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

wow – Anthony – that kit list is pretty much a wish list of the very best lightweight kit available. Nice!

Anthony – Great kit list, is that a typo on the pegs? Seems very heavy compared to the other kit. 10x5g Ti pegs from alpkit are cheap and work great. Don’t bother with the terra nova 1 and 2g pegs as they are shite.
You could take another 100g of the coat too but no point if your happy with it.

Brave choice on the sleeping bag I have an orginal Rab Quantum top that weighs 400g (200g of down) that I use with a Rab xenon jacket – but thinking of selling it as it’s not really warm enough for me (although I do feel the cold easily)

I’ve been reading a bit about tarps (mainly so that I don’t have to use my issue one when I go out and about) and I was wondering about whether the more popular light ones (Alpkit Rig7 and the Tenth Wonder tarps immediately spring to mind) would be big enough for a tall chap like me to fit over a hammock. Anyone got any recommendations?

I could use the issue tarp, but it is a little over the top, and if I am out on my bike or kayak and staying out, I do try to stay away from the whole Army thing.

Cheers chaps, I do love my camping kit!

Re pegs, they are 6x 6g ti wire, 4x 2g TN 2g ti wire (for polycro groundsheet) and 6x alli Y stakes. I like the reliabilty of the Y pegs for the main tarp guy points. My tarp setup puts quite a lot of tension on the guys and the soft peat found in a lot of uk areas won’t support thin wire pegs. Ti V pegs are only 1g lighter than the Y stakes so I cant justify the cost.

Yup a Montane jacket is on the wishlist.

The PHD sleeping bag is incredible. I used it in march on just a balloon bed, boosted by a lightweight down jacket and in temps nudging zero I was toasty. Their 900 fill vest was tempting but the minimus, for my uses, made more sense.

I have now ditched the caldera cone plastic case which has saved 80 or 90g.

Willard, the Rig 7 is pretty big.

Willard. I have a largish hammock and find that I have to put my 3mx3m tarp on the diagonal if I really want to be sure of coverage.

Best bet it to take out your hammock and measure it to be sure.

That would make the Rig 7 ok on the diagonal I think, but it might be tight. I haven’t looked into the tenth wonder ones.

I use the cheap DD hammocks one when weight is an issue, or a tatonka polycotton one the rest of the time (because it feels and sounds nicer).

Just had my first w/e bike camp out for years and really enjoyed it

Follow the link for report and lots of pics
http://northwalesmtb.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=ridedays&action=display&thread=7542&page=1

Alex,

Thanks for the info. I think I might need to just give it a try…

Have you had any experience of the LifeVenture hammocks? They seem to fit just about all the requirements (apart from mossie net), but I was wondering about using a dirtbag mat in one as a base layer.

Anthony – is that the montane spektr jacket by an chance? I went for the Omm event as I like the fabric.

I’ve got very similar kit to you. Quality kit is def worth the money.

What’s the TN moonlite bivy like in heavy rain? It’s more of a snowcave bivy I thought when I talked to TN.

I use a lightened Golite Lair 1 with Easton carbon poles and a homemade sub 100g bath tub groundsheet which negates the need for a bivy bag in 98% off weather.

Cycled London to Wales last week. Here are some photos

[/url]
Chalk Horse[/url] by fantasticmrmatt[/url], on Flickr

All the gear was on the bike.

willard I haven’t used a lifeventure one, but I think I remember seeing that they were very similar to mine in construction and materials.

I sometimes use a thermarest in there as insulation as it’s light and doubles as a back pack reinforcer/backpad, but I do find it squirms around under me in the night leaving cold spots. Maybe the double-skinned hammocks avoid this a bit.

I also have an underblanket, which is great in use, but pretty damn heavy in comparison. A hammock with tarp, underblanket and overblanket is just about the best wild camping experience I’ve had.

summittoppler looks like you had a blast, just read the NWMTB thread too, great pics.

Now what camera to get for biking???

Rik- I always use the Moonlight in conjunction with my tarp, treating it more as a sleeping bag cover than a shelter as such. It protects the delicate PHD sleeping bag from wet ground, any possible weather that gets past the tarp and keeps it away from rough ground. I don’t rate any bivvy bag for use in heavy rain, it’s just not a nice place to be. Once truly soaked they never breathe sufficiently either. The tarp and bivvy bag is still significantly smaller/lighter than my laser comp, which is saved for winter or longer trips.

Looks like 2 great trips added to the thread, making the most of the sunshine. Matt- what are those fork bottles like?

Fork bottles are great; Travel Tap in one 1l bottle in the other; I find it works out spot on. For that trip I had no backpack on me, all the gear was on the bike and it was brilliant.

Tiger6791 How are you finding the Travel Tap? I’ve only used it on one bivvy and I found it pretty frustrating to drink from. I couldn’t suck you have to squeeze, and it took a lot of energy to get through a bottle.

I cooked with it, so had to decant half a litre into my pot at one point and it got pretty annoying. Have I just got a duff one?

On the Travel Tap video, there’s a bit where he squirts it into his mouth from a few inches away. I couldn’t make it do that.

