpkit drybag on the bars. £13.
Vango Nevis tent (will just fit in the Alpkit drybag). About £80. Really pleased with it.
Vango lightweight SIM.
My Vaude down sleeping bag is only suitable for summer use.I see that Alpkit has a sale on so you could get some kit from them.
burko73Full MemberPlease please don’t make bikepacking synonymous with having a fire. You really shouldn’t unless you’ve got the landowners permission. You might think you know what you’re doing but a disposable bbq even at Easter time miles from anywhere in the countryside is a real risk to the very place you’re setting out to enjoy.
I’m not the fun police but bikepacking if done responsibly is great. Even the act of wild camping isn’t necessarily formally allowed but the set up late, leave no trace responsible form of wild camping is generally tolerated in out of the way places. If those out of the way places become littered with burn marks or worse, moorland fire scars it’ll be even harder for us to enjoy those wild places.
This was started by a disposable bbq. Wareham fire
I’ve seen countless of these things leave smouldering patches that have taken a long while to extinguish. It staggers me that people think that a <1mm thin metal bottom will stop whatever’s underneath from burning.
Sorry for the hi-jack but it’s coming up to fire season and we need to get this message out loud and clear.
trailwaggerFree MemberFor just a cheap overnight mini-adventure what is *essential*?
Just your credit/debit card
whitestoneFree Member+1 to that.
Also you are meant to be stealthy when wild camping, the countryside is dark, very dark at night and a fire sticks out like a dog’s lipstick. The smell of the fire also drifts. Add to that most people living in the countryside know where all the local lights are/should be and you are basically broadcasting your location.
ampthillFull MemberCheap tarp, mat and sleeping bag. probably a stove. A bike with a rack is uncool but allot easier
Don’t light a fire
tuboflardFull MemberLast spring was like a campfire convention in the eastern Peak. Not people bikepacking, granted, but lots of people heading out to wild camp or just have a BBQ in the countryside. Came across a young couple in the local woods but only about 50m from the car park setting up a wigwam and a fire that the wicker man would have been proud of.
As said above, arrive late, leave early, leave no trace and take a trowel and you’ll not go far wrong.
40mpgFull MemberBare minimum is a bivvy bag, whatever sleeping bag you’ve got, add clothes to suit temp.
This can be stuffed in a dry bag and strapped to bars. How I started 20+ years ago before bikepacking was even a thing.
Anything else adds to comfort, but being smart where you camp makes more difference. Sheltered from wind, away from early morning dog walking trails, avoid hollows as cold air collects there, likewise avoid hilltops. Look at the ground. Leaf mulch, long grass flattened, ferns etc make for a soft bed. Check for that rock that pokes into your shoulder at 3am.
Take a small head torch to set up after the pub. Shining bike lights around in the woods attracts unwanted attention. You won’t be far from civilisation after you stagger out after the lock-in!
colin9Full MemberFor a quick simple one nighter I go with
sleeping bag, bivvy bag, blow up mat
warm jacket, trousers, hat
micro stove, coffee, mug, instant porridge, water, hip flask, cereal bars
head torch, toothbrush, basic bike stuff (multitool, puncture etc)
Strapped in a mix up of big saddle bag, roll strapped to the bars, medium sized rucksack.BlackflagFree MemberI’m planning my first trip in the summer too. My kit list is…
Podsacs bag set from Planet X (i used these around France 2 years ago and they are great vfm)
Alpkit Soloist tent
Alpkit inflatable mat and inflatable pillow
Cheap 3 season sleeping bag (a bit bulky and heavy but will get a nicer one if i stick at it)Plus a packable down jacket for the evenings and spare merino base layer
Not bothering with stove etc as just going to eat local and enjoy a beer or two, pitch just as the light drops and then pack up and head to local village for breakfast / coffee in the morning. Plus a few flapjacks to start the day as will be packing up first thing.
chrishc777Free MemberGlad the fun police showed up
Jokes aside, all the above points are covered by knowing what you’re doing. On the occasion I light a fire it cannot be seen from anywhere and leaves zero trace. If you don’t know what you’re doing you can burn down an entire forest with just a rollie
‘Most people living in the countryside…’ I mean yeah, if you’re one of them you know the spots, right? If you’re driving your car to the local beauty spot car park you probably don’t
whitestoneFree MemberGlad the adults showed up
FTFY 😊
Doing something illegal to draw attention to the fact that you are doing something else illegal isn’t the brightest idea. You *may* know what you are doing but lighting a fire gives others who may not the green light to do so. Have a look at the hassle such behaviour has caused around Loch Lomond.
13thfloormonkFull MemberNot bothering with stove etc as just going to eat local and enjoy a beer or two, pitch just as the light drops and then pack up and head to local village for breakfast / coffee in the morning. Plus a few flapjacks to start the day as will be packing up first thing.
This is going to be my approach this summer. Bike-packing is just a means to an end for me now in order to do the routes I want to do when all the hotels are fully booked! I’m also not a very good camper in that I can’t relax and enjoy the experience much once I’ve stopped and pitched up (probably something to do with the midgies) so I’d rather ride later into the evening and just pitch up when I’m ready to stop and sleep. Point being I don’t need to carry any luxuries or home comforts this way.
I even had to do it last year when I was leaving so early there was no way to get a hot breakfast or even a cup of tea so all I had was a massive flapjack + caffeine gel + orange gel. Felt like the sort of breakfast astronauts might eat but 5 hours later I rewarded myself with a fry up in Braemar which felt like being reborn, started the second half of my day’s riding when most people were still finishing their (first) breakfast.
ampthillFull MemberI think fires while wild camping is wrong
But even if you think you can get away with it why promote it on the internet?
On the occasion I light a fire it cannot be seen from anywhere and leaves zero trace.
