indyfabz

+1. For my first tour I crossed the county with a group of twelve people. I saw some of that and have seen it other times. People brought what I will call "niche items." A couple of times people pulled out things weeks into the tour and I asked "Where did you get that?" "I started out with it." Then they would never use it again. One specific example that comes to mind is a mosquito head net.

I didn't take a shakedown tour. I am disciplined and did not take anything that I didn't use except maybe a few band-aids. My strongest piece of advice is to not try to replicate home. One of the women in my group tour packed a Sony Watchman TV. That got mailed home a couple of days into the trip. Can't remember if she mailed home the blow dryer. In other words, don't take five pairs of underwear for a five day tour. If you cannot stand the thought of wearing dirty underwear, unsupported touring is probably not for you.

staehpj1

Interesting. I would have thought that stuff like that would have usually been mailed home in the first two weeks.

And good advice it is. I figure if we aren't looking for a simpler and perhaps more spartan lifestyle we wouldn't be camping, or riding a bike long distances for that matter.

imi

Some stuff I always carry, other stuff depends on region and climate, for example extra layers, heavier sleeping bag, bear vault, sun cream and yes even a mosquito head net.

Toured around New Zealand S. Island last winter. Before leaving, my younger, inexperienced friend read up on sand-flies and bought a headnet. Luckily, very luckily I did too, otherwise the west coast would have been miserable at best. I've heard that people have bailed out because of sandflies.

Sachelis

My advice: turn off your computer and get on your bike. The reason for the shakedown ride is to figure it out--you don't need us telling you what to (or not to) bring. Climb on your saddle and ride.

Niles H.

At some point you just have to get in and learn to swim.

Theory can only go so far.

On the other hand, having a good, sound, well functionng philosophy can work wonders. Some people can communicate a very clear and effective overall philosophy of what to take and not to take.

Andrew Skurka is pretty good with this.

At some point it helps a lot to get in the water itself and test things out there, and sort it out firsthand.

indyfabz

What do you do now when it rains during your commute?

staehpj1

As far as what I do... pretty much the same as any other day except I am likely to be later getting out of camp.

I am a bit more likely to get a room if it rains than if it doesn't, but even those times that I do I still hit the road in the morning.

What I wear depends on how cold it is and typically ranges from the same thing as if it wasn't raining to a warmer shirt and a weather resistant wind breaker. Once or twice I added my light weight rain pants, but I usually only wear them in camp.

Booger1

After 30 some odd years,I thought I had it down pat.....Wrong!........I had to look at some bikepacking sites.....So what I thought was light racks and panniers,are not so light.

I just cut my racks down short and removed the panniers.....replaced them with stuff sacks and straps.....saved almost 12 POUNDS!

I will never use panniers again......

6 lined packcloth stuff sacks and straps (2 on each of the front and back stubby racks and 1 on eack fork leg......weights well under 2 pounds,including the racks.....less than 1 Ortlieb pannier.

I thought the bike might handle funky but it's just fine and dandy.

Niles H.

Good post. This could help a lot of people simplify and lose weight.

The bikepacking world probably has more good ideas on tap.

You could check them out, and might find something useful.

Booger1

The bikepacking folks is where I got the idea from.....works for them,should work for the street.

I made a lined frame bag and 6 lined stuff sacks for about $40.00.....Packcloth outer with silnylon liners.....good to go.

I thought I might have some handling issues,the weight is up a bit higher.That was not the case for me anyways.All the weight is now in between the axles,where it should be.The heaviest thing I carry is water and most of it is still down low.

Most of the bikepacking folks seem to ride with a small backpack,seems to be a water bladder of some type or another.I found plenty of space for water bottles,I can carry 1 1/2 gal on the bike if needed with room for more in the stuff sacks if I have too.

It worked well in my case,I can still ride with no hands if need be.Can't ask for more than that.

Machka 

The thing is, you're probably not going to settle on one perfect setup ... not on one shakedown tour ... perhaps not ever.

On one early tour (Wales), I decided to try an "ultralight" setup. A friend of mine had cross Canada/US on a fixed gear, sleeping in a bivy, with no mat or pillow. If he could do that, so could I. And there I was in Wales in September with an ultralight sleeping bag, ultra light clothing, and no mat or pillow. It wasn't so much that the ground was hard ... it was COLD.

So on my 3-month tour of Australia, I decided to still try something relatively "ultralight" but perhaps a bit warmer. I brought one of those thin blue foam mats, cut down so I could lie on it from shoulder to hip. And I brought one pillow, and two very tiny sleeping bags. That was warmer, but not very comfortable for 3 months ... but I was younger then.

Not long after I returned to Canada, I bought a 3/4 Thermarest mat, and another pillow, and that's what I used on a Europe tour, and another shorter Australian tour, plus several weekend tours. It was much better than nothing, and much better than the thin blue foam mat.

But for our recent 8-ish month RTW trip, we decided we wanted to travel comfortable, and bought Exped mats ... and those are really nice. A bit noisy, but quite comfortable.

That may be the end of the mat voyage ... although I could see the possibility of doing a lighter-weight tour with folding bikes, and returning to the Thermarest. And who knows what new and improved mats may be on the market in years to come.


And that's just the mat voyage ... I've gone through similar journeys with many other pieces of touring equipment.

staehpj1

So true.

The perfect setup doesn't exist or if it does it is definitely different for each individual. Even for an individual it can be a moving target. I know that my idea of what is perfect changes from trip to trip.

Niles H.

Basic mindset plays a major role.

And basic values.

If you go with an appreciation for simplicity, that in itself goes a long way.

Some people don't even want more than a few shirts. Others have a closet full and they're still buying more.

There is a mindset of more is better, and there is a mindset of enough is enough, and there is one that loves to travel light. And there is one that makes that happen.

There is a video by IntenseAngler in which he talks about why he got rid of so many complications. If you enter *super ultralight backpacking trip* in the www.youtube.com search box, it should come up. There are some minutes near the beginning, just before 05:30 or so, where he talks about his transition from having fallen into the trap of too much stuff, to going with a lighter and happier approach. It's very good.

Contemporary culture seems to have encouraged the moremore/moreisbetter mindset. I think we're free to try out these other approaches.