OK, sounds like you I reason not to. Thanks everyone.

Just had my Rig 3.5 turn up. How much para cord do you take with you?

Anyone done any bivvying in/around Kielder/Wark/Hexhamshire Common?

None

I use 1.5mm Dyneema. I have it already made up into suitable guy lines. IIRC, two are 1.5m and two are 3m. I also use mini Line-loks for adjustment.

TBH, I usually set the tarp up as a flying V so the two guys I need for that are almost permanently attached.

[url=https://flic.kr/p/eay4Vo]Untitled[/url] by ScotRoutes, on Flickr

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/fs-walking-pole-extender?replies=1#post-6002030

Anyone done any bivvying in/around Kielder/Wark/Hexhamshire Common?

Hammocked in Kielder a few times, typically in winter tho as i avoid Kielder any time when midges are about.

I am the same as scotroutes. 1.5mm dyneema guys with mini lineloks. When i use my hammock i include 2mm dyneema ridgeline with toggles attached to 1.5mm dyneema loops tied to ridge line with prusak knots for adjusting tension.

Paracords sags when its wet and its quite heavy when its all soaked!

Any thoughts on vegan foods for bikepacking?

There are loads of dried packet foods in all the supermarkets that are vegan (some Ainsley Harriot couscous, pots and packets of pastas/noodles, etc) all need only boiled water and are very cheap. I tend to take a water filter so that I can have unlimited water.
Occasionally I have porridge too.

Can’t say it’s the best food, but it fills a hole!
Then nakd bars, fruit/nuts, clif bars, etc.

Any thoughts on vegan foods for bikepacking?

Yep, after lots of different tries I reckon I’ve got this sorted to an extent.

Fast, cheap and easy options

Sainsburys Pour & Freeze bags (8 for £1) are my starting point.

For breakfast decant 1&1/2 Oat so Simple pots (3 pots makes 2 breakfasts) into a P&F bag
These just need 200ml water to make a decent helping of porridge.
Pour the water in, squeeze a bit of air out and seal the bag, mix up by squeezing and shaking, leave to stand for a couple of minutes. (add nuts / raisins etc.)

For dinner same priciple but use Noodles / Cous Cous / Pot Noodles. Add dried sausage etc.

Vegan sausage?

Sausage is optional 😀

Right ho…. I am now the proud owner of a bag of Alpkit stuff; MTM frame bag, seat pack and s&m style handlebar harness for an existing 12l dry bag.

What do people pack where and do you camelback as usual? Any tips n tricks gratefully received.

I’m a died in the wool pannier man so this is all a bit weird. Best leave in the dark for my first foray lest anyone spots the weirdness 🙂

I tend to pack related bits and pieces together, so sleeping bag, mat, bivy and tarp on the bars, spare clothes in seat pack, food and cooking kit in frame bag and tools and snacks in a small top tube bag. I like to ride without a rucksack but have used a Camelback bumbag to carry water and a waterproof.

I like to have plenty of dry bags in varying sizes to organise stuff so it’s easy to find. This also helps to keep wet stuff separate from dry stuff. Packing a couple of supermarket carrier bags is always a good idea.

After a couple of trips, I have sorted what I need now, and what I don’t, you’ll be the same. As for camelbak, no, I try not to use it as often as I can, I cable tie a bottle holder on the top tube and plan on getting one of those ones that CTBM sells that go on the top cap. 2 bottles is fine, I have no qualms about drinking from a burn when in the sticks.

Pretty new to this but had a great couple of weekends away so far – one of them at the Welsh Ride Thing.

I’ve got a Wildcat seat and bar harness and a Revelate small framebag. “Modular sleeping system” TM 🙂 (bivvy bag, sleeping bag and liner) plus poles goes on the bars. Shelter and some stove bits go in the seat pack. Tools, tubes, miscellaneous heavy bits go in the framebag. Clothes go in a rucsac along with a bladder and snacks.

Tried an Alpkit bar harness but didn’t work on my bike (soon to appear on the classifieds ) – would be fine with a taller front end. Bit more on this thread …. http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/bikepacking-colour-choice-poll-help-me-decide

Improvements? I’m going for a bigger bag on the bars (up from 8l to 13l). Looking for a secure side entry bottle cage so I can get a bit more weight off my back. Later on will probably look for a full frame bag but that can wait.

Now the obligatory photos:

Bike and bags:

21-P5042197 by Simon_R, on Flickr

Bike and bags again …

30-P5042206 by Simon_R, on Flickr

Welsh Ride thing bivvy site (slightly dodgy tarp set up!)

