Oh my cow, I made it!

I don't poke around these forums as much as I used to, but saw this thread and have been reading through it the past few days. I've posted some lightweight touring bits here and there before and was usually met with derision from the "fully loaded" hard liners. The way I see it, I have nothing to prove either way. I don't need to carry a month's worth of food plus 5 changes of clothes and a portable shower to prove my total self reliance and I don't need to go so light that I'm huddling under a small tarp in the rain in a claustrophobic (to me) bivy. Everyone should find their own little sweet spot, but never hold hard to it. Systems are ever changing. I think everyone could benefit from going light, but UL is not required. This has been argued/stated a few times already, but I thought I'd put it into words to preface my own journey.

I started commuting a couple of years ago and the general impression was that panniers were a requirement. Well, coming from the backpacking side of things, and trying to keep things light there, it didn't take me long to become disenchanted with 4-5 pounds of just a rack and bags making my bike ride funny (tail wagging the dog) and harder to carry up stairs. In an effort to go lighter, I ditched the panniers and started just strapping a backpack to the rack. Still had the tail wagging the dog feeling and one day just as I got near campus, the bag fell to one side, so rather than readjusting my bungees I just threw it on my back and thought "Hey, this isn't too bad." I lost the rack and bought an Osprey Talon 22 that I've been commuting with since. Yes, even through Texas summers. Sweaty back? Yeah, but it was already sweaty...

All that to say as far as racks vs. rackless, I don't think it's required for UL, but for me and my riding style/bikes of choice, rackless made so much more sense. However, for camping/touring I feel like rackless sans backpack is the ultimate goal for myself.

Here's one example from a previous trip:





The tent is in the orange bag on the seat. The sleeping pad/bag are in the bag strapped to the front. The rest went into the backpack. Gear worked great, but horrible route/trip planning made that trip a disaster. In terms of weight, my old spreadsheet tells me total gear including food (2 dinners, 3 breakfasts, lunch was to be purchased on the road), but before water was 17.2 pounds. Base without food was 15.3 pounds. And that's with a cheapish 2+ pound down bag and a 3 pound Eureka Spitfire 1 man tent. Less than 200 bucks in gear there. I plan on a much nicer sleeping bag (only thing on the Christmas list...)

This is the next adventure:



Revelate seat bag plus a DIY frame bag. I need to make a second, as this one is a touch small, but with an expansion for the top strap, I can fit my tent poles between the top of the bag and the top tube. This will have to do for the trip next weekend. I'll post a more detailed list with some weights over the next week.

Really enjoying this thread. I loved Asana's masking tape trick and might use the most recent (can't remember the poster) ridiculous suggestion of using a ziploc freezer bag as a pillow. My nice camp pillow is very bulky and not very light.