Squeezebox

This is mostly a question for the backpacker crossover to the cycling lightweight folks. I know I've been asking about light touring, and even mentioned UL. But backpacking and touring are not quite the same thing. Hiking there's always some log etc to sit on, not always cycling. So I'm thinking of maybe bringing a 1 lb 4 oz chair. I'm in my 60's cut me some slack for comfort, please. Also since I'll have access to a grocery or such most every day, I'm thinking of a skillet, for burgers, steak, bacon & eggs, etc. Your opinion please!!
I have a cheap Tfal 8" AL skillet, wt. 9 oz. If I take off the handle and cut the height of the skillet down I'm hoping for 6-7 oz. and maybe why bother.
No way I would do either on the trail, but maybe on the road.
So what stuff have you added to your cycling gear that you don't hike with? Besides the obvious cycling shoes, shorts, helmet. vs. hiking boots. Any other hiking stuff you left at home for a cycling trip?

Please and Thank you!

timdow

Well I guess it depends upon where you are primarily going to camp, and where you are going to do meals. Most campgrounds around where I live have picnic tables. But if not, yea bring the chair! You will find out soon enough if the weight is worth it to you.

As for the camp kitchen, there are a lot of schools of thought on the subject. I bring a UL stove a pretty much only boil water. The rest I eat cold or at restaurants. For me it is too much of a PITA to buy, cook and clean up after making meals. Some of this depends upon where you are going or course, and how long you are staying put. I tend to want to get on the road in the morning. I usually carry a couple of backpacking meals in case there is no food as an emergency backup. You can try what you have planned for the kitchen, and if if doesn't work out you will find out pretty quick.

RedandBlack

One of the beauties of bike touring is that you have a higher weight allowance than backpacking. My buddy is himself debating whether or not to bring a skillet on our extended tour. On our test run a 10", standard weight skillet allowed us to make amazing breakfasts. Ask yourself if 7 oz is worth the kind of meals you plan to make. Maybe not taking it will allow you to bike a little further each day, or not, or take something even more important, or not. Remember, you are trading one kind of comfort for another.

As for the chair, it seems more popular on these types of forums than you would expect which leads me to believe it is worth it... for the older crowd

staehpj1

I don't really take much anything that I wouldn't take backpacking other than stuff specific to the bike (tools, etc.). I have not generally had any more trouble finding a place to sit on tour than when backpacking and have never seriously considered taking a chair. The skillet can make sense if you really want to cook frequently enough.

The first thing I would consider about "extra" items is whether I really want it along and will use it enough to justify carrying it. The second is whether maybe it is something I might just pick up if when the urges strikes. Unlike backpacking that is very often an easy option, so for something like a skillet I am actually more likely to pack one for backpacking than touring. A month into a long trip, you can say "wow I wish I had a skillet", and in the next town buy one. Walmart has some for $10 or so that are light weight and cheap enough to buy on a whim. You can mail it home if you get tired of carrying it, but they can be cheap enough that giving it away might be cheaper sometimes.

As far as other "extra" items, I am as likely or maybe more likely to take most of them backpacking than touring.

I wonder if this is another one of those things that I read about here than actually see folks doing out on the road? I can remember on ever seeing one person tour with a chair. As far as "the older crowd" comment, coming up on 65, by many folks standards I'd be part of that crown and have been less likely to carry extra stuff as I have gotten older.

VT_Speed_TR

This is a personal decision, but I too bring a Alite Monarch chair sometimes when I tour. I need to rest my back at the end of the day, whether touring or even when I'm home. But if I know that I'll be at a campground with picnic tables, I just use my sleeping pad & the picnic table to make a comfortable place to rest. Again, it just depends, I have no firm equipment list when I tour, it time its different.

Same goes with cooking, sometimes I bring my little Snowpeak stove & cup, other times if I know there will be a store near my stopping place, I ditch the cooking stuff & just pick up a sandwich & beer at the end of the day. Again, just depends on how I'm feeling & where I'm going.

andrewclaus

Same basic kit as backpacking for me, except I think more about wind chill on mountain pass descents--just sitting there in a 40 mph wind--when I pack clothing.

I don't bring the same skin care first aid--different areas are affected in different ways. It's pretty safe to assume you won't get blisters on a bike. I bring a little more sunscreen, mainly for legs, hands and neck. It's easier to keep covered when walking.