15-P5042191 by Simon_R, on Flickr

Big skies

27-P5042205 by Simon_R, on Flickr

Room with a view:

09-P5252277 by Simon_R, on Flickr

Great spot ….

14-IMG_1863 by Simon_R, on Flickr

Stuck with a couple of problems.

1) I’ve got my sleeping bag in a bar mouted bag with a DIY made harness, but the tyre buzzes when the fork compresses. Would paying for one solve this or is it just a problem for 29er’s? I can mount it on top but it’s not too stable (but didn’t fall off on a short ride, just wobbles a lot).

2) Those of you just strapping the drybag to the saddle/seatpost, what are you packing in it, I’ve ended up with all the loose stuff in there (sleeping bag on bars as it’s lightest, tent in frame bag as it’s heaviest). So that leaves clothes, food, cooking stuff, and sleeping mat. The mat gives some shape, but not enough to stop it rattling and setling down and falling off.

Lets talk sleeping bags, I have an alpkit 800orsomethinglikethat which is lovely and warm but I am paranoid about getting it wet so unless its freezing or I have a tent it gets left behind, I also have DD hammocks sleeping bag purchased on a whim, its heavy and bulky when packed but I like the top opening zip because I am always to warm and I like the waterproof footbox because J canstand up in it and get into the hammock or wriggle into the bivvy without bothering about getting it muddy.

Neither of them are particularly great in summer as I get to hot and end up sleeping on them rather than in them, they are also not tiny packed.

I was thinking 2 season bag as I will have a down jacket with me anyway but also wondering about quilts and even consider just sewing some pertex to a very fluffy blanket and using that.

Thoughts.

tyre buzzes when the fork compresses

Which make of drybag are you using?
Alpkit ones are a bit sausage roll shaped and so end up being quite long. Maybe try an exped one which are round, which will give you the same capacity but in a smaller size.
Also depends on what size drybag. 8l should be plenty for summer use.

Both are podsacs bags. The 10l one takes the bag with room for a bivi bag or jacket too, the 7l bag barely holds the sleeping bag, has to be sat on to compress it enough to roll the top over, but it is the compression type so once rolled there’s another splashproof layer keeping water out.

I might try an alpkit one on that basis if they’re longer and thinner. Or do you mean sausage roll like this:

rather than a footlong of gregs finest reconstituted pork and pastry?

The sleeping bag itsef I’ve no idea how warm it’s supposed to be, it’s pretty old, but it is down so replacing like for like would be expensive, but buying a less bulky bag might be the nuclear option, I’m rarely cold in it, but then I rarely use it outside of summer.

I was thinking 2 season bag as I will have a down jacket with me anyway but also wondering about quilts and even consider just sewing some pertex to a very fluffy blanket and using that.

A Buffalo summer bag might suit you, Pertex and pile, centre zip, waterproof(ish) and not too heavy.

More like this:
Not round, but long a thin in the profile. I always find they rotate and point down through use, which may make things worse for you.

Ahh, I see what you mean.

Might work, the strap guide thingies on the alpkit bags might hold them up.

Got the smaller podsack bag to try first, just means transfering even more stuff to a seatpack.

Turned up today, not just stories but advice and ideas
10/10 from me

I saw him talk at the mountainfilm film festival in edinburgh I liked his attitude!

Given up trying to DIY a saddle bag harness, seems to alternate between prototypes that either settle down and loosen or are too wobbly to start with, is there anything comparable to the Alpkit Koala bag (on price and size), but in stock?

Seeing as I can only just squeeze a sleeping bag under the bars it needs to be big-ish to take

Alpkit 3/4 mat,
myti mug and stove
food
clothes (spare riding kit + down jacket)

The revelate one would fit the bill, but a few £ too many.

is there anything comparable to the Alpkit Koala bag (on price and size), but in stock?

Ive got a Wildcat Gear seat harness that holds a drybag. Ive used it with a 13l drybag though not sure if you’d get all that kit into it, especially the mat. Have you tried rolling your sleeping bag in the sleeping mat? Lot of us do that as it helps make compacting the bag easier.

Anyhoos – linky below for the Wildcat harness.

http://www.wildcatgear.co.uk/shop/seat-systems/wildcat-gear-tiger/

but the tyre buzzes when the fork compresses.

This is less likely to be 29er related, and more likely to be stack height related. The maximum size bag is clearly going to be a function of the stack height, bikes with a really low stack will buzz when the forks compress. The bloke I rode the WRThing with had this very issue with a wildcat harness – not Wildcats fault, it strapped everything up perfectly, but the distance from handlebars to crown wasn’t big enough for a dry bag.

