[Closed] Sick as a dog so, show me you Bivi / Bikepacking / Adventure racing gear.....

@Pete - I have a GPS but there's nothing magic about it! Good old map and compass will be fine (but I'll carry the GPS just in case!)

Terra Nova Laser is a great tent.

Obviously, tents are for wimps, but if you insist on using one, the Laser is a good choice. I've used mine all over the world with and without the bike. I even did a few multi-day walks in NZ with my girlfriend in the tent as well. It was cosy, but easy to carry.

Is all that really fun? Looks like the art of masochism to me...but then again, I am old now and prefer my pipe and slippers 😛

Looks like I'm going to have to christen my Gelert Solo on this year's event, last year I planned my route around bothies but it seems that isn't an option now. Can anyone point me in the direction of where to get aluminium poles for said tent, obviously I don't want to spend a fortune on Easton alloy having got the tent for £25 but I understand the fibreglass poles it comes with are a bit fragile and heavy.

£25! You could have got a big 'toblerone' bag from Poundland for, err £1. A few about last year at WRT.

last year I planned my route around bothies but it seems that isn't an option now

Prey tell what do you know about the route of the WRT??

He doesn't know owt other than it's going north and it's nowhere near the only MBA bothy in the area, or his caravan. 😉

now there's an idea - a fold out trailer tent on a Bob trailer 😉

[IMG] [/IMG]

we can always pre-position my campervan Pete!

What are the thoughts on the gelert solo?

The Laser is the 2man, the lighter Laser Comp is the 1+ and very cosy indeed for 2. They are a very popular lightweight tent for good reason.

I love mine and I'm still undecided whether to tarp or tent for the WRT. The tent is only 300g more and offers substantial comfort but pack size is greater and is less social!

yeah I must admit I kind of like the idea of both of us in our bivi's but now my mate is in his tent It seems like why shouldnt I get one....

Hdwhciwckllc;wkcn

Is the worst blog post ever!

haha i try

Laser Comp is great tent, I'm using one for WRT loathe bivvy bags and tarps. Best if sharing it's with the better half or a very good friend and are so tired it no longer matters.

Using GPS, memory map prints and good old compass and paper maps for when it all goes tits up, my legs are buggered and I just want to get back to the start.

As for location I'm just hoping a grid ref isn't Snowdon's summit if it's going north.

Now if only the two spacer blocks would show up the bike would be finished and the figuring out how to carry everything can begin.

Anybody used Inov8 Race pack with the horizontal bladder? Any good for biking?

The Gelerts are good for the money but you can't sit up in one and there's pretty much no porch area. They'll obviously keep you dry and out of the wind and rain though but so will a well pitched tarp 😉

so will a orange survival bag, but they are miserable for the night too 😉

😀

change of attack:

I'll post this on this thread and the WRT one to catch both areas.

What would a food list look like for a 3 day, 2 night trip such as the WRT??

Just wondering how to keep the weight and volume sensible whilst providing enough energy for a big lad 😉

Very good question Pete ... I shall stick something on the WRT blog about food and stuff, soon as I get a minute.

cheers Stu and I don't want a list of cold bacon sandwiches and eccles cakes 😉 but I suppose they are flat foods 😀

I have ordered some Bara Brith. Bikepacking food of Welsh Kings!

Good lad, I'll be brining a pringle tube filled with Welsh cakes I think they will be gone on day one 😉

Packets of oat so simple are good for breakfast (or any time of day). bags of mixed nuts and dried fruits (especially cashews and dried apricots yom yom yom....) are calorie dense and good to keep you going through the day. decent dehydrated meal in the evening is a good way to end the day.
Some people recommend the "look what we found" meals, but I find them rather unsubstantial at the end of a days riding.

I've used the "look what we found" meals before, and added a packet of that ready to steam rice that you can get in most supermarkets. For the WRT I think I'm going to go for a dehydrated meal in the evening...I'm hoping I'll be able to top up my water at some point.