But didn’t mention that in your first post
dyna-tiFull MemberHave yer fire, the nights are cold and dark. And its companionship.
Yes yes there are irresponsible people out there. oh woe tell it to the mountain….
dknwhyFull MemberMy packing list very much depends on the route/access to shops and what i’m doing/who i’m with.
My last trip was an overnight on the Isle of Wight on the gravel bike.
Packed a tent (Lunar Solo), Neoair sleeping mat and a cumulus quilt. All in a seat pack.
Didn’t bother with a change of clothes (wore merino top and baggies with merino undies). Minimal toiletries and a tiny microfibre towel. Warm top for the evening (montane fireball smock). Bike lock. Battery pack and headphones for my phone. Was summer so no need for too much extra.
Ate dinner at the pub, grabbed a couple of beers from a supermarket to drink at the campsite and then grabbed breakfast from a cafe. Could have wild camped but paying £10 to sleep on a site takes away that unease and restlessness that wild camping brings.
Could have gone lighter with a bivvy bag but i’d sooner carry a few more grams for insect protection.large418Free Memberdyna-ti – it’s that “I’ll do what I want and screw you” attitude that gives the majority a bad name.
At least that comment says all we need to know about you
natrixFree MemberDepending on your daily ryhthm you’ll need a trowel and some bog roll.
DavidBFree MemberI’m ready to get flamed (lolz) but solo bike packing I cannot see any benefit from a fire other than something to look at. That is unless it is a big one then the damage argument goes out of the window. In years and years of bikepacking I’ve never felt the need. My bigoted view is that it’s an Instagram/Youtube/Influencer thing.
colin9Full MemberI had a fire once. I was sleeping in the bottom of an old quarry and at dusk I saw a fox sneaking around. I was just in a bivvy bag and didn’t fancy the thought of it sniffing around my face once I closed my eyes so I hit on the idea of having a little fire. It was a gravelly area with no scrubland or other flammables so I was quite happy with its containment. However I did quickly regret it because the column of smoke was so visible from the nearby village and coast path and I didn’t want to advertise my presence. Anyway I burnt it down after an hour or so and didn’t have any fox interaction. I’m unlikely to have another one.
dyna-tiFull MemberAt least that comment says all we need to know about you
Ride offroad ?, big knobbly tyres ripping up the landscape, no problem there eh ?
Im sick of people tarring everyone with the same brush. Stories of this happening, and that and a general ‘must be’ that having a fire is BADDDDD. Explain how ?. Some clown takes a disposable BBQ ,then walks away from it still lit. But from that we can infer what ?, everyone who has a fire is some sort of clown/fool/idiot who does the same. Or loads of burnt patches 😕 just how many we talking in an area 😕 littering the landscape 😕 sounds like a bunch of bollocks to me. No camping areas people collect stones for a fire spot, and people use that time and again,year on year. Yes there are a few, but does it do that much damage really ?, how about those tyre patterns criss crossing the ground, or worn down paths from walkers/hikers.
Thousands of you tube vids showing campers of all ages having oh shock oh horror a campfire. I say thousands, but its one thing thats probably been with mankind since the dawn of time.
” it’s that “I’ll do what I want and screw you” attitude that gives the majority a bad name.”
I’ve said have a fire. Oh how evil of me.
Allow all to be tarred by that same brush and not fight against such daily mail idiocy ? Not a chance, i’ll keep calling out those silly statements.Glad i brought you out the shell, you might want to post on the subject now. But dont expect me to agree with you.
jamesoFull MemberFor just a cheap overnight mini-adventure what is *essential*?
Switching the phone / wifi off for one thing, to get away from the temptation to log onto all this sort of bo—cks* : )
Long day ride kit plus something to sleep in / under, in a ruckscak or strapped to the bars. Pop a foam mat between the drybag and bar, strap it down and all may be ok if your cables aren’t in the way.
An inflatable pillow from poundland and a stove and metal mug for a morning coffee as luxury items maybe. Or a s/h paperback book so you’re not bored while avoiding the phone.*It’s a fair point to debate
large418Free MemberDyna-ti
I’ll just post this here
https://www.facebook.com/SeftonPolice/photos/a.242894429582171/947785385759735/?type=3Do you see the similarity between what you are condoning and the potential consequences?
chrishc777Free MemberPotential consequences are a great thing
The potential consequences of you speeding, or even just getting in your car are also terrible. Shall I link to some pics of car crashes?
tuboflardFull MemberDoes anyone have experience of using something like this?
Seems that it could be a good way to get the thrill (I say that somewhat tongue in cheek) of a campfire with a reliable way of cooking but also minimising chance of things going up in smoke.
whitestoneFree Member@tuboflard – I made my own, see https://bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=15566
Not used it in anger though, takes a bit of getting used to getting it going and actually boiling water/cooking on it.
tuboflardFull MemberCheers @whitestone, I’m tempted to get one. I’m never in any rush when doing an overnighter so this might be a nice way to cook and use the opportunity of gathering fuel as a bit of a warm down and unwind at the end of the day.
whitestoneFree MemberAnother option is something like this – https://www.weirdosonbikes.com/product/titanium-wood-stove/, you can use it for both wood and something like the Trangia burner or a homemade meths stove.
I’m not bothered about cooking speed when I’m camping – if it takes five minutes rather than three to boil a cup of water so what?
tuboflardFull MemberI like the look of the flat pack ones too, probably easier to back in a frame bag or similar I reckon. And yes, a few minutes boil time makes no difference, just means adjusting the pace of your evening accordingly which is no bad thing.
duncancallumFull MemberI lived on the lancs moors during the big fires.
Not clever, I’d strongly argue that disposable bbq should be banned but people will just buy cheap crap ones instead.
Decent mat n bag.need to be warm n comfy
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