Before I got involved in ML, MTB Trail Leadership, DofE and MR I used to be very minimalist in my approach to kit with a good background in Alpine climbing, Mountain Marathons and the old Polaris events.

I get that when I’m acting in a “professional” capacity I have a duty of care and need to carry a bit more than normal, but can’t seem to get back to those minimalist fast and light days when going out on my own/with mates.

Any similar experiences, tips or advice?

Mobile phone and house key, what more do you need?

Cake money FD, nothing else but cake money.

Don’t carry a back pack or if you do take one that’ll just hold liquids, this’ll force you to limit what you can take

Go back to wearing Lycra and no back pack, not the white Lycra though. 😯

Any similar experiences, tips or advice?

Stop taking so much stuff? It’s not rocket science really. I don’t know what other tips or advice would help you other than ‘take less’.

I have a camel back for my ‘coaching/guiding’ sessions with everything, hardly gets used.

Then, I have a small handy pack with Co2/Multi Tool/Brake Pads/Swiss Army Knife/Chain Link/Tyre Leaver/Co2 Cans. That fits in one jersey pocket.

I don’t even bother with water,tube or tyre juice for less than 3hrs/local.

Remove the decision making process.

Make a list of what you take and when you get back cross off everything you actually used. Do this for a few rides, anything that still appears on each list is superfluous.

Unless you are going seriously back-country then once you get past basic repairs to either yourself or the bike then you don’t need much in the way of kit. I take a few plasters and a wet wipe as a FA kit, there’s duct tape around the pump for backup. A multi-tool with tyre levers, a patch kit and some zip ties along with a pump.

Spare clothing obviously depends on what the weather’s doing or going to be doing: last night I had a set of arm warmers and a lightweight waterproof just in case we were caught in a shower. Apart from the water bottle along with a spare inner tube taped to the frame everything went in my shirt pockets.

Make a list of what you take and when you get back cross off everything you actually used. Do this for a few rides, anything that still appears on each list is superfluous.

That doesn’t really work for tube/pump/co2/small multitool though.

Make a small bundle of pump, tube, tool, levers, powerlink and bind with a strap/rubber band.

That’s it for one jersey pocket. Phone/keys in the other and a spare one for food. Bottle(s) on the bike.

That doesn’t really work for tube/pump/co2/small multitool though.

OK 🙄 I should have added “except for the emergency stuff like multi-tool …” that better?

The point is that what will stand out are the items like “Group First Aid Kit” or “four man shelter” or “kitchen sink”.

Leave it piled in your shoes or helmet (short ride kit)
Tube and pump in one pocket, phone in another, emergency food (2 gels) in case I go further than planned in the last. Pretty much as per road riding gear.

Haven’t used the tube in an age (tubeless) but don’t feel right without one. Should take a multi tool as I’ve snapped a chain more often than flatted in recent years, but I never remember too – luckily had a seat pack tool kit or Camelbak on when this has happened.

tube/pump/co2/small multitool

If you are with mates then you don’t all need to take multi-tool, pump, etc., split the load between you.

a list of everything i’ve actually needed to use from my pack this year

– chain breaker
– some blue workshop towel to clean hands after handling chain
– allen keys
– map when doing solo mission in unkwown lands

and technically, this was fixing a mates tyre pre-ride but..

– spare tube
– tyre levers
– pump

(did take a track pump as knew i was fixing tyre before heading out, and not use my pack’s pump)

plus

– phone for strava / ICE emergency contact details set up
– point n shoot digital camera for “this weeks peak” pictures of bike at various trig points etc (save the phone battery)
– car key if not started from home (or someone elses home)
– wallet for pub afterwards sometimes 🙂

OK I should have added “except for the emergency stuff like multi-tool …” that better?

The point is what’s an emergency? Aside form the tourer/commuter which seems determined to vibrate itself to bits every week I can’t remember when I last used an Allen key on the trail. But it does stay because 1 tool probably would fix a lot of problems.

I can remember the last time (and the time before that) a pedal seized and died, is a pedal re-build kit an emergency item? No, because it’s relatively unlikely to be used.

Space blanket? Definitely an emergency item.

My setup is:
Chain links electrical taped inside the hollow backs of brake levers.
Disk pads taped to the back of the seatpost. Tube(s), CO2, tool and patches in saddle bag).

Everything else depends on where and when and with who I’m riding.

If you are with mates then you don’t all need to take multi-tool, pump, etc., split the load between you.

Why are MTBers so rubbish at this? Probably sensible not to rely on 1 pump in a big group, but 1 pump, plus CO2 and canisters per rider is excessive. If that stuff was split more pragmatically then there’d be more room for other stuff (brake pads, gear cables, spare mechs, chains) and there’d be even less ride ending mechanicals overall.

Perhaps another list might be the frequency of mechanicals that *you* have had?

In my case going back over say the last five (maybe a bit longer) years it would look like:

punctures: a few though none since I went tubeless two years ago
bent mech hanger: 1
BB bearings crumbled: 1

That’s it, well as far as I can remember. There’s a few things happened to mates I’ve been with but those have required workshop fixes. The only time I’ve ever broken a chain was in the middle of town heading to college many years ago – purely by chance it happened about 50m from the LBS.

Not saying that such things don’t happen but IME they are a lot less prevalent than we worry about. A multi-tool is going to be able to fix most things that you are likely to attempt trail side so, as you say, it’s worth taking along. The BB incident happened about fifteen miles from home so just pedalled gently back as I wasn’t going to do much further damage other than to my hearing.

If that stuff was split more pragmatically

you’d have to repack your bag everytime you went out.
“right my chain snapped, who’s got the chain tool?”
“steve has, but he’s ill today”
But absolutely agree, for big days out with a load of your mates, taking a spare tyre, spare brake, maybe even a mech would be a good idea rather than umpteen copies of the same basic toolkit. It’s something me and mates have discussed…..

but never actually got around to 😳

depends on how often, and who you ride with.

problem is.. i ride solo quite a bit, and with a rotating cast of 4 (currently) different groups of people. i’m happily self sufficient.

also it depends where you ride.

i know the guy i bought my bike from got so fed up with having punctures he put a thicker walled tubeless tire on the back – despite not running tubeless. first thing i did was put new tubes and tyres on. there were more than 10 patches on the old rear tube. i’ve not had a puncture yet. then again i think he had the rear shock pressure way too high..

Go naked, barefoot and lidless like our caveman ancestors did, when they rode the trails

Tube, multitool, phone, wallet, powerbar.

Ride.

CO2s pants tbh …

.wiv a pump you can always pump an go as many times as ya like and they
normally attach to the bike easy…

tube an levers and patches in under saddle thang magic links handy although you need the multi tool chain thingy ,an a spare hanger if your planning a l0ng off the beaten track no easy recovery…

I always carry a few bags of haribo for unexpected .

For short rides close to home, a phone (with credit card and driving license under the case), keys, small snack like cliff bar or energy chew things, water bottle, I also have the ridiculously expensive specialized swat cage with multi-tool. Longer rides, a pack with all the other usual stuff.