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

Oh great, you spend ages saving/hiding cash from the wife to treat yourself to a full on alpkit spend fest only to find all your shopping list is sold out and not going to be back in stock for months (well after WRT)……gutted!!! :(
Shopping list:-
Gourdon 20 Stealthy

Airlok XTra Chilli 13L
MytiMug
Rig [7]
Y Beams

Im I the only one that think’s Alpkit just dont hold enough stock? They alway sell out of stuff and it takes ages to get it back in…..

Those pot’s that Stu mentioned look like a good enough replacement for the mytimug,
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Coleman-204028-Solo-Cook-Kit/dp/B000YESELO

And as Anthony mentioned George Fisher are selling Siltarp 1’s for £45 with free delivery. Bargainous. Resisting that one myself.

The candy cane pegs on alpkit are only 1g each heavier than the y beam and the same price, and in stock.

Im I the only one that think’s Alpkit just dont hold enough stock? They alway sell out of stuff and it takes ages to get it back in…..

There’s an
Alpkit Stock Explanantion here if that’s any help.

… and as a Dinghy owner as well a bike owner if anybody fancies a really good book have a look at this.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Unlikely-Voyage-Jack-Crow-Odyssey/dp/1574091522

Read it a few years back and it stands out as one of my all time favourite books.

Sets off in a Mirror form Lake Vyrnwy in North Wales and end up by the Black Sea

I’ve never got around to reading that one but have read the books by Frank & Margeret Dye in which they do similar things, including sailing to Iceland and Norway in small dinghies and sleeping out under tarps type stuff…

Frank Dye

In fact, forget bikepacking. Dinghypacking’s where it’s at….. :wink:

To follow up on flatfish’s help for Bigface, you can also get drybags with bikepacking friendly loops in them made by Sea To Summit.

I’ve never tried them, but given Alpkit’s stock, I might have to.

IanB has some lomo drybags that fit well under his bars and has a window so you can see out of it whilst wearing it in a rain storm. 8O

Speaking of books, has anyone else read – Journey to the centre of the earth by Richard and Nick Crane?

Proper mental, 1 tube between them and a puncture kit, no spare clothes, no tent or tarp, no bivvy bags, 1L of water each (they ride through the Gobi). Think these lads possibly invented ultralite :D

I imagine it’s out of print but well worth tracking down a copy.

Bigface, you have options :-)

All these are only a few quid more-

Cleats.co.uk for Y pegs and guys
Hike-lite.co.uk for Vargo Ti-lite mug (virtually identical)
Ewetsuits.com for Lomo drybags and iirc rucksac
Georgefisher.co.uk for Siltarp1

Behold, I have nipped home and my Terra Nova moonlite bivvy bag has turned up YAY. 186g on the scales and half price :-). At 6′ I wouldn’t want to be any taller, but then under a tarp I’m unlikely to want to fully draw it closed anyway. Good old Field and Trek :-)

Anthony how much room is there in the TN bivvy bags … do you reckon a winter bag would fit in without restricting sleeping bag loft?

Stu, I just laid it over my Survival Zone and it’s identical only about 6″ shorter. It is however box section at the end which should help a little.

I wouldn’t have any concerns over putting my PD800 in it. A down jacket as well might be too snug.

The nice thing about the Moonlite will be that being such light fabric it will also help my summer bag to achieve it’s full loft.

Siltarp arrived, what a day :-) I’m using a wheel to create a tunnel design with mine. It’s a slippery little thing eh Ian?

Both my new bivvy bag and tarp fit in the tarp’s stuff sack which is not much bigger than a tin of soup!

If anyone is after some cheap, light, strong cord for tarp use Taunton Leisure sell 2mm Mammut cord for 30p per metre and free delivery that weighs 2g per M. The quality is spot on and will be more than strong enough. Found in ‘climbing accessories’.

still s8tannorm – Member
Speaking of books, has anyone else read – Journey to the centre of the earth by Richard and Nick Crane?

Proper mental, 1 tube between them and a puncture kit, no spare clothes, no tent or tarp, no bivvy bags, 1L of water each (they ride through the Gobi). Think these lads possibly invented ultralite

I imagine it’s out of print but well worth tracking down a copy.

It’s on a web archive site on and off but also here in pdf thanks to off road journey man Pete Jones.

http://www.crazyguyonabike.com/doc/?o=RrzKj&doc_id=6213&v=1Z

I just ordered this book today, don’t know if that’s the book that was being talked about.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1553658175/ref=oss_product

It’s a slippery little thing eh Ian?

Certainly is, which is why I decided to adopt the configuration shown a few pages back. The gross-grain loops seemed to be the point where I would gain most friction against the tyre and hence stability so it wouldn’t loose tension/ shape in the wind. Also, it means that the tarp doesn’t rub against the tyre significantly so I’m not risking damaging the fabric.

I’m impressed (read: slightly jealous) that you can get your bivi bag in the tarp stuff sack!

Second the lomo bags with the window. Only about £7 and they are long and narrow and fit better under the bars. My previous one used to buzz the wheel on bumpy bits. The Lomo one is better.

