bmike

I like the idea of the 'toss it on the ground and sleep' thinking, but unless I'm in my 45° bag I'm not sure how to make that work with bikepacking kit. I know some folks make it work...

The other issue is weight (from manufacturers pages):

OR Alpine Bivy - 32oz
Tarptent Contrail - 27.5oz + 2oz pole
Tarptent Moment DW - 34oz with the single crossing pole
BA Fly Creek- 33oz

(I have the Moment and the Contrail and a friend has the OR bivy - it comes out in colder seasons when he doesn't use his hammock.)

I know there are some lighter sacks out there, I briefly used an e-vent one from REI but it needed a tarp as it had no hood for a true deluge.

For me the weight isn't at issue here and that means I'll bring the Moment which has been my go-to shelter. 1 pole, two pegs, done. Slightly heavier than that OR sack (the Contrail would be even with my homemade pole...), and I have a place out of the bugs, which in the NE is nice.

On my next group trip in the cold season I'm going to bring the Black Diamond Mega, almost 3 pounds but can fit 4 if needed or be used for camp kitchen and hang out space. I was missing it a bit on my last ADK trip, would have been nice to pull the bike right inside with me in the freezing rain.

staehpj1

I used the REI minimalist with a very small tarp (5'x5' MLD Dog Tarp) that I could pitch just over the head end. I would just as soon take the Siltarp 1 though since it fully covers for only an additional 2 ounces.

The Solitaire was a near miss, but a big fail for me. It was and OK size and had some nice features, but really isn't very light for the size, in part due to it needing a bazillion stakes. Weight could be cut by using something like MSR Needle stakes and maybe some cords to make one stake replace two in a few places, but it still is a poor design IMO. The many stakes also make it a pain to pitch where the ground is rocky. Also the poles are really low quality. Be very careful or you will break them. I have one that I bought used for next to nothing that I disliked enough that I never took it on a trip. I definitely don't recommend it.

Of the low priced Eureka tents the Spitfire 1 is a way nicer tent.

djb

Funny but reading about the various bivys gives me a flashback to my very first bike trip. A guy I knew lent me a bivy and it really wasn't my cup of tea, really didn't like the feeling of crawling into a coffin with little space above your face and it had trouble condensation in the morning (I was right beside lake Champlain and it was very cold that night, so worst case for this)
As we discuss preferences, on a bike (as opposed to backpacking) a few extra pounds of tent will always be my preference for living space of a tent.

nun

I have an old Carradice Overlander saddlebag. It's like the Super C but made of Cordura rather than Cotton Duck and weighs 1 lb 2 oz. I haven't used it much,
but I think it will need a support on most of my bikes, so the weight saving over the Camper Longflap without a support is lost. Also it doesn't have a "longflap"
which is a big negative. The longflap is so nice for carrying extra stuff.

antokelly

Nun do you camp ?
i have a carradice barley and a longflap also i have a rack that fixes to seatpost all my gear is lightweight except for tent i need to buy a lightweight tent,
the tubes on my Terry Dolan le tape Carbon are hugh look seriously strong, do you reckon it would take the full of a barley saddlebag. your cervelo set up is great but are you credit card touring just curious.
thanks.

adventurepdx

It would be cool if Carradice themselves got hip to the bikepacking thing and ended up making lighter weight Nelson and Camper bags, but somehow, I don't see that happening. On that note, I have seen a few bikepacking folks use Camper Longflaps on their tours. Nicholas Carman of Gypsy by Trade comes to mind.

bikemig 

I'm not going ultralight but I know I seriously want to cut my weight down for touring next summer. They may be a bit heavy but the carradice camper longflap ticks a lot of boxes for me. I'd still run some small panniers up front on low riders which would give me right around 60 liters of carrying capacity.

mdilthey

Logan did it too, for his tour of Africa on the ECR. Bikepacking.com.

fietsbob

Lighter Carradice? well, in Canvas they, do but the volume is reduced too ..

Check out their Carradura bags, those use a lighter Coated Cordura Nylon Instead of the Cotton Canvas..

https://www.carradice.co.uk/index.php...&url=carradura

I have a 20 year old saddle bag from them in cordura .. looks like they did not sell in sufficient abundance of late..
They sewed a pocket in the outside Bottom and supplied a Mini-rack to slip that over to eliminate sway entirely.

Carra Dry is their newer synthetic bag I suspect they got seam welding equipment for making those ..

https://www.carradice.co.uk/index.php...product_id=122

Salamandrine 

Interesting discussion. I've just been thinking of doing a bit of touring after a long layoff. Last time I went for a long tour, we slept on tarps, and frankly that was just fine. Of course back then we'd drink right out of streams and springs too. (the horror!) It's unlikely I'll have time for multi week adventures anytime soon, and I've been thinking for a weekend trip one could get pretty minimal, maybe down to a big front bag and a saddlebag.

A good down bag would be possibly the key. My Western Mountaineering was expensive, but it packs down to practically nothing. I'm a little hesitant to go tentless here in socal, as the wilderness areas have bears, rattlesnakes, killer bees, etc, to contend with. So I guess for super minimal, the choice is either go with a tarp tent, or just a tarp and be careful where you camp?

