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I've spent a night under the stars once before, but that was using shared kit and the costs were fairly low, apart from some extravagance on a frame bag for my mountain bike.
I'm now signed up to the Surley Gravel Dash (100 miler with an overnight) and would like to be self sufficient incase my ride partner (or more likely I) don't make it to the overnight stop. (it would be a pain to realise your shared tarp is now heading home at 60mph as you reach the campsite)
I know light and strong don't come cheap, but ouch! Its in late May and I'm thinking I will need a tarp, a bivvy bag, sleeping mat and one of those large seat bags. (I already have a sleeping bag, dry bags etc)
The cost of these little bits and bobs looks to come to about £250 if I'm careful, but could easily spend double that if I get suckered into the lighter stuff. (I've already spent £250 on a GPS that can navigate, and £100 on a synthetic down jacket (should have bought one years ago, its brilliant)!
So any tips on where to look and what I should be looking for for s '2 season' bivvy setup would be appreciated 🙂
Stu Offa bearbones also writes highly of the lomo seat pack.have a look in their classifieds too you'll probably be able to get a couple of decent bits of kit for good monies ,and also from his shop for stoves and tarp poles
Look at alpkit as well mate.
I've got the Lomo framebag I'd be happy to pass on if you want?
Used once. £15 if we're close enough for a handover?
DD Hammocks are worth a look for a tarp but think Lomo do one as well. Logo seem to be an excellent price on most things really.
You can get a cheap down sleeping bag from Millets/Blacks/Ultimate Outdoors for about £40 when you find your normal sleeping bag doesn't fit in the bag you want to put on your bars.
Otherwise, the cloud base mat (£45) and hunka xl (£46) both from Alpkit are pretty good. I've got a 3x3m DD Tarp I won't be using this year if you're SW london ish and want to borrow it. (I got a shiny Alpkit Rig 3.5 for my birthday)
There are no rules about putting the bag on your frame either - my brother had most of his kit in a rucksack last year.
P.S. See you there!
DD Hammocks for all your tarp needs. Well made tarps for great prices.
I read that the Gravel Dash is
Not a race bit a reliability trial
Which takes the pressure off the spend, lightweight doesn't always mean more reliable, have a had few delaminated mats regardless of cost. Cheap doesnt always mean absolutely crap either, as my old Argos hike light tent attested for many years.
I've done a few two seasons overnighters, total outlay of £100 including cook kit IIRC. Looking fwd to ditching the pannier/s and strapping stuff onto the bike. Thread here
https://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/budget-bikepacking-tips/
The Multimat Camper mat (Not 'Adventure' as in linked thread) is currently £13 @ Millets online. Weighs about half a kilo and packs small for a v comfy nights sleep.
I read that the Gravel Dash is
Not a race bit a reliability trial
Which takes the pressure off the spend, lightweight doesn’t always mean more reliable.
That's only said because you're not allowed to organise races on public rights of way. The lightweight/spend/efficiency/comfort compromise is still there just the same.
Pannier racks and bungee cords are still available. And cheap.
As a tightwad I can recommend:
Vango 3/4 sleeping mat is under £30
Army surplus bivi bag is £20 although its huge and not light it is very waterproof and breathable.
Its in summer and you have a down jacket so get a cheap sleeping bag and take some extra ronhills.
Everything else is discretional spending, you don't need a stove, GPS, and a million other bits. Just follow the person in front and drink cold water (or wait for someone to offer a brew or stick a Ti mug in the campfire).
Bikepacking is expensive in the same way single speeding is expensive if you have to buy a Chris king SS hub rather than a £15 spacer set.
If you get a tarp with a sufficient coverage you don't need a bivvy . . Go for a summer weight synthetic bag which won't be that warm but will offer relatively low bulk - Stay warm by sleeping in your jacket - And some warm thermal leggings - Cheap but half decent IMO are Uniqlo HeatTech . . The Marmot NanoWave bags can be picked up for about £60 - Regarding cheap sleeping pads I personally would stay away from inflatable as the cheap ones tend to be non insulated which can offer very little warmth - For this reason a closed cell foam just works although they are a bit bulky - Mylar/Space Blankets can boost mat efficiency - Maybe an inslated mat is the one area you could spend a bit more on ? I think a warm mat is one thing not worth compromising on . . So for £200 I'd spend £100 on a mat / £40 on tarp (DD3X3) and £60 on bag . .
Surely all self inflating mats are insulated, if there was no foam they wouldn't inflate (and would pack down a lot smaller).
The only non insulated ones I though are those ultralight balloon filled mats?
Pannier racks and bungee cords are still available. And cheap.
I still use pannier racks for longer camping trips, but for an overnighter... makes me wonder why I don't look to strap the mat and tent/bivvi on the bike? My single (roll-top) pannier and the Alpkit Mool (admittedly lightweight for a rack) still come in at around a kilo combined*
*on the kitchen scales.
The Multimat Camper (inflatable) has been fine for two season overnighters, I didnt notice being cold any more or less than the previous Thermarest and Alpkit self-inflaters, and tbh it's more comfortable IMO. But it doesnt weight half a kilo as I incorrectly stated , sorry, closer to 800gms, I just weighed it. I wouldnt justify spending £40 on the super light version just for the odd night bikepacking tho.
