meh, you soulda walked back down to ours for a beer n tea 😆

Managed a quick last minute bivi ride last night.Was a bit fresh with some ice forming on the condensation on the tent. Big old synthetic sleeping bag came in handy again. 😀

First time out with the terra nova tent I bought from ebay very light and packs small.

Only if you’d wanted teh lurgy!

Looks hard core with all these snowy pics 🙂
I’ll only be tempted when the night temps go above freezing!

Anyone got anything planned this weekend?

What a difference a bit of nice weather makes!
Slugwash and I out for a quick bivvy on local moor.

Medieval sleeping quarters

Bit of stream fording

Getting priorities right

Avon dam

Those little coke can stove things I’ve seen some using,are they any good at burning long enough for cooking rice or pasta or something,say 10-15 mins or so?

Shinythangs caught a fish, but it was too beautiful to chuck on the stove so we put it back….

Wild Dartmoor Brownie by Slugwash, on Flickr

So I had to eat this appetizing conconction…

Tofu Sausages Cous Cous & Thai Chilli Sauce….. by Slugwash, on Flickr

And, despite my mat springing a leak (bracken mattress improvised), a pleasant excursion, with skylarks, cuckoos, starry skies and dry moorland trails.

Morning Jimbo! by Slugwash, on Flickr

Mist Comes Down Over The Avon Dam by Slugwash, on Flickr

Morning @ The Avon Dam by Slugwash, on Flickr

La Cucina by Slugwash, on Flickr

You do know what happens if you sleep in a stone circle don’t you?

Just like the broke back mountain of the mountain bike world… how nice 🙂

Those little coke can stove things I’ve seen some using,are they any good at burning long enough for cooking rice or pasta or something,say 10-15 mins or so?

I’d change foods if you want to use light stoves, 10-15 mins is a lot of cook time. If you made one that holds about 120mls of meths and use a heat shield it could do pasta for 2-3, or use a pot cosy to help it cook off-gas and make a simmer ring for it (loads of instructions via goggle). Would need a bit of a try-out to get meths vol right. I get about 400ml of water hot enough for coffee, noodles or porridge from 20ml of meths on a small can stove.

10-15 mins is a lot of cook time

I’ve generally found that when cooking on a moorside there is FA else to do. So why rush your food 🙂

I’ve generally found that when cooking on a moorside there is FA else to do. So why rush your food

Because you need to use/carry less fuel that way?

30 ml of Meths boils ~700ml of water in about 11 mins on my Caldera Cone. (I think)

Per meal tend to boil about 1 litre of water which will include a couple of hot drinks.

200ml of meths does me for 2 nights out, doesn’t seem like excessive fuel?

Enjoyed this thread. Inspired me to try it. Could someone recommend me a sleeping bag please ? Would be for summer/autumn use *reasonable price

Have a look here Mr Frosty…

Alpkit

Well regarded by most.

You can avoid long boil times in a few ways – one of the best being to make a pot cosy for your pan , bring the water to the boil then place in the cosy it’s ‘simmer’ can then be done without using any more fuel. Also as said above ditch slow boiling foods.

First ever Bivvy Trip on the South Downs last weekend. Its really good fun 🙂

Bivvy camp by boltonjon, on Flickr

Colin and Jon SDW by boltonjon, on Flickr

First ever Bivvy Trip on the South Downs last weekend. Its really good fun

I think I crossed paths with you guys when you were heading east between Winchester and QE park on Saturday? If not, it was a similar looking bunch with bikepacking setups 🙂

Cracking day for it!

Gary

Inspired by this thread I have read it with my 14 yr old who is now desperate to go bikepacking. Found an old frame with braze ons in the garage and built this rigid SS BikePacker, now complete and ready to go, son has a set of small panniers – if he really likes it we are going to have a summer of adventures. Keep the inspiration coming.

Those little coke can stove things I’ve seen some using,are they any good at burning long enough for cooking rice or pasta or something,say 10-15 mins or so?

You can if you use one like this 😉

Hi Gary

Its quite possible – there were 3 of us in our little group

Where you on an Orange 5 heading up out of Winchester?

Anybody planning anything over the weekend?
I’ve got half a plan for Sunday night – keeping an eye on the weather.

Any recommendations for sleeping gear for a cold sleeper?

I find that the sleeping bags which keep me warm are too bulky for carrying on a bike.

One of my sleeping bags is an old MacPac Neve with the down on top and a sleeve for a sleeping pad on the bottom. It packs up quite small, and I have used it on bivvy/camping trips, but despite its 4-season rating I find it’s best when used indoors with the heating on!

When car camping I use a PHD 5-season bag which is comfortably warm (rated to -32!), but it’s massive.

I spoke with PHD last year, and I think they recommended a Hispar 500 with zip (rated to -15) for 3 season cycle camping, but I imagine it’s still relatively bulky (it weighs about 1kg).