Just add boiling water to:

Paw-ridge with powdered milk and fruit flakes mixed in

Ainsley's cous Cous

Noodles with cup a soup

Biltong

Vesta meals

Instant custard with powdered milk & dried fruit

Nescafe 3in1 coffee

I can't believe we're a few posts into food and no picture of flatfish's christmas dinner 😉

Pete - I should be able to get hold of plenty of decent stuff from work - calorie dense, boil in the bag stuff and if we sort out a decent route we should be able to find something en-route!

I can't believe we're a few posts into food and no picture of flatfish's christmas dinner

I'm still upset by that - I swear he promised us all one but no he ate all the sprouts himself 😆

Steve - great thanks,

so campervan check, food check, all sorted 😉

Anybody used Inov8 Race pack with the horizontal bladder? Any good for biking?

I can't believe we're a few posts into food and no picture of flatfish's christmas dinner

Dehydrated food:
Cous-cous is easy to carry, light and quick to cook.
Smash - very good calorie to weight ratio
Noodles + cuppa soup (Ainsley's Mullagatawny is my preference)
Porridge + dried fruit and powdered milk
Chocolate coated coffee beans to maintain caffeine intake
Fruit tea bags (I don't like powdered milk in tea or instant black coffee)
Pepperami - it's meat of sorts
Custard + banana chips
Hazelnuts have the highest calorific value of any nuts.
Expedition Meals are good, light, full of calories but quite expensive.
Green & Blacks 80% dark chocolate

Wet food:
Sharwoods Saag Aloo or something similar is really nice and quite good on the calories.
Malt loaf, just because it's nice
Flapjack, obviously

Ian, Re. the PHD kit,...[snip]...I'll be using the Ultra bag and Minimus vest on the WRT.

cheers Ian some good ideas there 😉

Expedition Meals are good, light, full of calories but quite expensive.

Ian, get yourself to Poundland

http://www.poundland.co.uk/product-range/a-z/vesta-meal-for-one---paella/

Freeze dried same dried weight as a Mountain House meal, 600+ calories and £1 yes £1!!!

Just take an old MH bag to boil in.

If anybody can't get to poundland I'll take orders.

and

http://www.poundland.co.uk/product-range/a-z/haribo-tangfastics/

whahey off to poundland we go 😉

oat so simple is also available from this outlet

http://www.poundland.co.uk/product-range/a-z/quaker-oat-so-simple-orignal---8-pack/

Ian,

The PHD sleeping bags are slim. The Ultra bag for example would fit perfectly inside the Alpkit PD800 and still have plenty of room to loft, probably not dissimilar to the design and intention of their Combi bags.

The vests are sized to go over a base layer and fleece so are quite roomy. I was similar to you in that I'm a measly 38" chest but 6' tall and went for the Med based on chest size. The fit is perfect, it certainly isn't too short and chest size is spot on. It has loads of loft though so even in just a base layer it fills the voids to stop heat loss and the pits are slightly elaticated too.

The Minimus vest always seems to appear in their sales for £89 (keep in mind their £10 delivery!) although IMO at £125 it's still worth the money compared with the similar spec. OMM Finch. Also it looks a lot nicer than in the photos. The Rab Microlight is similar weight and packsize but certainly won't be as warm, but then it's cheaper.

I suspect the 900-fill Ultra vest if anything like the sleeping bag won't 'feel' as warm or cosy due to the lack of sheer bulk. More of a performance layer than a cosy cuddly down warmer 🙂

I notice Terra Nova have more lovely new kit this year, I'm interested to know if their 900fill bag is EU or US measured down, it's still colder and more expensive than the PHD Ultra!

I can't believe we're a few posts into food and no picture of flatfish's christmas dinner

I think Flatfish should do a 'Lunchtime Christmas Bash' all he needs to do is let everyone know by text on the morning of the second day where the location is for the 'Mega Meal' and it’s up to you if you choice to turn up and enjoy the feast (let's face it you woudnt want to miss out) or carry on your way knowing that you’ve missed out on the best food your likely to see for 3 days.... Acceptance of meal invitation by text confirms your place at the table.... BRILLANT IDEA

Gels, bars and sweets for riding. Expedition Foods dehydrated each evening, w/ plenty of fluid.

