Top products from r/bikepacking

I like these wet wipes a lot. They get very high marks for biodegrading/composting quickly and they're actually flushable unlike many brands of wipes.

I wouldn't overthink your first aid kit too much. Bring along some cloth medical tape, a bandanna, and some NSAIDs and you'll have enough of a kit to deal with injuries at least until you can get real medical help. If you are blister-prone one or two pieces of this paper will be plenty for your trip.

I'm not sure on the legality of this in the UK but I would also consider a small folding knife a good addition to your first aid kit.

I like to bring along a pair of sandals or something similar for camp shoes. It REALLY hurts wearing the same shoes all day.

You might also want to buy a small hand torch if you plan to make camp after dark. This is the one I just picked up.

A food bag like this would be good for snacks - I would just stuff it in the webbing above your seat pack.

Sorry for all the amazon links. Your setup looks great. Beautiful bike!

Not aliexpress, but I bought this $15 frame bag from Amazon, intending for it just to last me a trip or two until I decided whether bikepacking is something I really enjoy, in which case I would buy a higher-quality (and expensive) Revelate or whatever. Four years and a lot of use later, it's still in great shape.

The Large fits my size-medium Surly Ogre perfectly.

I'm got an alcohol stove, GSI Tea Kettle, and a titanium spork. I take a little aluminum cup that I use for instant coffee/tea but I've been thinking about getting a sea to summit xmug because they pack down nice. One of my favorite things is a little table by cascade wild.

One of the tours that I want to do (and where a stable bike maybe useful) is the Bavarian Beer Tour. It is something like https://www.eurobike.at/en/destinations/bike-tours-germany/bavarian-beer-tour-9-days . That is on fast roads though so I may end up taking my roadie there. There are plenty of interesting rides on this book Epic Rides of the World:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Epic-Bike-Rides-World-Thrilling/dp/1760340839/ and I hope to do at least a few of those with this bike.

You can add Anything cages with 3 set of these. I did this on my carbon fork and so far it's working great.

To add some space in my frame bag, I took my spare tube and wrapped it around my front hub and secured it with electrical tape. Every little bit helps.

For some reference I fit my entire sleeping system into a Regular Handlebar Bag which consists of:

Tent not freestanding $90
Sleeping Pad $50
Sleeping Bag $114
Silk Liner $40? can't remember

Picture of bike packed up, I can fit some clothes in the front as well. Everything else goes into the saddle bag.
Running drop bars will limit how worthwhile the handle bar bag is unless you pile stuff on top of the drops then you'll have ton of carry capacity.

Look at the Martin Backpacker guitar. It’s a lot more packable and sounds surprisingly good given its small body.
Martin Steel String Backpacker Travel Guitar with Bag https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000P63U74/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_izmqDbZGHTSW0

You can strap on a mount. Something like SKS-Germany 11313 Anywhere Bicycle Attachment Water Bottle Mount https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZFHW1MI/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_dWj1Bb65JJR07

Or one of the Blackburn cages could be held on with a hose clamp and rubber backing.

Check out RJ the bike guy, he has a video using the hose clamps for a cage.

I have two cheapie Bell ones from Wal-Mart to hold water bottles. They've held up on two trips over 250 miles so far.

Edit: a pic of the cages

http://imgur.com/gallery/fC3MWTm

Or https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000TPC7HU if you don't like black ;-)

I'd also recommend taping the entire bike with it anyway because paint chips even more quickly when you bikepack haha. (Or at least, the down tube and the chainstays in addition to where the bags touch the frame)

An alternative is the Bikamper which uses the front wheel to support one end and the handlebars for the other. I saw someone using one of these. Looked a little fiddly and slower than setting up my tent. About the size of a coffin, no thanks I'll be spending a lot of time in one later.

I got these for each fork leg and they have been great. Not the best bottle cage, but the mounts can handle anything. Two mounts for an anything cage is fine. I used the cage under my down tube with two bolts for months.

Ok, here are the numbers:

Tarp: 522 grams. (Without mounting rope, so add approx. 10-20m of paracord to the weight, 65-130 grams).

Hammock: 412 grams.

Mounting hardware for hammock: 212 grams. Those with the buckles sawed off plus two wooden sticks for a marlinspike hitch. Doesn't flex, doesn't move around on the tree at all when wrapped twice. 10 m total, very versatile. Usually long enough to be used as ridgeline as well and hold up the mosquito net.

