Sick as a dog so, show me you Bivi / Bikepacking / Adventure racing gear…..

It is a sideline addiction to the bikes to be fair.

I am thinking of lightening my basha by getting a tarp to assist with weight and packsize.

Also waiting for all the new camping gear to come into retail outlets to pick up a budget airbed as the Halfords ones are out of stock so far.

Have you got any kit you want to sell Flatfish? maybe email me if so? maybe interested in it 😀

Pete – have a look at the mats here:

http://www.outdoorgear.co.uk/eshop.asp?wci=search&wce=multimat&CameFrom=Menu

I’ve just picked up the lightweight compact in readiness for next weekend- decentish brand and not too pricey – I jusy couldn’t justify the cost of a neoair or similar

great thanks Steve 😉

If you are going up for Saturday night next weekend I may push for a pass and join you and the others, what’s your plan? 😀

Pete – I’m planning to meet up with them sometime on Saturday morning – location TBC

I’ve got a spare full length thermarest (the one I used in december) if you need to borrow one

As this thread never seems to move far from the subject of sleeping mats, do the £40 Alpkit blow up ones contain some sort of insulation fluff to take the chill out of the ground or are they basically the same as the £15 airbed I bought from Go Outdoors recently to cushion my back against our rock hard camper van bed.(insulation not needed in the van)

The upper portion of each tube is filled with a hollow fill fibre to help trap and prevent movement of air thus improving the insulation of the mat. The insulation is bonded to both the top and the bottom of the tube to ensure it completely fills the void.

Straight from alpkit’s website.

I believe they contain a certain amount of insulation, I’ve got a Pacific Outdoor one and even on frozen ground I don’t feel the cold from underneath.

Hoora … I was right 😀

Indeed we never stray away from sleeping mats as a good commfy nights kip is essential IMHO and worth researching which type suits you best.

@Steve I may take you up on that offer but I am trying to find a way to reduce bulk so an air bed type maybe the best route???

Vallydaddy … see here http://www.ultimateadventurehardware.co.uk/item/Brand_Pacific-Outdoor-Ether-Thermo-6-regular-Sleeping-Mat_0_0_592_0.html?ref=froogle for much big bargain. I have one and granted it isn’t the lightest it’s very comfy.

weight: 623g

You’re not kidding 😯

😉

Built for comfort not speed 😀

Isnt this just a over weight Balloon bed, oh and costs more?

Pete – the one I linked to is silly light for the money – sub 400 gms or so – Cotswold have them in stock but if you want to mull over the options use mine and decide at your leisure!!

I think 623g is a typo … they’re listed as 550g everywhere else and yes I know that still doesn’t make it light. 😉

How about this at 240g http://www.outdoorwarehouse.co.uk/index.cfm?action=shop.detail&pid=D35C3696-FF29-08BD-48DB592D2EF8C6DA

Bigface, the nice thing about them is they contain insulation or baffles so aren’t cold like balloon beds.

Bigface0_0 – Member
Isnt this just a over weight Balloon bed, oh and costs more?

Balloon beds only look any good for overnighters though. Plus the idea of throwing away stuff every time you set up your bed does not sound very good.

Yeah but the balloon bed has half a kilo on a ‘regular’ mattress, and is comfier than a OMM Duo Pad. The POE Ether is a low weight when compared to the Exped Synmat so isn’t too bad.

Balloon Bed, GoLite Ul quilt and the comfort of a Mammut inflatable pillow, if it’s cold Rab down socks.

The qualatex modelling balloons are latex and are biodegradable (not that I would ever leave them in the field), the amount of ‘waste’ is miniscule in the grand scheme of things.

Yeah but the balloon bed has half a kilo on a ‘regular’ mattress

My Alp kit cheap is 300 and something grams, so I’m guessing a 200 and something gram weight penalty, significant but not that bad either.

Anthony – Member
The qualatex modelling balloons are latex and are biodegradable (not that I would ever leave them in the field), the amount of ‘waste’ is miniscule in the grand scheme of things.

That still dose not solve not suitable for more than a one or two night trips, which is the bigger one for me, it’s an adventure race matt really. Plus the argument of minuscule in the grand scheme of things mean people should bother about waste at all unless it’s a statistically significant item, which tend to be made up of lots and lots of statistically insignificant items. This is negating the waste of manufacturing e.t.c

If you are happy to use one fine, but don’t try to pretend it doesn’t have some pretty big draw backs, the question is just are those compromise issues that are important to you.

GoLite Ul quilt

I’ve been temped to make quilt, especially a double for when my girlfriend comes, I think some serious weight and comfort advantage could be gained there.

