The current Ay-up run at 400 lumens and the current joystick is 300 lumens if I remember correctly. So the ay up should be brighter. I do like the idea of the adjustable twin beam on the light pod – but does it make a difference.

Discounted the diablo due to the low run times on high, and on medium it’s the same as the joystick.

Def would be the Gekco mount I’d be having.

For the helmet – would people def go for the narrow optic rather than the intermediate??

Emailed them and they said – ‘no plans to upgrade the LEDs in the near future, but will be offering more lumens at the expense of run times by running them at 700 ma rather than the usual 500ma’.

Just making sure there are no horror stories out there before I buy :0)

Omm cypher event – 240g nuff said. Way betterer than hagolfs Oz as it’s event not paclite.

Pair of fell running trainers…………going to enter a multi event race

Huge thanks Jamie.

Whim purchase coming up……

Thanks Dez but thats the 5 off 50 voucher, I need the £5 off £25 voucher that is received by email.

Hoping someone might have one spare.

Just in case one of the morning crew can help me out

Anybody?

Ian – email me and I can send you a pic of the set up

I do but I don’t do online pic hosting so can’t post.

Just try google for golite lair 1 review. It’s an A frame tarp that’s enclosed at one end, I’ve mod’ed it to lose a bit of weight and made a beak for the front if the rain or wind changes direction. I prefer it to my sub kilo tent as I like the fact that you don’t feel enclosed and trapped like a bivi bag but can still see the views unlike a zipped up tent.

How well does any shelter cope with a full storm?

Like any shelter it’s how and where you pitch it is the key. I do own and have used a full 4 season winter mountain tent in full storm conditions.
A single hooped pole tent – terra nova laser etc are 3 season tents. But if you pitch them correctly and in the right place they will cope with a lot, just like my fitted tarp.

oh… and of course I substitute my 400g sleeping bag for a 800g sleeping bag if its going to be cold. It would be silly not too.

But I do boost my 400g sleeping bags warmth by wearing my primaloft jacket if its slightly colder than expected. Otherwise you’d be carrying ‘dead’ weight.

especially as it does not cater for any contingencies.

Contingencies are a funny thing, do you pack or dont you.

My kit list is based on years of mountaineering in the Alps etc. The French guys out there climb with 15l day sacs, while the Brits (things are changing rapidly but) pack for the contingencies, so go in with big packs. The French will do the route in a day, while because the Brits carry more gear the route takes longer with and increased chance being caught out and the contingencies coming true. Its a risk but a calculated one. Check out Andy Kirkpatricks thoughts for more on this type of modern thinking.

I think mountain biking is a few years behind the modern ‘fast and light’ thinking in sports such as fell running, adventure racing and mountaineering. And I think people are getting to hung up on whats in or out of my kit list.

Think of it as more of a mindset. Take your average mountain biker riding his/hers ‘normal’ bike and normal bag. If you could carry just 5lb of extra kit in your bag and an extra 5lb on your bike (which takes mine up to 30lb – still less than a lot of peoples ‘normal’ mountain bike) and be able to stay out for a night or two. Then that’s got to be win, win.

The effect of that increase in weight has very little effect on your riding, and means you can stay out and do more for longer.

Oh..I dont live in Scotland and if i did then maybe my kit would be slightly different, not by much. I don’t like the idea of packing for things that ‘might’ happen.

I live next to the Peak and ride a lot in the Lakes and North Wales. These places if you do a long ride you inevitably go past shops, post offices and pubs – so why not use them for refills. Within an hours ride you can be in away from houses or people and in your own wilderness for the night (so not using as a cheaper alternative to B&B next to a pub – i’d go car camping for that)but you don’t have to lug the extra weight for the whole ride. Makes sense to me.

1l of water is again not for a day, refilled plenty of times from pubs, campsites, shops etc. People are friendly if you ask. Just make sure I have 1l with me at the end of the day.

That list covers the kit needed to live outdoors over night. So tools would be on top.
That food doesnt get me through 50-70km of riding your right, that is an evening meal and a brew in the morning. I’ve never encountered a situation that you don’t go past a shop or bakery on a long ride for day food (yes I know in the sticks of north Scotland it might happen but it has yet to for me). Same as calling into the pub for an evening pint before setting up camp on the fells.

Ground sheet is a home made bathtub one made from spinaker. I hate bivi bags so the fitted tarp is bigger and more comfortable.

Lightweight can be comfortable, just a different comfortable to car camping. It is about the riding and camping for me.

