Inner tube bike stabilisers.
Miriam and Javier told us about this great tip for stabilising your bike in almost any parked situation. Just cut your old inner tube into rubber band like strips and put them around the ends of your handle bar. When resting the bike on a hill. slope or position likely to result in the cycle falling over or rolling away, use the bands to hold your front and/or back brakes in position.
The elastic bands also come in handy for setting your brake blocks in place.
Furthermore, if you cut the strips thin enough, you can use them as normal elastic bands.
They are super strong and don't deteriorate as quickly in the sun and heat like the normal variety do.
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A primus cleaning tip
Trouble with a badly burning fuel stove and you have done everything to try and rectify it? Probably due to a built up residue in the lines and places that you can't really get into to clean. And, no matter how many times you prick the fuel hole, it just keeps on clogging up.
Dismantle the whole stove and immerse everything in Coca Cola (overnight preferably). Before putting back together, wipe clean with a rag and make sure all parts are bone dry. It is probably a good idea, at this stage, to renew your fuel source as well. The problem is often caused by dirty or old petrol. If that's impossible, then filter the fuel through a coffee filter to remove any unwanted bits.
Note: Coffee filters are also quite useful for putting on the end of your water filter's inlet hose in high sediment areas. So, it is handy to carry a few with you and they take up hardly any space in your bags at all.
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Tape and old tube to secure Ortlieb bags.
Just to annoy all Tubus rack owners, a few years ago, Ortlieb decided to change the size of their clips, so they could be used on a variety of bike racks. In order to fit Tubus models, you now need to insert a small black clip into the existing fastener. Problem with this is, they inevitably fall out even when you glue them in, which of course, leads to irritating search parties around campsites and in hotel rooms and corridors. Furthermore, this system does not stabilise the bag at all and they continually fly off on poor condition roads. Nigel, a cycling guru, who we met in Osh and on the road for over five years now, told us about this great idea. Wrap a few layers of old inner tube and secure them in place with gaffa or power tape. He swears his bags have never come off since he made this adjustment.
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Only pristine paper bills
In Central Asia especially, it is important that your American dollar bills and European Euros are in pristine condition. No unusual ink marks, pen scrawlings or even small tears because the banks and exchanges will not accept them. Beware though, as they'll have no problems dishing you out the shabbiest of currency and often on purpose. But of course, it works both ways: you have every right to refuse sub-standard bank notes from anyone and although they'll make a fuss at first, they will change it for you eventually.
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Keeping the Sigg bottle fresh!
There's nothing worse than musty flavoured water and here's two ways to keep your Sigg bottles (or any other bottle for that matter) a little fresher. Sigg does sell "special" tablets to clean their bottles, but at a ridiculous price. They are little more than denture cleaning tablets, which you can usually obtain from either a well stocked supermarket or pharmacy. They are very inexpensive and do the trick just nicely. Fill the bottle almost to the top and pop a tablet in and allow to soak overnight. Empty and rinse a few times with fresh water the next day. You can also use the denture cleaning powder: it does exactly the same job.
Another way to keep your water tasting good is to squeeze just a little bit of fresh lemon juice into your bottle. You don't need much to get the desired taste and it is especially good for those of you who don't like drinking water. Adds a bit of an edge, while keeping the water bottle fresh.
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for those times without a shower
After a sweaty days cycling, there's nothing like a hot shower. Unfortunately, water is not always available nor suitable for cleaning in and this little tip is the next best thing. The commonly known "wet ones" are available all over the world and these days come in the handiest sized packets. The example from a Dia store in Turkey on the left has fifteen sheets, which lasts us between four and five days. They really do make you feel and smell cleaner.
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survival sheet comes in handy in the cold
While huddled inside our tent at minus tempertures and sipping on an air-cooled beer, Simon and Pierre-Yves (the two French guys we joined up with at the end of the month) told about this great tip that is very close to my heart. To protect yourself from the cold: lay a survival sheet on the floor of your tent and if it gets well below zero, then place one over the top of the inner tent as well. They are light to carry and every cyclist should have at least one in their first aid kit anyway. Obviously, they are not indestructable, however replacing them at intervals is not really going to break the budget.
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SilNet - silicon seam sealer (McNett outdoor products. USA)
Every camper/ travelling biker should have a tube of this stuff. Made by the same people that make SeamGrip, we have used it successfully to reinforce stitching and seal leaks in our tent, fix holes in the Ortlieb bags, and even repair a reasonable sized snare in a Goretex rain jacket.
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Ockie Straps (Bungi ropes) of a different type
In England about 12 years ago, we found the ockie straps that we are still using to this day. Also known as bungie cords, they are made with a plastic mould clip which is virtually indestructable. The advantage over the commom stretch cord with wirehooks is that it doesn't bend out of shape, rust or make unwelcome holes in your luggage. We made our own this time round and the separate components can be purchased from Bike4Travel should you want to try them out.
Other uses include:
Winding two together and stretch between posts to make a great washing line that doesn't need pegs. Another bonus is they don't damage trees.
Securing your bikes together and to railings on boats and trains.
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feed the ants don't kill them
Want to be sure that the ants don't raid your tent? Then give them something to eat too. A couple of sugar lumps (or anything sweet really) placed at a distance from the tent will keep the neighbourhood ants occupied for the length of your stay. Glad ziplock bags (the genuine ones not some copy brand!) are also pretty good for keeping pests out of your food supplies and are easy to wash and re-use.
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the only way to carry the loo-paper
An ozzie friend once told me about this and I'm sure that most backpackers already know the secret. At first I thought she was mad and it wouldn't make any difference to the "carrying easablity" by removing the inside carton roll. But there you go, I was wrong and for those of you that have never tried it, it's a great way to carry toilet paper. What's more, it makes a nifty little dispenser at the same time: Take the cardboard roll out of the middle (this can take a bit of work but persevere). Flatten the roll, making sure the middle piece of paper is sticking out and place it in a zip lock glad bag (or similar). This all fits really neatly and in the tiniest of spaces of any bag. Pull the paper from the middle each time and this creates the dispenser. You never need to get it out of the bag which makes for handy usage in the grottiest of loos and anyone who's camped or travelled on a budget will know exactly the benefit of that.
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for storing liquids, use a baby bottle!
If you don't mind clowns and happy faces on your storage bottles a good, very cheap, and 'super-safe for liquids' alternative is a baby bottle. In the past, I've always used Body Shop containers since the ones at camping stores are always so astronomically priced. But after no success finding an outlet in France I resorted to trying the baby bottle and it's really good. You can also cut the teat off and you have a rubber ring for extra sealing, however it works fine without it.
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