Just popping back in to ask for opinions on this bag – it’ll only be for lowland use and I sleep quite warm anyway….

Looks alright, I’d be interested to know what the down/feather ratio is (but I’m geeky). The fill power is on par with some more expensive bags. For the money I don’t think you’ll do an awful lot better.

If you do start to find it chilly you can always add a liner.

It does seem the best value I’ve found, no idea on the ratio but their info page says….
“Most 80:20 or 85:15 percentage ratio down sleeping bags tend to use high quality duck down which, although will not give you quite the same performance as higher ratio bags, will be kinder to your pocket and provide adequate performance from summer to three season use”

Hmmmm, didn’t realise this could get so techie/geeky, Oh well I’ve clicked to buy now so will let you know how it works out 🙂

That still dose not solve not suitable for more than a one or two night trips, which is the bigger one for me, it’s an adventure race matt really. Plus the argument of minuscule in the grand scheme of things mean people should bother about waste at all unless it’s a statistically significant item, which tend to be made up of lots and lots of statistically insignificant items. This is negating the waste of manufacturing e.t.c

If you are happy to use one fine, but don’t try to pretend it doesn’t have some pretty big draw backs, the question is just are those compromise issues that are important to you

For me as a first timer and just starting out on the Bivi adventure road.
I wanted to get kit that ‘A’ doest cost the world and ‘B’ is small and dosnt really weigh a lot…

It would be good to see a list of kit / costs for the beginner to the more expert… (Stu, maybe something for your blog)

I hear you and I’ll get on it … got a bit of interesting kit for reviewing coming up this week too.

Someone emailed me about the size a the large tanglebag, others may also be interestd. The frame is a 19.5″ pipedream sirius.

This is the mountain tangle bag, fits easily.

This is the touring (large) tanglebag, length along the top is good, but the angle down from the front is a tad too steep and is pushed in a little bit by the downtube, but its well acceptable.

the large tanglebag gives a fair bit more room for kit.

Didn’t realise there was such a marked difference in volume. I’ve got a mountain one and it’s big enough for what I put in it but a bit extra wouldn’t have gone a miss.

A nice custom, full frame bag will be next … waves to everyone at Wildcat 😀

Yep, its a couple of inches extra in each direction, its the drop that really makes the difference.

I will probably be going for a custom full frame bag by the end of the year, depends how I get on with getting the rest of my kit whittled down to.

The small one is good for a night or 2, the large will allow more food to be carried for longer trips, but the reality is for virtually all of europe, its unlikely you wont pass through somewhere you can’t restock every couple of days, so there is not really a lot of point carrying a full weeks worth of supplies. Next year I would like to go somewhere more remote.

frame bags my favourite topic 😀

don’t get me started again looking at these I am just getting used to the Jandd bag I have, I would like a Wildcat one though hint-hint (Ian and Beth) 😆

Got my framebag and other ‘fasten stuff on the bike’ things sorted now, took me ages to get the framebag right so it makes the bought ones seem like good value:

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P1000517[/url] by markenduro[/url], on Flickr

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P1000520[/url] by markenduro[/url], on Flickr

All looks like a top job Mark … I’ll look forward to seeing it.

Nice setup 🙂 What volume is the bar mounted drybag, it looks massive in some of your photos?

snf, it looks massive because it is, will be getting a smaller one shortly and a smaller sleeping bag to go in it.

Markenduro:-

Whats the deal with the frame bags then, did you make it or is it a wildcat one, how much do they cost?

Frame bag is self made, borrowed my mums sewing machine and bought the zip, velcro and material off of teh internets. It isn’t exactly a pain in the arse to make them but it is very time consuming, this took me about 6 hours to make but some of that was working out how the sewing machine works. The rear bag is an ortlieb one and the front rack arrangement is self made with bits of klickfast barbag brackets, plastic guttering and straps.

that frame bag looks great Mark.

Feel the sewing machine coming out for an airing!

What fabric did you use?

It’s cordura, bought mine off a mate but there is loads on ebay and other sites

ok ta 😀

I’ve got a Pacific Outdoor one and even on frozen ground I don’t feel the cold from underneath.

Which PAC Outdoor have you got? I picked up a Peak Elite AC this afternoon, pack size and weight are fantastic, 396g for full length mat 🙂 Seems as comfortable as my Exped Down Mat, but much lighter.

On the scales the Bag and Mat are coming in at 1028g.

Valleydaddy try these good folks http://www.profabrics.co.uk/

DNF, I’ve got an Ether Elite