Sleeping Bag: Cheap Quechua Forclaz 10, 1070 grams, Sleeping mat is the thin one from Decathlon with 215 grams.

Amounts to a total of 2496 grams. I think it will be hard to beat with a tent.

I highly recommend this book: http://www.amazon.com/Hungry-Hikers-Book-Good-Cooking/dp/061565262X

I used these on the Arizona Trail and they actually worked really well:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0144NTZOU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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And this:

http://www.bedrockbags.com/gear/honaker-nalgene-bag

Compression sack + sleeping bag straps. Depending on what compression sack you want, you could probably finagle the straps on the around your bars, then tighten it on so you wouldn't even need the straps. My alps cyclone bag could easily do that.

something like this should allow you to mount cages to your fork

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ZFHW1MI/ref=sxbs_sxwds-stvpv2_1?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=2708083022714283574&pd_rd_wg=0g1oA&pf_rd_r=KMM3YKT0XBZ1G73EHA1R&pf_rd_s=desktop-sx-bottom-slot&pf_rd_t=301&pd_rd_i=B00ZFHW1MI&pd_rd_w=1egZK&pf_rd_i=king+cage&pd_rd_r=393285c5-9253-4e60-8def-890243a4406f&ie=UTF8&qid=1527092441&sr=1

I’ve stayed in the same hotel on the first and last nights of my trip and had them store the box (a Trico IronCasefor me. A few years ago I left from a different city than I started in, so I shipped the box (again, the IronCase) to myself at the hotel I was staying at the night before I flew out. When I did a trip in Europe last year I took a leap of faith and put my bike in a plastic bag for the flight over and back. It packed down small enough that I could stuff it into a large Royal Mail envelope and send it to the airport hotel. (My bike was fine, but the bag was totaled when I got back to Chicago, so I just stuffed it in a trash can and wheeled my bike through the airport.) In all cases I communicated with with the hotel way in advance, at the time I made my reservation.

The Wolf Tooth B-Rad system works well. Then again, so does electrical tape.

>Those Mountain House dehydrated meals only have about 400 calories a bag

Skip the bag, save some money and buy a can. I'm trying this and a large carton of hash browns for a 4 day trip next month.

I'm going to dump the contents of both into their own gallon sized ziplock bags.


https://www.amazon.com/GOLDEN-Premium-Hashbrown-Potatoes-Servings/dp/B0051HHUL4/ref=sr_1_2_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1493732285&sr=8-2&keywords=hash+browns

https://www.amazon.com/Mountain-House-Lasagna-Meat-Sauce/dp/B000M7V1AE/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&qid=1493732250&sr=8-22&keywords=mountain+house

I was able to fit these on my bike (same one but a year older). It took a little bit of finagling, and the plastic was snug up against the frame, but it worked for a very wet trip of a few hundred miles. I would consider this a semi-disposable option tbh.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000X5ZK66/

Amazon, most hardware or automotive stores would have some variant. It goes by a bunch of different names. This is one example:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000TPC7HU/

You really need to read The Dispossessed.

Depends on the ride:

• S240 - Starbucks doubleshot, and then plan on sit down coffee when I get back into town.
  
• Solo single cups - A mix of Medaglia D'Oro instant espresso and Mt Hagen instant coffee
  
• Group trips Ortlieb pour over kit

Seam Grip +WP

I do this. I have a $15 frame bag in which I put food, stove, repair gear, etc. Then I pack a 20L dry bag with sleeping bag, clothes, etc. (stuff I really don't want to get wet) and strap it and my thermarest to my rear rack. Finally, I strap my tent to my handlebars (Jones H-bars). I also have a small "gas tank" bag in which I put my phone, wallet, and snacks. I keep meaning to take a photo of the packed bike but haven't remembered to yet.

EDIT: Note that while my bike is all-terrain, I haven't done any serious off-roading with this setup. Mostly dirt, gravel, and crushed stone. Also, I strap them down with these stretchy rubber belts that my wife found somewhere - like a belt you would wear to hold up your pants, but made out of rubber. I find them much more secure than bungees. Found them.

EDIT#2: I have a Surly Ogre so it has braze-ons everywhere. My water bottles go on either side of my front forks, plus one more beneath the down tube.