I generally pack less water carrying capacity on a bike, since it's usually easier to get to a water source several times a day if you're on a road.

Bike maintenance and security could add some weight.

My bike packs have heavier fabric to withstand more abrasion from leaning against things.

BobG

I've posted my chair suggestion several times on other threads so I'll keep this one short. If you're already using a ThermaRest sleeping pad their lightest chair adaptor weighs only 7oz plus the weight of the mattress you already are carrying. Yes, it sits on the ground without legs, but that is a big plus if you want to sit up comfortably INSIDE a small tent to read or wait out bad weather. Can't do that sitting up high on legs or using a bear can as a stool, as suggested by others, which also has no back rest. I would have been forced to move to an expensive motel a few years back without it when I got caught in Tropical Storm Andrea. If your trip includes any outdoor concerts it's great for that too.

Therm-a-Rest® Compak? Chair Kit

edit: The inclusion of a chair has nothing to do with age. Squatting in front of a tent is also uncomfortable when you are young. I'd be more likely to use this product backpacking where one seldom has use of a picnic table or bike touring in Europe where tables are scarce.

robert schlatte

I bought an REI chair (1 lb. 10 oz.) last year with my year end dividend. Like OP said it is nice to sit at the end of the day if you are rough camping somewhere. On my last two week tour I debated whether to bring it. I ended up leaving it at home- found plenty of picnic tables so it was okay not to have it. Next trip, I will have the same debate. It is not really much of a weight penalty, but it is just one more thing to lug around, especially if you don't use it.

Leebo

You could get a lighter non stick pan if needed.

Squeezebox

Will the thermarest chair kit work without a mattress? I plan on bringing a sit pad.
I'm also thinking about the 10 L fold-up bucket 2.5 oz. for washing up in the evening, on the trail I might use it for mostly hauling water.
But like you said, sure! bring it and when you realize you can do without, send it home.

mantelclock

OP,

I believe in another thread you dismissed out of hand using kitty litter boxes as panniers. I have been using a set for several years now. They are light weight, durable, waterproof, and spacious. Plus, they double as camp chairs and table. Oh, and they're about $150 bucks less than a set of Ortliebs.

As for the skillet, we carried a 10 inch light weight skillet when I toured with my son, because it made cooking larger meals like stir fries and pancakes easier. When I tour alone, I just take a basic small cookset.

mm718

I don't even like sitting at picnic tables for long. I find myself turning around and leaning against the table so that I can have support for my back. As another person above said I don't think it has much to do with age. I probably will try a chair at some point but I've been ruthlessly cutting weight in other areas so I feel OK about doing it as an experiment. Easy enough to sell on eBay if it doesn't work out...

I'd wait on the skillet. You may find you don't want it once on the trip and if you do it's easy enough to buy one at a store or have a lightweight one shipped to you via general delivery. I'd also wait on the "sink." I don't think you'll need that at all.

staehpj1

What do they weigh? I would not have thought that they would be especially light weight. I can see a lot of pros, but would have thought that weight would have been a con.

mantelclock

I'll weigh them tonight and post.

Buffalo Buff

Good question!

Stuff I've brought touring I wouldn't bring hiking:

-Videogames. I brought a PSP on a few tours, and last tour I brought a bluetooth SNES replica gamepad and used it with my smart phone and bluetooth speaker, playing PS2, PS1 and SNES titles. I've never done that hiking. Sometimes it's fun to unwind with something unrelated to touring when I'm eating, camped out about to fall asleep, doing laundry at a laundromat etc. Also nice for the bus ride to my starting point or back home, if applicable.

-Outlet to 4x USB adapter, various charging cables, backup USB battery packs. Hiking I don't use nearly as much electricity. I don't need a headlight or tail light, and I don't bring a bluetooth speaker. Go Pro would get used much less frequently, same with my phone. I might bring a small 2000mah battery and a single micro USB cable hiking, where touring I bring a 20000mah battery, two micro and 2 mini USB cables, and the outlet to 4xUSB port converter.


Things I bring hiking I don't bring touring:

-Fixed blade knives, machetes, axes etc. Sometimes if I'm out hiking, especially if I'm on private land my friends own etc., we might be chopping stuff up for a fire or shelter. Or I feel like doing some basic bushcraft stuff for fun, like carving utensils or making a fire. On a tour a small swiss army knife or lightweight locking folder is sufficient, a heavy duty fixed blade would be unnecessary weight.

