It was a she, I'm marrying her so I'm bound to get in trouble if I DON'T take her with me, and finally suture strips are quite amazing for fixing things that generally need stitched!

But seriously, I HIGHLY recommend suture strips in your first aid kit, they do an awesome job.

aha...okay I understand. lol

I've heard of suture strips and understand the importance. I might check a drug store for them.

you have this all backwards!

don't wear the same shorts/sox for days! that's a recipe for sores of
the saddle and foot fungus infections...........try to wash them daily.
(i often carry a second pair of each to alternate)

daily change of undies and t-shirts? spend most of time on the bike
sweating, but don't change those daily.....

get one pair light nylon sports shorts with mesh junk pouch inside,
and a light nylon polo shirt. don't get smelly, look like normal
civilian clothing, and are quick dry.

I hear what you're saying. I agree with you on the nylon. That's something I'll follow up on. Right now all I have is cotton. Thanks, great tips.

Tony

Synthetic convertible shorts are also great if you might have cool nights and/or want bug protection without using repellant. Last month I took one pair and one synthetic shirt for my two week trip. And two undies. It's not like you are wearing the undies all day unless you are riding in them.

convertible shorts are a good idea. I'm putting in an order to REI tomorrow so I'll take a look at them on-line tonight. I'm ordering a tent and maybe a sleeping bag. Not sure about the bag yet.

I recently bought an REI brand down bag. Like it. If you are broad shouldered or otherwise on the larger side I would gt the wide version. I bought the wide without trying it first. When I got it, I felt it was a bit large so I went to the store and tried the regular. It was too narrow. That seems par for the course with them. I bought a 20 degree synthetic bag from them back in 2002 to use on supported tours and for car camping. It was also narrow.

This is what I recently bought:

https://www.rei.com/product/111165/r...5-sleeping-bag

Also bought a compression sack that compresses it quite small. Not that much bigger than a football.

BTW...Evening wood:

That's a nice light bag for sure. Compression sacks are a must in my opinion too. We have them for our lower temp bags for the canoe camping and my winter camping. Saves a bunch on room.

And quite a load of wood, too. Nothing like a fire when camping.

I copied your pic to my computer to be able to magnify in on your equipment. What I thought was a small cook stove ended up being, I think, a coffee cup. lol Oh well, maybe a pic in the future will show more of the gear.

I ordered the tent. It was the REI Passage 2. I kept going round and round between the Passage 1 or Passage 2. I like a bit extra room so I opted for the 2. And a rear view mirror that clips to my glasses. I've never tried them before but a bunch of the folks I ride with use this mirror and swear by them. I like seeing what's going on behind me. Or what might hit me. lol

Thanks, Tony