Also, depending on location, a small bear cannister is pretty much another necessity.

So, for a weekend trip (2-3 days), about all you'd need would be: sleeping bag, pad, tarp, food in small cannister, sweater & jacket, basic tools and spare tube, pocket or alcohol stove and cook cup(?). (and of course the clothes you are wearing)

I think you could cram all that into a saddle bag and handlebar bag.

Buffalo Buff

Cooking isn't a need

BigAura

Probably true, but cooked food is ... I wouldn't want to be on the road for more than a week eating totally raw.

Buffalo Buff

Me neither! If I were touring somewhere that doesn't have restaurants I'd look into it, but on my last tour I'd pass on average over 50 restaurants per day, excluding grocery stores etc.

To me it seems silly to haul cooking equipment in a situation like that. Then again I also look at a bike tour as a BIKE tour, meaning I'm there to cycle and see stuff. Other people seem to view it more of a mix of that and camping, so I see the appeal of cooking your own food. I like to do that when I camp. When I tour, I'm on the road within 20 minutes of waking up typically, not much time to cook. Plus all that stuff weighs a good chunk!

nun

The Overlander was Carradice's Cordura saddlebag. It didn't sell well. It's a bit bigger than the Camper....maybe 25 liters, weighs 1lb 2oz. It mounts using leather straps just like the other saddlebags. A long flap version with an aluminum rod instead of wood would be great.

nun

I do everything. I stay in motels, hostels, with warmshowers hosts and I camp. Here I am in full Progresso beef stew mode.



The Barley is quite compact and there's a ton of room for it on my Cervelo. The Camper Longflap is a lot closer to the back tire, only a cm or so clearance.

350htrr

Yea, see, that's the real difference with people who tour "normally" and ultra light... A warm meal is good, a warm dry bed is good, a tent big enough to relax in is good, a chair is great, and so on... Now there does come a point where this adds up to a trip that is harder than NEEDS BE... but really? come on... If I was going UL I would just take a credit card, or have a support vehicle with me. That's my idea of an UL bike riding tour, while actually riding the bike...

staehpj1

Going ultralight does not require forgoing taking cooking gear or being uncomfortable. On my UL tours I have always cooked and been comfortable. Despite packing extremely light, I try to choose gear that maximizes my comfort. To me two kinds of comfort are key, comfort on the bike and comfort while sleeping.

Most UL tourists are not interested in a support vehicle or credit carding touring.

staehpj1

Seriously? Where did you tour?

I know that on some of my tours there are days with lots of restaurants, but there are also lots of days where there is only a little general store or a mini mart. More rare, but there are also days where I don't see a store or even a water faucet for 24 hours, let alone a restaurant.

Given that I can do some really basic cooking with 7 ounces of cooking gear, and more elaborate cooking with a few ounces more than that, I am not tempted to go with no cooking gear. I just choose gear based on how much I want to cook and how elaborate that cooking will be.

nun

Its good to have the basics to boil some water and heat some stew or pasta even if you are in "civilization" as it saves some money and sometimes you are in camp and just don't want to ride to a restaurant even if one is close. It's rare to be on the road and more than a day's ride from a store....doing the Continental Divide it's easy to be far from anything.....but on the road a store or gas station usually appears even in the West.

350htrr

And that was my point, trying to be anyways... The CC touring or support vehicle was just pointing out the other extremes to his cooking not required statement...

andrewclaus

There are a very few raw foodies out there, and fewer still who cycle. Most stoveless travelers eat cooked food, they just don't cook it themselves. Bread products, cheeses, packaged meats, rolled oats, boiled eggs, pastries are all examples of cooked foods that can be eaten cold, pack well, and are readily available in most markets.

Buffalo Buff

I get my warm meals from restaurants. It's pricier, but tastes better, gives me more options, and is lighter. Plus its just fun trying out new places. I can usually find a bench or picnic table to relax on before I pass out in my tent.

Agreed, it just makes it easier .

My last tour was through pretty populated areas along the southern to SE coast of the US. I would usually have my choice of chinese, italian, japanese, mexican, fresh seafood, various buffets, 24 hour fast food and grocery stores, gas stations and more multiple times every day.

I've toured through less populated areas, like rural West Virginia, but even then I had at least a few grocery stores, dollar generals, gas stations, diners and buffets to choose from every day. If nothing else I could pick up a breakfast burrito in the morning and a warm sub at night, something basic like that.

I never go a full day on tour without a warm meal.

Cooking gear definitely allows for a cheaper tour. If that's a higher priority it makes the gear much more valuable per oz.


-------------------------

I'm going on a mini-tour sometime within the next week it looks like. If it happens I'll have a pretty neat UL setup to post.

imi

By doing all my own cooking on tour I lose up to 10% of my body weight on a multi-month tour.

So even if my gear isn't UL, I am!

mdilthey

If I lost 10% of my bodyweight, I might die. I don't like to cook, so I have to eat like a pig on tour.

imi

I went from 155 lbs to under 140 lbs (70 kgs to 62). I'm 5'8" so no excess fat at 155 lbs. The weight loss was mainly upper body and quickly regained after tour with weight training and more eating.

Didn't kill me though!