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

Left home 20:00 sun eve, biked to near the bealach half way round glen finglass and was at work by 9 monday – pretty much a 3 day weekend :-)

Love that last one flyingmm

First time last night – loved it

Having a clear out for those interested.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-bikepacking-gear

All ready for the Welsh Ride Thing tomorrow, all up weight exc water (but inc food and fuel) is just under 45lb which I’m pretty happy about seeing as my On One 456 setup last year was about 53lb inc water.

Plus I don’t need a backpack so that’s much more comfy.

Bit more detail here on my blog, will add a full kit list once my daughter gets off the other PC!

Finally I can post on here!
Not bivvying so travelling light, we’re doing the Trans-Cambrian Way ITT on sunday.

Got my JandD frame pac yesterday (after import duty grief)

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DSC_0327[/url] by ir_bandito[/url], on Flickr

Frame pack is full of food, solar-powered ghetto GPS, lights cos we’re bound to run out of daylight.

Forecast for sunday is shocking. Bring it on :-)

Location is East of Southease Station, East Sussex across the A26 Beddinghsm – Newhaven road, overlooking the River Ouse – Up there on that there hill…

We ate well that night, veggie and chorizo kebabs, snags and morrocan rice, desert custard, brownies, caramel rocky biscuits, blueband wafers, just chucked it all in with a splash o rum, yum yum!

Woop Woop 29er coming through!!!

This is so interesting! Drive past the southease bridge every day to work. Really tempted me to do a bivvy now

Went on a mice 32 miler on Saturday with a nice wild camp near Capel Curig, north Wales. Sunday saw a very wet 23 miler through Snowdonia and finishing in Conwy. Awesome if not a little moist!

Full report and pics:
http://northwalesmtb.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=ridedays&action=display&thread=8944

love the life in this thread :D

New Revelate gear on my 9Zero7. The Viscacha saddle bags have been out for a while, but that’s the Sweet Roll handlebar bag which is newly released. Seems to work pretty well.

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P1040183[/url] by druidh_dubh[/url], on Flickr
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P1040207[/url] by druidh_dubh[/url], on Flickr

Hi, loving the bag set ups very much :)
Can I just ask tho, why the fat tyres if there is no snow or sand? Just curious as never tried them………..yet.

It’s to float over all the bogs due to the amount of liquid sunshine the Jockenese get. :wink:

Looks great druid. Proper adventure bike.
(Off to look to see if there’s a welsh ride thing thread)

Davetherave – Member
Hi, loving the bag set ups very much
Can I just ask tho, why the fat tyres if there is no snow or sand? Just curious as never tried them………..yet.

Well, it’s a bit of this…

flatfish – Member
It’s to float over all the bogs due to the amount of liquid sunshine the Jockenese get.

:-) but without trying to come over all evangelical about fatbikes, expect to see them turning up on trails near you soon as folk discover just how adept they are over all sorts of terrain. It’s worth noting that the imminent On One fatbike isn’t designed for snow or sand at all – it’s a fat-tyred trail bike.

Cheers for the explanation. Seems even more niche than 29er! Mind I bet the actual size will be similar 8)

Anyway The bags look good 8)

I’m slowly gathering kit for a maiden voyage as it were, I have a Quecha self inflating mat, Hunka bivi, MSR clone stove and a cat stove and a cheap and cheerful tarp :-)

Im looking for a new sleeping bag and have seen THIS ONE. I know its not the smallest, lighest, poshest but seems reasonable. They also have this ONE SEASON bag but I’m not sure about the temperature ratings and how they relate in real world terms if that makes sense?

Advice much appreciated as its all a bit of a minefield.

stayhigh – Those links are to member only pages, so I can’t see them.

Blast, scurries off to find proper links…

THREE SEASON

ON E SEASON

Hows that?

A low comfort of 10 degrees C is a little high unless you’re a really warm sleeper. My summer bag is 5 (and weighs about a kilo), and if feels about right for around 5-12 degrees
http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/lamina-35-p152495

I don’t know how that compares to the one you were looking at – I’m guessing a bit dearer.

You could add a liner I suppose, but I’ve never tried one.

I’d be tempted to strap the one you’ve got to the bars and get out and see what it’s like.

tesco do a sub kilo down bag with about the same ratings for £40. had mine a year and very pleased with it.

Just finished building my Scandal 29er for bikepacking purposes, can’t wait to get out and give it a go. Built mostly with parts from the classifieds. Thanks to Duckman, jameso, chainslapp and crazyknowledge

I’ve got my Anything cage and DIY handlebar harness sorted, but need to think about a saddle bag. Is there anyone UK based making them?

Wildcat have got something in the pipeline – give them a buzz:

http://wildcatgear.co.uk/

I may be selling a buggybags framebag – custom made for an 18inch On One!

I may be selling a buggybags framebag – custom made for an 18inch On One!

Interesting. My frame is 19.5″, so I’m not sure about the fit. They look bombproof, but also look like they’d double in weight when wet. If the price is right though…

Not sure if anybody on this post might be interested in a couple of brand new ultralight Bikepacking items i’m selling cheap on the classified forum – cheap, cheap.