Breakfast will be based on village shops when I plan a route.

You'll have to give me a better idea of numbers than on the morning, I have to get the finest ingredients ordered, don't cha know!

9 Bars! I should have some freebies to give away at the WRT (as long as Stuart doesn't mind).

No trouble at all Aidan ... I spend months trying to blag stuff to give away, so the more the merrier. 😀

If anyone has any samples, flyers, cards, etc they'd like handing out feel free to get in touch.

That would be funny a mass cook off, maybe we could do a stove test with all the variants??

And then a tarp/sleepingbag/mat/food/carrying system shoot out too??

Thought some people might find this of interest.

http://bikeovernights.org/

EDIT: you'll need to have a good look around to find the interesting bits. Jill Homers blog is quite good on there http://blog.adventurecycling.org/search/label/Bikepacker

Stu That water filter thing, any chance of a little link? Cant seem to find it and I love a gadget 8)

Nice link however on the '10 reasons' page I think they are missing a reason

Bigface, I've no idea if they're avaliable on-line or if it's an is store only deal. Got mine from Cotswolds but I noticed that Field and Trek had the same thing for a couple of quid more.

What you're after is a Aquamira Frontier Pro ultralight water filter ... if that helps track it down.

@Tiger ... yes, I see what you mean.

10 Reasons to go overnight

Doesn’t take a lot of prep time

Fun for all ages

Good intro to bike touring (Some say it's the "gateway drug!")

Nice way to spend the weekend

Can be done on a limited budget

Can be done on almost any kind of bike

Great way to get exercise

Extends the pleasure of your commute

Good practice for longer tours (If you forget something big, you’re not out for long!)

yep a reason missing there!! What is it???

Beacause the boss lets me? 😯

Somebody was asking about an Integral Siltarp many pages ago (can't remember who or when), but I purchased just such an item from Winwood Outdoor, so here's my short review based on a first pitch in the garden earlier.

It weighed 206g in its little bag, without guy lines and pegs. It measured 5' by 8', and has 5 guy points down the 8' edge and 4 guy points along the 5' edge. In the middle of the tarp is one lifter guy point.

Obviously for bikepacking, I wanted to work out the best way to pitch it around the bike that provided as much coverage for the whole body as possible and good directional defence against wind driven rain. This is what I came up with:

[url= http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5189/5598209943_8ace71dbce_m.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5189/5598209943_8ace71dbce_m.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/15512491@N08/5598209943/ ]Integral Siltarp[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/15512491@N08/ ]ianbarrington[/url], on Flickr

[url= http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5225/5598210707_5a0533f903_m.jp g" target="_blank">http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5225/5598210707_5a0533f903_m.jp g"/> [/img][/url]
[url= http://www.flickr.com/photos/15512491@N08/5598210707/ ]Integral Siltarp[/url] by [url= http://www.flickr.com/people/15512491@N08/ ]ianbarrington[/url], on Flickr

It seems very stable set up like this and gives a good level of space inside, and with the head at the end where the front wheel is, gives great protection against the elements. The lifter guy point in the middle of the tarp is pegged out to the ground, but could more effectively be routed over a stick sourced from the camp spot.

I've attached four guys along one edge, and a fifth of the lifter point. The tarp will pitch either way around depending on which way the weather comes from. Pegging the tarp to the ground along the other edges seems good at minimising weather coming in from underneath.

With the guy line attached (1.5mm dynemma and mini line-locks), it weighed 222g. For a secure pitch, I reckoned on 10 pegs, 6 of which are ti wire and 4 were ti v-pegs. Total weight is then 306g, which I think is very reasonable giving the level of protection I appear to have gained from the above pitch.

My previous MYOG tarp using the same pegs as above came in at 544g all in, so I've saved 238g, which is nice 😀

Ian

That looks great Ian, I need to practice with my new rig7 - did you get my email???

I ma planning a mini trip on Good Friday into Easter Saturday, venue to be decided but to be in/around Brecon Beacons dependant on the weather 😉 mainly too drill kit in. Let me know if anyone wants to join Flatfish and I.