-Backpacks. First tour I used one, but since trying various frame bag options I don't plan on ever going that route again.

-Guns & ammo. Much more likely to have a bad encounter with a dangerous animal while hiking. Plus if its private land there might be some target shooting involved. Could be used for hunting too, but I'm not really into that.

-Cooking utensils, stoves etc. Usually I cook over a wood fire, but sometimes I'll use an alcohol stove. When I tour, I'd rather eat take-out or foods ready to eat. I like to spend my time biking instead of cooking. Hiking, I'm much more inclined to cook when camped out.

As for chairs, I've always been able to find a bench to rest on when needed. Even if I'm in an area where it's 30 miles between towns, and those towns are little more than a gas station and a high school, there are churches and cemeteries along the way where I can find a place to sit in the shade for a few. If you feel its worth it, bring it, but in my experience there's usually something out there I can sit on.

Tourist in MSN

I carry a non-stick fry pay when backpacking. The difference is backpacking, it is 8 inches and very light weight. The bike touring one is 10 inches and it was a kitchen grade cheap one that used a bolt (not rivet) to hold the handle on. That handle is unbolted and left home, instead use a camping pot gripper.

Disregard the heavy stove in the photo (Optimus 111T), that photo is from a canoe trip where a heavy stove is not a problem. The fry pan in the photo is the kitchen grade one I use bike touring, the handle that was on it was removed.



Backpacking, weight is 99 percent of the decision factor. Bike touring, fitting stuff in panniers is important too, so I consider volume to be more important when deciding what to bring touring. An example is that an air mattress weighs a bit more than my lightest thermarest pad, but the air mattress rolls up smaller to fit in pannier easier. So, the air mattress goes bike touring. The lighter thermarest pad gets strapped on the outside of the backpack where volume not an issue.

I brought a stool on one trip when I was a teenager. Never again. I sometimes bring a closed cell foam sit pad to put my butt on when the soil might be damp. I have one that is about 30 grams (about an ounce).

Bike touring, I often bring stainless steel cookware, backpacking more likely to bring very thin gauge Titanium. Canoeing where I can have fires, in addition to the stainless cookware I often bring an aluminum coffee pot that I can use for heating water on the fire. I would never consider bringing a separate item like a coffee pot on a bike touring or backpacking trip, but canoeing it can be nice to have a dedicated water heater.

BobG

Nope, they are to be used along with any of their mattresses. They were quite a hit with my 1999 ACA TransAm group. I had the only one at the start, then chair envy crept in among the others. Every time I'd get up out of mine when I came back somebody would be in it. There were at least three chairs in the group before long.

That's me in the blue chair in the photo. Mine is actually the vacant purple chair. I must be trying out someone elses luxury high back model. The woman in orange is also using a chair kit. Notice how most of the others are awkwardly trying to support their backs with extended arms to get comfortable...

Biketouringhobo

look at MSR Base 2 pot set 16.2oz
MSR Quick skillet 5.0oz

mantelclock

Sorry it took so long, but I weighed my kitty litter panniers this morning and they weigh 34oz. each, or 68oz for the pair. This includes all of the aluminum bracing that I put in them to make them durable. This pair has held up well for over 2500 miles so far, and is showing no signs of wear. Ortlieb backrollers are 67oz. for a pair, so weight is not an issue. And as I said, they make a great table and chair combination.

staehpj1

Thanks. They compare way better weight-wise than I would have guessed. I can see them being a decent option for many. These days I have been packing too light for them to make sense, but so do most store bought panniers. For a more typical touring load they sound great. The ability to use them as a chair and table sounds like a nice plus.

fietsbob

Crazy Creek type chair shown , I Used Mine more Un snapped , as ground insulation to sit On,

than snapped into the L shape to sit In.

"SqueezeBox" Concertina in a case?

Tourist in MSN

I do not have a cat, so I am stuck with the Ortliebs.

mantelclock

Poor excuse! I picked up my boxes at the local recycling center.
I have nothing against ortliebs, but I haven't seen any at the recycling center lately, so I'm stuck with litter boxes.

Happy Feet

A KL front bag (bucket). Even room for the frying pan.



And a smaller sized one when the full kitchen is not required.

Squeezebox

Any chance of giving us wts. on the buckets? At 1st I thought super silly. But hey! you've got something to sit on.
Tell us about attachment system.