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Old 08-20-25 | 05:52 PM
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Tourist in MSN
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Joined: Aug 2010
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From: Madison, WI

Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.

I use packing cubes for clean clothing. Dirty clothing gets put in a different stuff sack.

My down sleeping bag goes into a compression sack, that goes on top in an Ortlieb Backroller. Most of my clothing goes into another compression sack of a different color on top in the other Ortlieb backroller. Often a light down vest or down jacket gets packed with the sleeping bag. I think the compression sacks are waterproof Granite Gear, but not 100 percent sure on that.

Heavier stuff goes below that compression stuff sack, I like to have the center of gravity as low as practical, so tool bag, spare tire if I have one, canned food, etc., goes in the Backrollers first. Then the compression sack on top.

Usually cooking gear and some food goes in the front left Ortlieb Front Roller (I think they now call the front ones Sport Roller?). Front right is my tent and anything else that can be packed wet. I often put the air mattress in the front right too, as that dries out fast if it got wet from being packed with the tent.

Some years ago, someone was asking a similar question, they asked before I had a chance to unpack my gear from a trip that I had just gotten home from, so I could take a couple photos of how the compression sack fits in the top of the Backroller.







Thus, roughly half of my volume or maybe a bit more that goes in the rear Ortliebs is in those two compression stuff sacks.

A lot of the smaller items for my cooking gear gets put in a gallon sized zip lock baggie.

Toilet kit is in one or two mesh stuff sacks.

A few years ago someone on this forum was bragging about how he had cut several ounces of weight by getting rid of all of his stuff sacks. I read that just a few days before I left town for a backpacking trip. One morning on a day that was not going to be too many miles, it was going to be a short day, I decided to line up all my stuff sacks and take a photo before I packed up my pack.




This really helped me organize my backpack by having those stuff sacks. I can't figure out why that person wanted to just pack everything loose, I prefer some organization. And being a backpacking trip (not bikepacking), all that weight was on my feet, not on wheels. I was still happy to carry several extra ounces of stuff sacks and dry bags.

Last edited by Tourist in MSN; 08-20-25 at 05:55 PM.
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