Those of you just strapping the drybag to the saddle/seatpost, what are you packing in it,

I tend to roll stuff up in my sleeping bag or in my mat – out front is the sleeping bag, with stuff for the night rolled into it (spare socks, food etc. out back is the sleeping mat, with suff for the night in it (more food, bivvi bag), in the frame bag is stuff I might want in the day plus cooking kit and repair stuff.

Last weekend, I set off with a mate up to Edinburgh to cycle Sustrans Coast & Castles north route from Edinburgh to Aberdeen.

The route itself is pretty flat, bar a few hills and steady drags. It’s a nice route, mainly tarmac with the odd gravel section (Kinross and along from Montrose). It’s a nice scenic route with plenty of towns along the way to stop off at. A cross bike or road bike with sturdy tyres is ideal for the route. My mate had 25mm road tyres and had a couple of punctures.

Kit wise, I travelled my lightest yet – SMD Lunar Solo, Neoair Xlite, Exped pillow, Lifeventure Downlight 660 bag, 1 pair riding kit, shorts, T shirt and socks for off the bike (forgot to pack undies so went commando!) Montane Fireball smock and Montane single track jacket, tools etc on bike. All carried in 2 dry bags, deter frame bag and a montane bat pack.

We camped at campsites to make things slightly less daunting for my mate who’s first trip it was. This worked well as we were able to leave the bikes locked up at the site and head into town for dinner and drinks. Train connections were great (they run the length of the route). On the Sunday night, we grabbed a train back into Edinburgh and stayed in a hostel by the station which meant that we could do some sightseeing on the Monday before returning home.

Day 1 we rode from Edinburgh to Kinross (approx 35 miles), day 2 was 80 miles from Kinross to Montrose and day 3 around 45 miles into Aberdeen:

[url=https://flic.kr/p/o6Ad7W]IMAG0312[/url] by DKNWHY, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/o6pGye]IMG_1192[/url] by DKNWHY, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/nPdGay]IMG_1206[/url] by DKNWHY, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/o6H5Jr]IMG_1190[/url] by DKNWHY, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/nPdECM]IMG_1213[/url] by DKNWHY, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/nPdoNS]IMG_1195[/url] by DKNWHY, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/o6H1e4]IMAG0317[/url] by DKNWHY, on Flickr

More pictures on my flickr stream:

https://flic.kr/s/aHsjYxzauP

It was (just gone) the solstice so I took time out for a wee loop around bits of the Cairngorms.

http://www.blog.scotroutes.com/2014/06/twa-lairigs.html

Can’t say I really recommend the Lairig Ghru with a bike (though everyone should do it once)

Has anyone tried the Karrimor bivvy bag?
Looking for a cheap, summer, dry weather only option but something that will keep my down bag dry.

Mountain Warehouse are doing cheap bivvy bags. I got one as a bit of a spare/back-up option. Much lighter and smaller packed than my expensive RAb Event one – but I’m betting a lot less breathable too.

Is anyone bikepacking/bivvying in or around the North East? If so, fancy letting me tag along? I’m not a dick, honest.

Suffering huge mojo losses at the minute, hoping company will resurrect it.

put up a post on the BearBones forum

Can’t remember my login details!

Can’t remember my login details!

An email in the right direction could sort that out: stuart@bearbonesbikepacking.co.uk

Have read this entire thread over the last week – inspiring stuff from everyone who’s contributed. Intend to set off down the Celtic Route West in October. Currently working out just how much of my kit should be waterproof!

…is there anything comparable to the Alpkit Koala bag (on price and size), but in stock?

I was wondering this myself, is it just Alpkit or Wildcat? Nobody else makes anything similar?

I’m still working my way through this thread from the beginning, so apologies if this has been covered already and I haven’t got to it yet, but can you get patterns for making seat packs etc.?
I know a few people make their own gear, so is it done by trial and error, or are you making copies of someone else’s design?

I was wondering this myself, is it just Alpkit or Wildcat? Nobody else makes anything similar?

Apidura, Revelate, bikepack.pl are similar designs and price points.

Plenty of people do make there own, but its generally from scratch and having to make it up as you go along.

Depends if you have the skills/patience/spare fabric as otherwise it could just be as easy/expensive to buy one

I’ve got one of the Apidura seat packs, a little bit more than the Alpkit & Wildcat ones but very nicely put together and works really well.

https://www.apidura.com/product/saddle-pack-compact/

I emailed Tori (the owner) and she was really quick at getting back to me about stock levels, etc.