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-sub-1kg-4-man-tipi-shelter-140-brand-new

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-golite-shangri-la-3-inner-nest-half-price

bump for this: http://www.alpkit.com/news/alpkit-framebags-at-mountain-mayhem-and-ctc-rally

possibly on another separate thread but obviously warrants discussion here. If they’re <£50, I’ll look at getting one.

If they are<£50 then I’ll be surprised

£50? no chance. They will be similar price to Wildcat i reckon, afteral they have set-up a little mini factory to do custom stuff so they wont be pricing at the bottom end of the market. Buggy bags are your best bet if you want cheap.

ah if they’re custom thats different I suppose

oooooooh, wished i still lived in Scotland!

Don’t have clue if i’m honest, just know what i like. And that bike looks yummy……

Just a compliment, that’s all!!!

Hi we were suposed to going bike packing this weekend but we wimped out due to the weather. It was pretty torential to be honest so I think it was for the best.
The bike and kit was all packed up, so I thought I would post some pics. Its all been done on a pretty tight budget trying to improvise whatever i can.

Stove is a cheap coleman gas unit that packs inside an alloy pan kit from Blacks with a plastic pot for mixing food a home made wind shield ti spork etc

this packs inside

to use like this

bike loaded with everything for night away only sleeping bag goes in camel back

Drybag mounted to bars with clothes and synthetic down jacket

Old bar ends mounted in board of levers with an alloy tube between them to strap the bag onto, stops it bouncing against cables etc

saddle bag is a cheap old rucksack with the waist strap fed up around the seat rails and another webbing strap to suport it.

Frame bag was a cheapy from ebay, hold all my food hip flask etc :-)

kit laid out

Tesco down bag in small dry bag inside camel back
Ex army bivi bag
Karrimor inflatable mat
Cotton bag liner
Synthetic down jacket in compression sack

Plan to try it all out as soon as we get a dryish weekend. See what works and what doesnt and change what needs to change.
Keep the posts coming!

The bar end improvisation is a great idea (although haven’t seen to many with the split clamp). I do something very similar to your saddle bag with an Alpkit drybag – works well.

STATO – Member
£50? no chance. They will be similar price to Wildcat i reckon, afteral they have set-up a little mini factory to do custom stuff so they wont be pricing at the bottom end of the market. Buggy bags are your best bet if you want cheap.

I wouldn’t be so sure about that – they ran a competition recently where if you sent in a template of your front triangle, you had the chance of winning one of their prototype frame bags

I would have thought the point of getting all those templates would be so they could test the feasibility of producing some ‘standard’ size frame bags? I think they realise there is a market for a more modestly priced product than the custom ones available from wildcat/revelate etc.

Time will tell of course.

I’m still umming over sleeping bags and have been looking at Snugpak Traveller and Travel Lite models. Both are <1kg synthetic bags with a comfort rating of 7o and pack nice and small at 12×14″. I’ll be sleeping in a Hunka bag (which will improve the rating slightly?) with a mat underneath and a tarp overhead.

I’ll be honest as much as I’d like to someday go all hardcore all weather rah rah for now its not gonna happen so I think could be good to get started with. If I get cold during the night I can always put a base layer on/sleep in clothes and it wont break the bank.

Apart from that all I need to do is sort out a pan set, was thinking of something similar to the above set and a windshield. I’ve seen lots of people saying about making their own using aluminium sheet, what would be the best thickness to get this or can you point me in the direction of something cheap and cheerful?

Finally with getting dry bags, what are the best sizes to go for.

Cheers all :)

Sleeping bag ratings normally include the fact you’ll be wearing some sort of base layer, so don’t figure on that adding anything. Even as someone who “sleeps warm”, I prefer my bags rated close to 0C, but then my camping tends to be in Scotland where temperatures can plummet overnight even in the summer.

Remember that, without a tent, you’ll also be subject to wind-chill. A well-placed tarp can help minimise that but it’s still a factor.

Would the Hunka not reduce the wind chill in a similar way to a tent? I was planning on sleeping under the tarp between the wheels of the bike if that makes sense. I guess I could always use a liner as well.

I’m all the way down south where (apparently) the weather isnt quite as changable and tend to camp from may to early sept time. My first trip out isnt going to be hugely adventerous, more of a make sure everything does what its supposed to type affair about an hours ride from home :oops:

what would be the best thickness to get this or can you point me in the direction of something cheap and cheerful?

The aluminium serving platters available at Tesco work okay, not going to last a lifetime but cheap and work better than kitchen foil*

*(also takeaway foil tubs if yours still does tin ones, ours are plastic now, these don’t work and tend to melt)

saw the alpkit frame bags at the ctc rally yesterday.
very very nice and well made, and very cheap in comparison to other frame bags available.

NorthCountryBoy – Looks like you’re all set to go! Roll on some better weather! :-)

Just a quick thumbs-up for the Alpkit frame bags here, about 800 miles loaded up on mine now and looks totally sound, if a bit grubby, this weekend felt like winter riding apart from a warmer headwind most of the way out.. if you’re after any details pics of the bag etc let me know.

A tarp against the wind will keep you warmer than just a bivi bag. When the wind blows the bivi against the sleeping bag it will conduct some of the coldness into the sleeping bag but a well pitched tarp would keep it away from your sleeping bag, thus stopping heat being conducted away from you.

If you use a tarp AND bivi bag you need to have some sort of airflow over the bivi to allow it to “breathe”.

Make sense?

Good.