I have the duct tape in my list just incase the rainsuit needs patching.

I had an O2 rainjacket. The material is pretty soft and is easily damaged. For riding on a bike, it works fine, but you wouldn't want to wear it while walking through brush, say between the road and a stealth campsite. Also, after a while, the outer layer will separate from the inner layer. Nothing lasts forever, but I didn't think it was durable enough.

Nice setup although I know that I couldn't really feel comfortable with just a tarp, but that's probably more psychological than anythingelse. Do you have a gear list?

no gearlist; that was an overnight blitz across the cascades in September. about 220 miles as an overnight.

but it was emergency Bivy (the silver thing), silnylon tarp, 3/4 guidelite, trangia stove with tiny pot, down vest, hat, light nylon windbreaker, extra wool shirt, thin long johns, extra socks, windbreaker pants. the usual assorted small stuff. I used newspaper for insulation under my legs (dry weekend!) 2 compression stuffsacks, two backpacking side pockets (one on handlebars-works great! use them all the time on the 'bars)

I was stealth camping and have been using tarps since the 1970's on and off, I'm okay with tarps.

I have a kilo down bag (not on that trip), thinking of getting a western mountaineering one pound down bag.

That has been my most recent purchase -- it's beautiful.

I think we are comparing apples and oranges here. Your kit seems suited for weekend trips and something a little bit more credit card touring. I attempted to come up with a list that would let the majority of bicycle tourist tour for an indefinite period anytime but in the winter

I don't know if I'll bother with it. I will be stealth camping so getting it snagged will always be a concern. It would inevitably get destroyed and turn into a duct tape suit. I've also heard complaints of the seams busting when crouching or other positions. I may sacrafice breathability or weight so long as I get durability.

Anyone going to come up with a 10-15 lb gear list? I'd be really interested to hear what the absolute essentials are. Matt

nun- yes, my kit was for an overnight blitz. it was about 12 pounds. i didn't bring a sleeping bag. just an emergency bivy and a down vest. I planned it that way. I seriously doubt a 'credit card' tourer is going to be sleeping under a tarp in a bivy with a down vest for insulation and newspapers under their feet for warmth!!!

i have the "blitz kit". and a lightweight kit. and a trad touring kit. and a winter, in the snow touring kit. sometimes I'll bring an aluminum folding chair. Sometimes i'll bring skis -and looking forward to this springs' ski&bike tour!

i usually use a bigger tarp, a light sleeping bag (I still need that one pound down bag!) and its still right around 20 pounds or so of gear.

I was not 'comparing' your setup to my overnight blitz kit- I posted a picture of using a space blanket for sleeping in, for permanent juans benefit-

you asked for a gear list and I gave you an abbreviated one.

Light rain gear - Montane probably has the lightest stuff. Not cheap, though.

... and not readily available in the USA.The Montane stuff looks really nice, I like the Montbell stuff, but the microporous suit I bought is by "Dri-Ducks", cost me $25 and weighs 11oz. in the XL size, which I got to give me lots of room to move

You guys should request a copy of sportsmanguide.com catalog or just visit their site. They have some pretty good deals on great products. For example they have full gore-tex suits for 40 bucks. They're used german military suits. Problem is they're camo so you'll need to put some high visability tape on them. I say that's not much of a problem considering you'd be getting a full gore-tex suit for 40 bucks. I'm still looking on the site but you may be able to get it cheaper. They sell the pants for 15 bucks and a jacket seperate for 20, so you could have a full suit for $35, but they wouldn't be matching. Anyone really care?

Gore-tex is light right?

It depends on how its used in a garment, but it doesn't seem to be touted as the wonder fabric it used to be.
I keep an eye out at sierra trading too. here are some sites I like for equipment

www.montbell.com
www.westernmountaineering.com
www.rei.com
www.jacksrbetter.com
www.tarptent.com
http://www.rayjardine.com/
www.montane.co.uk
www.smartwool.com
www.ibex.com
www.sierratradingpost.com
www.antigravitygear.com
www.golite.com
www.gossamergear.com

PS I'll take post a photo of my gear as soon as I find the cable for my camera

What're you reading saying it's not much of a wonder fabric anymore? Is something new replacing it? Looking forward to the pics. Matt

Its just that Gortex used to be the only thing on the block for breathable raingear and now there are a few more choices. They are probably based on the same technology, but the microporous fabrics are softer and lighter than any hardshell gortex suit that I've tried. Also most Gortex stuff seems to have lots of pulls zips, pockets and mulitple layers as it is targeted at general use and needs to be hardwaring if you are goiing to skin in it or climb a mountian. The microporous suits are pretty basic and only a single layer, so they are great for light weight and combining with other clothing when you layer. They are fairly fragile, but for me cycling isn't a contact sport.

Here are some pictures of my bags and the gear. The total weight including the food
and 3 waterbottles (not shown) is 24.5lbs.

Been a while. I'm getting close to uploading pictures of my gear. I can fit most of my gear into about 600-700 ci. That's not including the compression sack filled with clothes, and bivy. Most of that stuff I'm going to strap to the top of my rack.