Mines good, it’s slow but okay to drink from. I mainly use it to fill up the 1l bottle though and drink from that though.

The only problem I have with it really is you can’t filter a whole bottle as when it’s upside down the water has to cover the filter so the last 1/4 of water has to be topped up.

I think my ideal solution will be to find a bigger bottle with the same thread.

I have no major issues filling my 3l bladder with my traveltap.

Tiger6791 – yes, that useless last bit of water is pretty frustrating, especially for us weight weenie bivviers 🙂

Anthony – that would take me all day! looks like it’s time to contact Travel Tap.

2 of us shared 1 travel tap for this years WRT and it worked fine, we probably filtered 4-6L each per day. It does sound like you maybe have a duff filter, although I have heard a few reports of people saying similar.

I went through my kit again last night and beeing ruthless I shaved off about 400g, its amazing how 10g here 20g there soon adds up.

What about kit lists for those on tight budget?

http://www.bikeandbivi.co.uk/php/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=154

.

fair enough unsponsored but kit is so addictive 😕

fair enough unsponsored but kit is so addictive

Very true, my bank balance knows this all to well.

Oh well, if it all goes tits up we can live in the forest in our bivvy gear 😉

new handlebar harness arrived here in NL from sunny Wales..a sale as a direct result of this forum string… I hope it works as im off to do the CRAFT Transalp bike race route in 11 days time. 22k up and down and circa 650km in 8 days I think it is….plus the blxody ride to the airport and train stations and back. Given Im old enough to know better I should have been training this weekend, but spending all the time wandering around house deciding on what gear to take and transfering a decent groupset to my old stumpjumper hardtai, or snooping around the bike shop. Not quite sure how 9 days bike gear (rolling 2 days food) will fit in a 25 litre rucsac, a handlebar harness and a small dry bag but there we are. what dosnt fit doesnt go. Todays purchase was a 34 tooth cassette (3mph here I come), some pinhead wheel and headset locks, a new chain, a 1 man tent and the lightest functional Abus d-lock I could find. Would have been cheaper to stay in hotels…. but where is the fun in that. Fortunately i have light camping gear from climbing trips but somehow you always end up buying more. Will post a photo in time.

The MK1 Shinythings frame bag is go…

The old Singer has been fair flying I tell you

Grabbed a representative sample of food and had room left over. Zip opening is a tad tight for bulky items though.

Fella’s I need your advice.
I’ve got a £200 budget for a new sleeping bag. Its boiled down to a rab neutino 200, phd minimus, ME xero 250 or maybe cumulus quantum. The rab’s swinging it at present (purely because I’ll get £30 change..)
Which???
Ta

PHD Minim Ultra (the EU 900 fill version). I spent hour after hour researching exactly the same question and found the PHD to be the clear winner if weight vs warmth is your priority.

Western Mountaineering worth a look too.

PHD everytime for me.

Just looked at the Yeti Passion One. Its got an incredible weight of sub 350g like the PHD but its £300 and only suitable for +15’c. It makes the PHD seem good value!

Be aware that Rab quote in US fill power, so the neutrino is more like 200g of 700 EU down. I do think the 2’C comfort rating is pushing its limit.

The MK1 Shinythings frame bag is go…

It looks good Jim but I think you should’ve taken my advice and made one that filled all corners of your P7 frame. You’ll be doing that with MK2 I presume.

BTW, I’ll soon need that big cordura holdall back that I lent you last week 😉

How do you attach water bottle cages to your forks please?

Abus make some interesting bags for carrying there rather weighty bike security chains. i stubbled upon them on Wiggle. Not a bad price.

Do Rab quote US fill power now! Damn statistics.

I have a couple of Rab bags. A trip to the factory shop is always worth while. This one cost me less than 1/2 price some time early last year.

From http://www.bikeandbivi.co.uk/php/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=16

ollie – Member

How do you attach water bottle cages to your forks please?

I was trying to find the picture on his blog to link to, but I’ve seen coastkid / coastrider[/url] has used reflector brackets in the past I think.

try these for fixing waterbottles on your forks:

http://www.decathlon.co.uk/EN/apb-300-bottle-cage-bracket-17250470/

can’t take credit for the idea – rcommended to me by a few others who have probably already posted somewhere on this thread

As Steve said the decathlon ones are pretty good and what I’ve always used. A couple of extra sturdy cable ties around them makes double sure.

[/url]
Scandal on the Roman Road[/url] by fantasticmrmatt[/url], on Flickr

@ Anthony
Just looked at the PHD minim ultra, possibly a little extreme for what I need, incredibly light though. How does it perform in a bivvy bag? The super lightwieght shell to aid lofting seems pointless if you’re stuffing it into a relatively heavy bivvy bag?
Would the water resistant shell option be worth the extra weight/dosh?
Got any pics of your ultra compressed?

Has anyone got any thoughts on using a chalk bag in place of a mountain feed bag

so much cheaper would just need to attach something to secure it to the stem.

Yep, it’s been done

Pets at Home do a doggy treat bag that would work as a feed bag. Bought one the other week, but haven’t got around to playing with it yet.