Gravel Dash 50:50 is pretty relaxed TBH. There'll be some mad gurning in the first hour then after Nine Barrow Down it all calms down a lot. Don't worry too much about having to have lots of super lightweight equipment, as there's plenty of time to get to the overnight, and Joel is cooking again (yay!) so the big things to think about are - will you arrive at the Sailor's return in Chaldon Herring before it opens? Will you wait, or go instead to the Moreton Tea Rooms...? One or two pints in the Fox at Anstey?
The campfire cook-up is really good, and Joel'll keep back food for those who are taking the scenic route and arrive later in the evening. Just remember to take a wooly hat and something warm and not too flammable for sitting around the campfire. And a hip flask.
Last year Joel made "Cowboy Beans" for brekkie, and there was a big urn of hot water for coffee, so you shouldn't need to carry any cooking equipment.
My first tarp was some Damp proof course, sleeping bag I had, all went in my climbing rucksack 🙂
A dry bag strapped to a pannier rack works also, you don't *need* the specific gear.
Can be done as cheap or expensive as you choose...
Sleeping under a DPM
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I know light and strong don’t come cheap, but ouch! Its in late May and I’m thinking I will need a tarp, a bivvy bag, sleeping mat and one of those large seat bags. (I already have a sleeping bag, dry bags etc)
But to be more helpful
Seatpack £22 - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/ROSWHEEL-Large-bike-packing-style-8-10-ltr-Seat-Pack-Saddle-Bag-universal-new-UK/382356379244
Tarp - Siltarp1 (I'll sell you mine for £35)
Mat - Karrimor Copy £35 https://www.sportsdirect.com/karrimor-jaguar-sleeping-mat-782038?colcode=78203890
Bag - MW £20 https://www.amazon.co.uk/Mountain-Warehouse-Bivvy-Sleeping-Bag/dp/B01BU0PN82
so £112 all up for a reasonable lightweight useable set up
A quick comment on sleeping mats/pads. As @noltae says it's the one area you really don't want to skimp on, when it's 100kg of fat, muscle and bone at 37.2C against several trillion, trillion, trillion tonnes of earth at 0C or colder, guess which one's going to win?
I noted on a thread on the BB forums that the price of the usual suspects (NeoAir and Exped) seem to have risen significantly in the last year or so from £80 to £130. There are other makes about, the thing you need to look at is the R-value which indicates the insulation value, the higher the better. Typically for a winter mat you should be looking at a value of at least 3.0 but ideally 5.0 or higher. Unlike a sleeping bag where a winter bag isn't suitable for summer and vice versa a winter rated sleeping mat is fine for summer use.
If you go the closed cell foam (Karrimat and the like) then you'll need to get a better sleeping bag to compensate for the lower R-value. The inflatable mats are comfy though 🙂
However! Late May you should be fine with a pad that isn't designed for the arctic. I used a Klymit x-frame on last year's HT550 for example, R-value of next to sod all.
light, compact, cheap: pick two!
Stove: make your own out of a couple of beer cans, plenty of how-to guides on the web. Meths is easy to carry unlike gas or petrol. For a single night out you'd get everything you need to make a brew inside something like a 650ml Ti mug with the mug being the most expensive item. Make a windshield out of the foil from a large pie or similar.
Tarp: Seems like even the previously cheap ones like the Alpkit Rig3.5 are now pricey (£50+) You can make the poles from old tent poles.
Sleeping bag: Even though I prefer down, it is expensive. A summer/2 season synthetic bag is all you need, add the cost of a compression bag to get it as small as possible.
Bivy bag: If you use a tarp then in summer a bivy bag isn't really necessary, it's there to catch the rain that gets past the edge of the tarp and in case you rub up against the condensation on the inside of the tarp.
For summer ITTs I use a SOL Escape bivy bag, a Klymit X-lite mat and a lightweight down jacket. You've already got your jacket, add a cooking system like I mention above and you'll spend about £100
As whitestone said get a decent mat Gaynor's have exped down mat 5 lite reduced to 60 ,I used mine the beginning of the month @-5 and was toasty , between whitestone and a few others on bearbones they really helped me out with choosing kit for my first year
<p>As whitestone said get a decent mat Gaynor's have exped down mat 5 lite reduced to 60 ,I used mine the beginning of the month @-5 and was toasty , between whitestone and a few others on bearbones they really helped me out with choosing kit for my first year<br></p>
If you kip by the fence on the sheltered side of the field you won't need a mat. Lots of long soft grass! I was fine with an alpkit bivvy bag, £30 Tesco down bag and alpkit down jacket.
We stopped at 2 pubs on the Saturday and still got there in plenty of time. Grub was plentiful and Charlie was selling cans of beer and cider to raise money for the scouts- so no need to carry much at all. My kit went in an alpkit Dry bag strapped to my bars.
If you're planning on making bikepacking a regular thing and getting further from civilisation then worth investing in kit, but it's really not necessary for local overnighters or the Dash!
Thanks for all the replies, just got back from a hard day at work so will have a read through this evening 🙂
Ton Offa this parish has got a lomo seat pack for sale over on bearbones he's looking for £25 used once ,would have it myself but have one that'll do for this year
re tarp poles, wheels can also be used, and as you're probably taking a pair with you, this'll save some weight.