Ian, it fits in the tarp stuff sac with the tarp at the same time!

Did you put any sealant on the central loop’s stitches?

Heads up Ian – You’ve got a fight on :)

we must stay loyal to one of our own :D

Tiger – thanks. Interesting.

Alpkit have looked at the potential market for this sort of stuff and have arrived at the same conclusions as us in that the market is under supplied and interest is growing. They have a good reputation (and reading the article, more finance) to put to this and I would expect they’ll put a lot of thought into the design and execution. Wildcat is obviously tiny in comparison, but we’re trying to develop our own ideas to produce stuff unique to us that offer genuine performance improvements over the current alternatives.

Pete – thanks for your support, but it is a free market and people will (or should) buy what they consider best serves their needs. Hopefully there’s room for Wildcat and Alpkit. Choice is good, after all :)

You do have a way with words Ian :wink:

Ian, I know where my buck will be going :D

Just bought a couple of these:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260767962026

Arrived in two days, look pretty well made, though not sure they will fit fat top tubes without some extra velcro. Going fast though, only three left!

This could be a stupid question so I apologise but … is that 2 bags for one bike Dr Rad?

Might put them on different bikes, might customise one. You could probably run one up the seat tube and get two on one bike TBH.

I often like to have two of cheap stuff for some reason…

I knew some sisters like that :wink:

Based on a post abovel; how do you guys cope with wet things? As in what do your store them in. If it rains and your bivvy/tarp are wet on day one, what do you keep them in. I take it the dry bag is for clean stuff/sleeping bag.

Dry bags work both ways around – you can put wet things in them to stop moisture getting out and prevent other stuff getting wet. Most of my gear is in several light weight dry bags – items get grouped into different dry bags, but ultimately it all gets stuffed into the frame bag so you have to have some way of keeping the critical things dry.

Couldn’t get my sleeping bag into the ortileb saddle pack, in fact the roll up closure took up far too much of the volume, the strap to roll it up was far wider than a traditional dry bag, and due to the way it widened out at the opening by the time you had rolled it over to create a watertight seal it had lost at least 1/3 of the potential volume, so I took the fixings off and attached them to an exped drybag.

That looks interesting can you show the close up of how the bracket works. Is it still waterproof?

It feels really secure, but I may add a strap in use, just out of paranoia, i placed a blob of silicon around the holes I made before fixing, so I expect it to stay watertight.

That’s ace, looks like a perfect job well done.

That’s a great idea, shame you have to butcher an Ortlieb bag for the fixings, does anyone know where to source them from??

I’ll have a google search and see what I come up with :wink:

Would an Alpkit exped bag work utilising the strap points already mounted on it??

I’ll try tomorrow night as that would increase my carrying options massively ta for the idea MSP :D

If anyone wants to try this without butchering another bag for fixings: apparently Jandd in the US will sell you both halves of a Kilck Fix saddlebag attachment for peanuts:

http://www.jandd.com/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=FKLICKFIX

Also several ‘convert dry bags to seat packs’ threads over on the bikepacking.net forum.

Just butchered a Lidl saddle bag for the fixings :wink:

I will have a crack at making a similar bag up, thanks for the idea MSP :D

What fixings did you use MSP to fix the clamp to the dry bag??

The fixings are the ortileb ones, irs basicly a self taper going into a plastic nut with a domed head so it doesn’t snag anything. You could probably get something similar from b&q look for stuff to fit bath panels etc. If not they are available as a spare part from ortileb, half way down this page.

http://www.ortlieb.com/_browse_sp.php?lang=en&tfile=ersatz-sonstige.

I wouldn’t be surprised if someone like sjs cycles could get the whole bracket as a spare. Although I can always refit it to the ortileb bag so that is still usable.

cheers MSP

Managed to fashion a similar bag with an old dry bag, as Alpkit are out of stock of the exped bags like yours :(

used some small round headed nuts and bolts so will see how that fairs, I will post some pics once the glue has dried.

I have managed to reseal the drybag to keep it watertight using some industrial glue

That’s the bike set-up now for the first trip of the year next weekend. Spent the morning fitting gears, as it had spent the winter as a singlespeed.
Will be spending several weekends following an off road route through Germany from the French to the Czech border. Looking forward to going so light weight on my gear for the first time.
Tent on the handlebars, cooking gear, food, sleeping mat and a few ancillary items in the frame bag, few bits of spare clothing in the camelback and sleeping bag attached to saddle.

Good luck MSP and enjoy … set up looks well :wink:

sounds like a great trip planned there MSP, good luck and if you can keep us updated on your travels. :wink:

I’ve just been sorting my set up this evening, copying MSP utilising a home made saddle pack. Really impressed I have seriously shrunk my kit from the winter bivvy.

I haven’t weighed anything as I am not after the ultimate light weight set up but one that works for me. Looking forward to a shakedown on Friday.

I will post some pics with the bike loaded asap :wink:

1400 posts! whoop whoop got one :wink: