Chipps – you can always pitch the tarp in the beer garden 😉
Notice you’ve got no cooking stuff there which saves a bit if you can aim for civilisation each night.

Tiger – we’re aiming to do a small run of these in time for the WRT, so don’t worry.

James – I don’t secure the bike to the ground first and the tension in the fabric and guy lines holds it in place. A bit tricky to erect to begin with, but perfectly do-able in 5 mins or so. If it was very windy pitch, I would pass the guy line over the top of the wheel, back round under the rim and through the tarp loop again before tightening up against the peg – this would make the bike less likely to slip if the tension in the tarp reduces in a gust. Various ways of doing it – clove hitch is another example.

tiger frame bags – do you mean Wildcat? Things are likely to get rolling again early June, after the Welsh Ride Thing. In the meantime, the email channel is open to get some idea on options/ costs: http://www.singletrackworld.com/members/wildcat

There was some discussion last night as to whether we should put the tarps up at all, though I was glad to shelter from the cool evening breeze under mine in the end. For reference, we were over 600m height.

As valleydaddy says, it was a bit of a kit test in advance of WRT with the aim of becoming a bit more practiced in being self sufficient, albeit with some company.

No problem Pete – it was a pleasure 🙂

OK, here’s a quick picture summary of our short Brecon Beacons trip:

Riding up 5 mile climb:
[/url]
IMG_0076[/url] by ianbarrington[/url], on Flickr

Is that a Wildcat Handlebar harness?
[/url]
IMG_0079[/url] by ianbarrington[/url], on Flickr

Climbing the Gap:
[/url]
DSCN0559[/url] by ianbarrington[/url], on Flickr

My compact and bijou Integral Siltarp:
[/url]
IMG_0083[/url] by ianbarrington[/url], on Flickr

The Flat One’s behemoth of a tarp, the Alpkit Rig 7:
[/url]
IMG_0084[/url] by ianbarrington[/url], on Flickr

Sunrise:
[/url]
IMG_0092[/url] by ianbarrington[/url], on Flickr

Keeping up to date with the the bivi thread:
[/url]
DSCN0573[/url] by ianbarrington[/url], on Flickr

More about this later…:
[/url]
DSCN0579[/url] by ianbarrington[/url], on Flickr

Breakfast:
[/url]
IMG_0099[/url] by ianbarrington[/url], on Flickr

Packing up:
[/url]
IMG_0106[/url] by ianbarrington[/url], on Flickr

Leaving camp:
[/url]
DSCN0581[/url] by ianbarrington[/url], on Flickr

Home-ward bound:
[/url]
DSCN0583[/url] by ianbarrington[/url], on Flickr

Sweet (cheeky) descent:
[/url]
DSCN0584[/url] by ianbarrington[/url], on Flickr

Ian

Bivi trip was good. Will post more pics later, but here’s one from first thing this morning

[/url]
Sunrise[/url] by ianbarrington[/url], on Flickr

Oh, Page 39 too 😀

Go on Ian, give us a kit list run down

Integral Siltarp, 1.5mm dynemma lines, mini line-locks, 4 Ti V-pegs, 6 Ti wire pegs 306
Alpkit Hunka 390
Thermarest NeoAir Short 261
Granite Gear Airbag #2 14
Rab Quantum 200 527
Alpkit Padded Cell #4 46
Loo Roll 22
Black Diamond Ion headtorch 26
iPhone 4 & case 155
Tibetan 550, Lifeventure 450 mug, Vargo Triad, Livestrong band, Caldera Clone 212
Fruit Shoot bottle – 250ml 233
Tibetan Lhoon 16
Matches, water purification 55
Assos Leg Warmers 117
Endura Arm Warmers 64
Long sleeve zip neck Merino top – Ice Breaker 203
Lowe Alpine trunks 66
Extremities Powderlite Beanie 21
Total Gear 2734g

Food
Co-op Cous Cous
Ainsley’s soup
Noodles
Porridge
Chocolate
Tea bags
Hot chocolate
Peanuts
411g

Haven’t included a hip flask actually, will have to see if I have room…

LOL, it remains to be seen how comfortable a nights sleep I get or how hungry I am in the morning 😉

Got my kit together for this afternoon – 3145g, inc food 8)

Food bags – Lansinoh breast milk storage bags look quite good – they have ml graduations on the side and everything 🙂

13 Hobbits – Tandem Jeremy

What happened to the other 9 – did they get eaten by the Orcs?

Hoping to recreate the same tomorrow night

Did a quick recce this afternoon and we should be afforded the most excellent view. Just hope the haze goes a little.

Back in the days when I did Polaris regularly, I’d spend about 5-10 mins planning routes of up to 80 miles for the day. You can spend too long looking at maps sometimes 😕

Tiger – pity you can’t make it. See you at the WRT I guess?

what sort of overall weight is everyone’s kit packed including food for one night?

Gear 2285g
Clothing 1330g (scope to reduce this depending on conditions)
Food 512g

How much are you lot spending per year to get an invite to this private member thing? I’ve spent a small fortune over the years and have never received a discount code or some such thing from CRC ever 😕

lol at Rickos

Tiger – I’ve mailed you the details.

Edit – it was all the flat one’s idea, blame him 😉

Wales’ A&E’s are listed here: http://www.wales.nhs.uk/ourservices/directory/Hospitals
Takes a little bit of interpretation as only lists hospital names and not the towns they are in.

Conti Race King 2.2″ last year. No change for this year.

I had Ignitors on the 29er before – found the grip very good, but they didn’t roll quite as well as the Race Kings.

Two weeks until the grid references are released 😀

Have ordered myself a 21t sprocket in anticipation of the route heading northwards towards Dyfi Forest area.