Bag
Omm Jirisica – 600g
Frame Bag – 100g

Tarp (loads of room for 1 and kit and storm worthy)
GoLite Lair 1 – 300g
Easton Carbon FX Poles (118/78cm) + Brace Pole – 90g
Alpkit Ti Pegs (10x 6g) – 60g
Ground Sheet -90g

Cooking
Snow peak ti stove – 80g
Snow peak ti pot (foil lid) – 110g
Pour and Go Food Bag – 5
Foldable Spork – 16g
100g 40/60 Butane/Propane – 200g
Dried fruits/nuts/super noodles/cup a soup – 500g
Chilli/garlic oil/ salt/pepper/tea/milk – 100g
Hipflask (lexan) – Nice strong Whiskey – 350g
Water + Bag – 1l water + Platiplus flexible bag – 1025g

Sleeping
Pacific Outdoors Ether Elite 6 – full length mat – 400g
Rab Quantum Top – 400g
Silk Liner – 100g
Big Agnes Cyclone Chair Kit – 165g

Clothing
Waterproof – Omm Cypher Event Smock – 240g
Insulation – Rab Xenon – 300g
Merino Baselayer – 100g
Silk Leggings – 100g
Buff – 10g
Merino Beanie – 60g

Other
Bog Paper – 5g
Chewing gum – 5g

That little lot comes to 5.5kg and includes the weight of the bags your carrying it in too.
If I want to take a 1 man tent add another 400g.
2-3 Days – just add a spare pair of lycra shorts, restock food at a shop

Very comfy Infact that includes whiskey and a camping chair.

Will sort list soon but it’s in excel so will have to convert

The conclusion I have come is that you do one or the other. If you want to carry camping gear then forget having fun on the singletrack. Carry enough kit so the camping is comfortable then the bike riding is spoilt. Strip your camping kit to the minimum and the cycling is still compromised (if not so much) but the camping is uncomfortable. So nowadays I stick to the easier offroad stuff if I want to camp

I’m sorry I don’t believe that at all, with careful selection of the right lightweight kit, and the correct spread of weight over the rider and bike (I currently use a frame bag and lightweight OMM rucsack). Then you can attack and enjoy the trails as much as you can without the kit on a ‘normal’ ride.

I have all my kit down to a weight of around ~5kg this includes, everything to sleep, shelter, eat (hot cooked food) drink and relax.
It would ruin the riding experience for me if I could not ride the trails fast and include all the usual drops and technical riding.

In the Peak camping that includes trails like the Beast, Potato Alley and Jacobs Ladder ridden at the same speed as I would on a normal ride.

I have used my new Revelate Designs seat pack yet but this can only help in the even distribution of weight between rider and bike.

For me the difference between bikepacking and bike touring is easy. Mine it doesn’t matter if it’s off road or on road. You carry your home with you on both but:

Bike touring – I use panniers
Bikepacking – I don’t (so even more super minimal)

I must of made about 20 of those stoves for me and all my friends. Can do one in about 10 minutes now.

Search on Outdoorsmagic for Capitain Paranoia instructions.

Ace little things

Great post and looks like a supurb trip with great weather.

Still not had chance to try my new revelate designs kit yet, just a mixture of diy and searching out new trails in the woods this weekend.

Next hard frost and I’ll be out!

Mrmo – not aimed at you at all.

Just saying the fact that the whole road world has gone silly recently with stiffness in frames and forks and everything else. Plus <16lb bikes.

Mountain bike geometry has changed in epic terms but road bikes in the 80s felt right and still do (I’m 30 btw so was not around 1st time round but have road plenty of older frames and still do).

I ride a beautiful lugged 1986 Gazelle Champion Mondial 753 by choice. I’m no retrobike lover either, steel if done right is comfy, stiff enough for any non pro, light and so so so not out of date.

Lighter, stiffer and more areo

for 2.5k

What a load of tosh, sanme as the guy who thinks 19lb is heavy for a road bike (nice bike btw – would love an early lemond) Unless you have a fat to body weight percentage of <15% and huge bulging legs then it’s all a load of crap.

The road world is not like mtb with slack geometry and 150mm on a hardtail.

Stiff road bikes seem like the worse nightmare imaginable. Do you need the stiffnesss for your regular Sunday road ride or are you a a world class rider who needs that extra acceleration out of the corner on that city centre crit race or that mountain breakaway, oh no prob not….

Has it stopped raining Spokebloke – must have by now……

Any pics of the proto head unit to so we can get an idea?