Nun, you got any pictures of your gear loaded on your bike? Matt

Yep there is one early in the thread

My mistake. Forgot about that picture. Looks good though! It was hard to judge how big everything was without it being on the bike. I don't think I'm going to be going as lightweight as you, oh well.

I made a small change to my list and I've included one of the Adventure Medical 6oz bivies. I like to spread out while sleeping, which is why I use a quilt, but when its below 45F you have to strap the quilt around your sleeping pad and tuck the edges underneath to stop the draughts, so basically you get back to the
uncomfortable confines of a mummy bag. I tried using a silk liner outside the quilt, but the cold still got in.
The solution is to put the pad and quilt inside the bivy. No draughts, not confining at all, I can sleep on my side or on my front and spread my legs out. This was super comfortable wearing a wool T and some long johns and socks down to 0C and I'm using a 15 oz summer quilt with 6 oz of fill, but all of that fill is on top of my body, not squashed underneath.

photo of adventure medical bivy top of page 3. I was using a down vest instead of a quilt.

I don't think our methods are so dissimilar as to be apples and oranges, nun. I'm taking a look at your setup in post #75 and it looks a lot like I pack. I've got a tent that weighs 51 ounces.

you're not the only person that can pack an ultralight tour kit out there.

I know, the thing is I see so many people carrying so much weight that I thought I'd share.

nun - I was really into ultralight backpacking for a while and came up with a few ideas on the camping side of things. I would recommend looking into a hammock. I use this one

http://ak.buy.com/db_assets/prod_lrg.../201133001.jpg
made by Byer of Maine (this is the Mosquito Traveller) along with an ultralight silnylon tarp. Hammock is 16oz, tarp is 7oz, rope is another 5 oz. I know it is still a little heavy, but the big thing is I don't have to bring a pad to sleep on. You can hang any gear you want to dry over the mosquito net on the hammock, so it can still dry, even in the rain. If you don't have trees you use the hammock as a mosquito free bivy and set up an A-frame with the tarp.

It is also more comfortable than any tent has even been. Just a thought...

an old, very good thread recently referenced.
What about tools? I saw a kevlar string to repair a broken spoke. I prefer carrying a cluster tool, and borrow a chain whip (pliers or vice) and large wrench.

ok lad's daft question to ask maybe, but why this thing you guy's have going as light as possible.i ride a thorn sherpa i only carry rear panniers /barbag,i proberly carry about 28 pound's on the rear plus tent..,now the only time this affects me is when im climbing mountain's...when im riding rolling or flat roads my weight is fine as is my speed..my point being are you trying to get to your destenation that bit quicker ,or have you another reason im not aware of.no lad's i think i'll stick to my creature comfort'e thank you very much.oh please don't take offence to this post, im just curious as to why you want to go as light as possible.

>If I credit card it I simply leave the camping gear at home and the weight comes down to
13.5 lbs.

Heh. We have different definitions of "credit card it". If I'm "credit carding it", I carry:
- water
- museli bars
- multi tool, pump, spare tube
- rain jacket
- lightweight pants
- light woollen jumper.
- phone, maps, wallet

Speaking of rain gear, has anybody just used a simple plastic poncho? I bought one for a couple bucks for a day hike a while ago, and I'm thinking of bringing it on my TransAm tour for occassional rainy days. It weighs practically nothing, and folds up small.

It's really loose, and hangs down to my knees, so aerodynamics could be compromised, but I bet a little duct tape could help fix that. I guess breathability could also be a problem, but I can live with that.

For rain pants, I'm planning on bringing a set of nylon zip-off pants that I'll waterproof with one of those proofing sprays.

Has anybody used a similar set-up? What are the pros/cons?

I am not sold on as "light as possible", but up to a point less is better. I have had as much as 50 pounds on the bike and it sucks a lot of the joy out of riding. Personally I think the law of diminishing returns probably will set in at anything too much under 20 pounds for me, but it depends on a lot of factors.

I carried about 28 pounds last trip and didn't touch a lot of the stuff I carried. I definitely felt like I over packed. About 19 or 20 pounds would have been about perfect on that trip. I guess with a generous application of $$$ I could shave some more weight and still maintain the same "quality of life".

i too could have left some gear at home ,mostly cloths and maybe to much bike spares and tools.,but i would rather be looking at them than looking for them..thing is 28lb's is not that much okay 20lb would be better i have no doubt about that ,but i don't think i could sleep under a cabage leaf like those guy's .guess im getting old.i thought i was doing really well with my 28lb weight ,obviously not.

I suspect that the sweet spot is different for all of us. I personally think that the lighter you go the less difference it makes to your riding so at some point the result is less overall comfort.

Your 28 pounds may be right on for you. Depending on the trip it might be perfect for me too. For example if there were going to be colder weather I would have needed more of the clothing.

I don't get it when folk choose to carry really heavy loads, but if they are happy then that's great. Some of them carry two, three, or four times your 28 pounds on a summer tour and are happy with that. More power to them, but I would not be happy with that load.

I think many people new to touring end up carrying heavy loads because they adopt the standard setup of 4 panniers and a handlebar bag and then set out to fill them. Also a complete set of panniers is itself very heavy; Arkels are notorious for this.