Nice to see you've been using your paternity leave constructivly. 😉

Thanks. I've been out on the bike two days on the trot for the first time in ages too 😉

Pete - I'll mail you.

Thanks. I've been out on the bike two days on the trot for the first time in ages too

Good lad 😉

Read on Alpkits twitter today that 200 miles of the Penine bridleway is now open. Sounds like a decent 2 nighter to me. See how far you can go in 3 days.

Early days but would anybody fancy a crack at it in say June(ish) time?

I will add last time I organised one of these night 2 was spent in a beer garden 🙂

Tarp spread over pub benches

sounds good Matt keep me informed I may be able to get a pass to come and play if we are back from France 😉

@Matt I could be up for some Pennine BW action, let me know when you do.

@Ian was Winwood the cheapest place you could find the tarps.

@Pete I'd love to come out over Easter but I'm working all weekend.

not sure if I'll get away with it but I quite fancy the Penine Way - I'll start negotiations!

Link

http://www.alpkit.com/news/pennine-bridleway

Stu - yes it was, though it wasn't an exhaustive search, just the cheapest price from a place I knew. Free postage too.

*I fully understand that what I'm about to say crosses the line from nerdyness to uber nerdyness.

I've a few plans and ideas floating around in my head (as ever) for next year and later on this year. One of them is the forming of a bikepacking club. I've no firm plans and as yet it's only an idea but if it comes off would anyone be interested?

Anyone who knows me will know that things would be pretty informal. In my mind it seems that it might be a good way to concolidate a lot of the contacts, information and ideas that are already out there.

Ta.

Need you ask me? 🙄

Like the 'Tufty Club' ??

[img] [/img]

Will there be badges?

No badges ... because we're roughty toughty types (rather than tufty) I thought we could wear badgers 😀

I've just noticed Tufty has a walking stick

.. and ginger pubes

I'm in for the club and I haven't even popped my bikepacking cherry yet

I've a few plans and ideas floating around in my head (as ever) for next year and later on this year. One of them is the forming of a bikepacking club.

I've got an idea for the first 'official' club trip abroad...

Bikepacking Tour of Mount Blanc anyone?

I attempted it in 2009 but went too early in the season and got snowed off the mountains. I'm planning on having another go next year. (I was going to do it this year but got press ganged into a trip to Les Arcs instead and have, therefore, expended all my 2011-away-from-the-family holiday credits)

Also @ flatfish: do you still have room in your car from Bristol to the WRT and back? Looks like none of the Dartmoor Posse are in on the event 🙁 (e-mail in profile)

I'd join in with a baclpacking club. Would be a good resource.

Im in... I love a club 8)

Just googled the trip and its a 470miles round trip for us...Does that mean I've won a prize for the longest distance travelled to WRT??

count me in if it happens and I know the good lady wife will make us some badges if required 😉

I may get some made for the WRTSTWBC - which is the Welsh Ride Thing Singletrack World Bivvy Club 😉

I'll get an image in a bit 😀

Badges sounds good, I can have it attaced to my wildcat bag (once I order it)

Badges sounds good

Hmmm, I'm not so sure. That's an extra 7 grammes to haul around whilst out on manouveres 😉

I came across this book on the web, looks like some excellent possibilities for bike packing in the Alps. I have a pdf copy somewhere but I can't remember where from. The pics give good idea of some of the routes though.

http://www.ocd.org.uk/alps/rs/fred.htm

[img] [/img]

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

+1 IanB I agree but we Brits love a club 😉

I think (for whats its worth) As long as people post there trips on this thread, and maybe an arraned trip or 2 and the main event WRT you cant really go wrong. Seems like everyone who posts is keen, the longer this thread goes on Im sure the more people will wonder what there missing and join in....

Who pissed on your chips Ian? 😉

Go outdoors flyer for bivi bags,

http://www.gooutdoors.co.uk/camping/tents/bivi-bags?utm_source=SilverpopMailing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Sleeping%20Bags%2008_04_11%20(AO8AP)&utm_content=

@ 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.

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

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