I wish people would give Whinstone Lee Tor and Cut Throat Bridge a break over the winter. We dont ride there from Nov – March for a reason.

Unless its frozen solid, its muddy and no fun to ride, so I dont know why people do.

It gets wider and wider every year and does not recover in the summer anymore either.

Wild Cat bag ordered – Care to expand and explain???

Email will be sent as soon as I get the okay on dates…

Well I think that it’s down to the Ay up or the mk5 joystick. Think price will seal it though £148 for the Ay up verses £115 for the joystick.

Think the Ay up will be brighter but by how much I’m not sure now. Ay up use 2 xp-e LEDs so about 400 lumens and the exposure is 1 xp-g so around 300 lumens. I think that’s right as I’m not aware that the Ay up use xp-g’s yet even on the upgrade is to make them the same as the current xp-e model.

The joystick does seem to have a lot of fans, there has to be a reason.

Yep, def a secondary light for twisty singletrack.

I def think for me the perfect helmet light would be a diablo with 2 led rather and 3. So you’ll get 500 odd lumens and a 2 hour run time on full all in the ‘joystick’ sized package. But it doesn’t exist…..yet

I think that’s whats putting me of the diablo that to use the full power you really need the extra battery, otherwise on medium its just a joystick.

Joystick and lack of cables is always a good thing, but for a similar cost the single Ay-up has more power, similar run time, yes it has cables but battery is small and light enough for it all to be on the helmet with a great mount. Just I’ve never used Ay up before, and I have used exposure and hope. Was there not warranty problems with Ay up at one point??

The joystick just seems low on power these days with the lumen explosion…….

Have to agree with TJ too. Perfect helmet light would be a exposure diablo type light – but why exposure didn’t put only 2 xp-g LEDs (a la lupine pico) and have 500-600 lumens and get a 2 – 2.5 hours on full in a joystick/diablo sized package. Now that would be ideal esp if it was sub £150. I’d buy one tomorrow.

Flatfish – thanks for the drybag info

On the tarp front I’m thinking more on the lines of this Tarp link

Interesting find those tarp clips though. I have a Hilleberg UL 3.5×2.9m tarp, I’ll see what shapes I can make if I use that to make a trailstar shaped tarp without sewing. Very interesting……

Oh – does anybody know a good dry bag around 13l that had a narrow/thin diameter?

Currently use a 8l on the handlebars but to go to a 13l means fatter rather than longer. I know epic designs make one but i forgot to order one with my lorder, so not worth it now due to postage.

Looked at Pod, alpkit, ortlieb etc but no luck

Anybody?

I dont use a bivy bag anymore, a well set up tarp with decent protection – I use a golite lair 1 and a homemade sinylon groundsheet with the airbed on top with a down bag – not had any problems so far even in windy wet conditions.

I am going to make my own tarp though as I reckon I can get more useable floor space with the bike as part of the structure for stability and bike safety, prob in conjuction with 1 pole.

I think the point is there is a place for both tent and tarp. But a once in a tent you are in an exclosed and small environment. A tarp gives you all the outside space feeling of a bivi but with more protection, you get to see the environment change around you which you don’t get in a tent.

I have both and prefer a tarp, but once the midges are around the tent comes out.

s8tannorms – just looking at your tarp again, very nice. It looks a bit like a zpaks hexamid.

Few questions – what tarp did you start with or was it just fabric? Did you sew/cut the tarp for the adjustments, or is it just folded and pegged out? Any closer pics?

That looks an ace bit of kit Slugwash – use a small snowpeak pot I bought 10 years ago.

Been looking at a Kelly type kettle myself – Kettle link from backpackinglight but just don’t think I can justify the cost or the availability of dry wood in a country where it rains so much. Very cool bit of kit though.

13th – you should try a Pacific Outdoor Ether elite (see Lightweight Outdoor blog for a review). Got one last year at it’s a Thermarest nano for half the cash (around £50 or less – paid £42 for mine). 400g full length packs up small too

Slugwash – what’s the pot your using in your pics – looks an odd shape?

Just been fettling my new epic designs sling on the bike a minute ago. Santa brought me that and the seatpack/waterproof liner. Going to order some of the posh fabric Eric uses for my mk11 frame bag. Going to be a good year 2011.

Think I’ve fully dialled my bikepacking set up now (although I still intend on making a new tarp before the spring arrives based on the mld trailstar – comparable weight and size but a total cost of £35 rather than £140).

Sounds good