I’ve always thought one of the Buffalo 4-season bags combined with some Buffalo clothing would be good for bivi’s, although I think they’re also very bulky and heavy – I haven’t seen one in the flesh for years. I’ve got a 1 season Buffalo bag which isn’t too big, but I nearly froze to death when I used it one May night and the temperature dipped to zero with a ground frost!

I know I could combine a lighter sleeping bag with some down clothing, but down clothing isn’t always particularly useful when cycling.

Oh, I also bought one of those Blizzard bags, but haven’t actually tried it yet.

Anyway, I’d be interested to hear what alternatives there are.

What do you wear whilst in your sleeping bag? I find it critical to get the right balance. Wear too little and you freeze. Wear too much and you stop the sleeping bag lofting so it becomes ineffective.

Also – make sure you are warm before you get into your bag. It needs your body heat to make it work.

I’ve been out at -10/-12C this winter in a Mountain Hardware Lamina 0 so not much help to you I guess, but you can boost warmth with a liner of some sort, even a silk one that weighs very little will give you 2-3 degrees of comfort.

What sleeping mat are you using? You’ll lose more heat to the floor than you will to the air in winter.

I’ve been using an Enlightened Revelation X quilt for most of the winter. Rated to roughly -20 and about 1kg, combined with an Exped Synmat UL it’s been fine even on the coldest nights.

I’ve tried a few things over the years, from HH base layers up to the lightweight Buffalo top and trousers, plus the warm dry socks and hat thing. Also tried different sleeping pads including Exped down mat etc. I just tend to feel the cold. The problem with a bike is that it’s not easy to carry the clothing and sleeping gear which would keep me comfortably warm when I stop riding or am sleeping.

If you don’t head out on long trips when it’s raining or only for one night get a really good down sleeping bag that is over the top for the temps that you will be sleeping in and sleep in the nude inside it.

It’s a bitch to get into but your body will warm up the sleeping bag and not just the clothes you are trying to sleep in.

Warm the sleeping bag for a great nights sleep not your clothes, as cold clothes don’t heat up the bag.

Also throw in one or two of those disposable or reusable hand warmers for a toasty glow.

Thanks. That makes sense – I’ll try it next time.

I’d like to be able to get away with a lighter down bag for 3 season use. I keep looking enviously at the size and weight of those PHD Minims etc, but had to face up to the fact that they’re probably not for me. It would be nice, though….

I’m not buying the “too much to carry” thing. You can get a massive sleeping bag on a rack.

Are you tenting or bivvying? A wee tent will keep you much warmer than a bivvy bag, especially if the bag is restricting the sleeping bag from lofting.

I suppose I could carry it if I used a rack. It is pretty big – the storage bag is about the size of a black bin bag. Obviously it’ll compress, but even then, it’s a real struggle to get it into anything less than the largest compression sack. It won’t go into an Ortlieb pannier. Admittedly I haven’t done any bike camping for a while, but I’ve always been short on space because I’ve tended to use bikes which can’t take a lot of luggage. I’ve got by, but had to pare things down to a minimum. I’ve mainly used a bivvy bag in those cases, but even when using a wee tent I often feel cold if I don’t have a really warm bag. I suppose something rated like the Hispar 500 is the best I can hope for (I think it’ll be about half the volume of my other one) but even then it’s not tiny.

You’re obviously going to have to compromise somewhere if you simply can’t generate enough heat to keep warm at night. That might mean a bike with a rack, or making sure everything else you have is lightweight/compact.

In this photo, the sleeping bag is on the rack, everything else (tent, mat, gas stove, pots, food, spare clothing) is in a Revelate handlebar roll-bag and a wee frame-top bag (really just the camera in there).

P1050316 by ScotRoutes, on Flickr

Here are some pics from my tour of the Cairngorms trip last weekend:

IMG_0594 by DKNWHY, on Flickr

IMG_0595 by DKNWHY, on Flickr

IMG_0599 by DKNWHY, on Flickr

IMG_0605 by DKNWHY, on Flickr

IMG_0617 by DKNWHY, on Flickr

IMG_0618 by DKNWHY, on Flickr

IMG_0628 by DKNWHY, on Flickr

IMG_0635 by DKNWHY, on Flickr

IMG_0637 by DKNWHY, on Flickr

Beautiful scotroutes!

So how is Tiger6791? Feeling better? 😉

hermer75 – Member
So how is Tiger6791? Feeling better?

Oh, you know, I have my good days…

I’ve just posted a gear list and some comments on my blog. Maybe some folk will find it useful

http://www.blog.scotroutes.com/2013/05/bikepacking-kit-list.html

P1000175 by ScotRoutes, on Flickr

I just read that ^ scotroutes. It makes me want to go on an adventure….

Aye nice write up.

Agree with you on the doss bag Colin. Love my Lamina 0..