Getting excited now 🙂

edit: page 4, get in…

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.

WRT is great, just not long enough

Have you thought about actually doing it? 😉

WRT is a nice balance. Last year despite 50 or so riders I was on my own after about 45 minutes and remained like that until meeting IanB in a bothy hours later. The next day I saw one rider all day until the finish.

Similar experience here. I rode with Flatfish for the first hour or so, then solitude to Claerddu. It was looking like a lonely even unti you turned up. Following day I rode all day without speaking to anyone – saw flatfish again at a distance on Monks Trod, but that was it.

There’ll be around 90 riders on this years WRT

Which makes it at least as popular as the TD 8)

edit – Scottish Divide looks really cool. /goes off to have a look at the maps of Wales…

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 🙂

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!

Anthony, that sort of thing usually happens to me.
It would be wrong to order one from George Fisher and send it back to Winwood wouldn’t it?

Blimey, you lot are tetchy this afternoon. I quote a statement from the horses mouth and people still say it’s rubbish 🙄

Even if Ray Mears spends half his sleeping nights outside, it’s quite good I reckon. I only caught the tale end of the interview, but in the bit I did listen to he says that is what he does for a living – learning about different survival techniques around the world. He said he felt extremely privileged to be able to do it and how it was something he’d been interested in when he was a boy.

Ray Mears spends something like 250 nights/year sleeping outside (according to a Radio 5 interview a few weeks back). More often than not, he’s sleeping under something he’s put together himself. Plus he spends much of his time in parts of the world more extreme than Wales or Scotland.

Tents vs Tarps is a personal preference, and as with most gear choices there are lots of options available. I’m not saying tarps are better than tents in all instances, but don’t dismiss tarps if it’s a bit wet and windy as there are configurations that offer a good deal of protection if you practice them (though I’m not an expert in this field by any means).

Boblo – I’ll think about it. I have my eye on some PHD stuff, so it would fund that I suppose.

edit – Boblo: yes, my tarp inc lines and 10 pegs weighs 306g. My Hunka isn’t the lightest at 340g – if you could be confident of reasonable weather, a Rab Alpine Lite is only 200g, which would save a whole pound over a tent – even a Photon.

Midges – Gossamer Gear bug canopy – 85g, or buy a bivi bag with a built in bug net, like a Rab or something.

Page 10/11 has a good account of tarps and why some prefer them as opposed to tents. I also have a Laser Photon – never used it. I’ve not yet found an occasion where I’m expecting to camp out in weather bad enough to warrant a tent, though I’m loath to sell it. {edit: it was bought for a Polaris, just before they axed the proper overnight wilderness camp style events 🙁 }

I’ve bivied in very cold and quite wet, but the tarp has still seemed the right choice for being flexible and offering me much more space and convenience for cooking and a greater feeling of being out in the wilderness. I’ve had to learn a fair bit about tarp set-up particularly in worse weather, but it hasn’t put me off using tarps.

Also, my siltarp weighs 306g and my Hunka 340g. Still sufficiently lighter than a photon 😀

Tarp is the Alpkit Rig[7]. Which is out of stock.

Or, for 20 notes more, the Integral Siltarp – as featured on page 30.

Stoves – Meths for peace and quiet and ligher weight, but slower to boil. You can make your own, or buy something like a Whitebox stove for <£20.
Gas is you’re in a hurry and don’t mind the weight and the noise.

Sleeping bags – everyone has something different to suit their intended uses. Synthetic is easier to care for, doesn’t matter (so much) if it gets damp and can be washed easily, but they’re usually heavier and more bulky, though cheaper. Snugpak are a good choice to start with. I’d suggest going for a lighter weight bag and layering with clothes or a liner to suit prevailing temps, rather than buying a very warm bag and boiling in it on a warm night. Pick a down bag if you want lighter, smaller and more expensive (for a good one).

a summery

Like this:

😉

@valleydaddy – I think if you going to call it the Welsh Ride Thing Singletrack World Bivi Club, you should have a Welsh flag?

Right – I have a baby to burp, and then I’m off to bed.

Quick question for the tarpists out there: midge nets – what do people use?

I have an Alpkit Hunka which is a open around the face area and a bit prone to the flying teeth.
Must be something out there which just covers the facial area?

Isn’t the Ascent about 600g?

bugger you got page 31…

@ flatfish – is the alpine bivi the one you have?

Post #1200

@ flatfish – Nobody. Just thought I’d try and be constructive… You know me well enough anyway 🙂

@Bigface – yes, that’s what I was aiming at, only in many more words, and possibly with a greater degree of mis-interpretation.

Stu, I’ve given this some thought over the last few hours, and my considered response is this:

Informal arrangements usually end up being ineffective in my experience and/or only a few end up being completely committed which negates the need for a club in some respects. As far as information resource is concerned, there are several good places on the internet already (STW, bikepacking.net, Bikepacking UK, ACA etc) where info on bikepacking is easily accessible to read or contribute too, and to concentrate on added info to these places rather than creating new ones would be better I think. Forums such as this only attract a handful of contributors compared to the number of individuals that actually visit, and the tags above suggest some of the readership don’t take it too seriously anyway. Contrary to this, you have 75+ people wanting to do the WRT.

Perhaps I’ve mis-interpreted your intentions, but I’ve seen small/ exclusive clubs fail pretty quickly after the initial bust of enthusiasm. I’d undoubtedly join if one was set up, but my expectations wouldn’t be that high over and above what we have achieved within the context of this thread: a couple of pre-planned bivvy trips, exchange of gear usage/ ideas and the promotion of an annual event, namely the WRT.

In this respect, perhaps we have an informal club already?

Ian