minimalist touring.. what would you carry?
 

bare essentials

Money.. large credit line and/or checking account balance for the Debit card.

Just enough. Camping, cooking, hotel, distance, location, season? Some more details might be helpful.

How about following in the footsteps of John Muir when it comes to camping light, John Muir's Menu by J. Parker Huber - Life - John Muir Exhibit - Sierra Club

Just a cell phone to keep in touch with my SAG vehicle.

Bare minimum for summer, credit card touring staying in hotels, floors or couches would be carried in Carradice Barley saddlebag

Wallet with cards and money
iPhone, earphones and charger
Multitool
Spare tube and patch kit
Pump
Rain jacket
Gloves
Shower cap
Small cable lock
First aid kit
2x 1L water bottles
Bic lighter
Front and rear lights
Emergency mylar blanket
Sunblock, toothpaste
Sunglasses
Spare shirt
Tights or other light weight trousers that can be worn on or off the bike.
Pen and notebook

Then whatever you usually wear: cap or helmet, long sleeve jersey, shorts, socks, shoes

If I wanted to go loaded this is my list

Lightweight Touring Gear List Redux. | The Wheels of Chance

or you could do worse and just take what the Crane brothers took across the Himalayas and Tibet, scroll down to Appendix One on page 181

https://xmasepic.files.wordpress.com...jce-cranes.pdf

or just google "randonneur packing list"

OK assuming camping and cooking... below is a fairly minimal list from a previous trip. This is about 6 pounds of stuff. To be fair I also had a couple pounds of non essentials including a fly rod, an ultralight travel dulcimer, and a pair of Cushe sandals, but those items are are not part the "bare essentials". I have been below 15 pounds of gear and bags the last few trips and even below 10 pounds some of the time. Choices vary trip to trip depending on local, time of year, and other factors.

Shelter-Sleep
Ti Goat Ptramigan Bug Bivy
Integral Designs Siltarp 1
170# braided dacron (short lines for tarp and a longer piece for hanging food)
6 MSR Needle stakes
Mountain Hardwear Phantom +45 mummy bag
Therm-a-Rest NeoAir XLite (size R) pad
Exped Air Pillow (size M)

Toiletries
Tooth brush (Toob)
Toothpaste (in handle of Toob)
Microfiber car towel (16"x16")
Toilet paper (a few sheets per day)
Liquid soap (baby shampoo for hair, body, dishes, and clothing)
Sunscreen
Lip stuff

Luggage
Flash 18 pack
Trashbag liner
Fanny pack
Possibly a bar roll
Straps to lash gear

Kitchen
Snow Peak 600 with home made lid
Ti bowl
Light My Fire Ti Spork
Pop can stove
P51 can opener
Pot cozy
Knife
Sawyer Mini (water filter)

First Aid and repair
Aspirin/ibuprofen/etc.
Benadryl
Band aids
Gauze
Steri-strips
Duct tape
Spare tubes
Patch kit
Tools that are always on the bike

Clothing
Pearl Izumi Attack shorts (1)
Gloves
Helmet
Performance tights
Immersion Research kayaking sweater
Tech tee
Novara Thermal Tech Beanie
Stoic Wraith wind shirt
Frogg Toggs emergency U/L poncho
Wind pants
Nike DriFit shorts
Sidi Giau shoes
UA low-cut poly socks

Misc.
Android phone and charger

winter? summer? bear country? cooking and camping? hostels or hotels? go fast? visit every tourist trap along the way?

Pot cozy? You've got clothes and a towel than can insulate a pot well enough.....double duty:thumb:

Good point, and I have used clothing as a cozy but at 0.7 ounces I think the cozy is worth it . The towel is washcloth sized and I have gotten refried beans or oatmeal on my clothes too many times. My cozy is an envelope made from a piece of one of those foam-mylar windshield screens.

Small sub-dermal laser projector with the number of my Swiss bank safe deposit box .

Gear Lists- Max, The Cyclist

nice!

If you do a search with the word: Ultralight in the title, you'll come up with quite a bit of discussion along these lines.

But check out this thread:
http://www.bikeforums.net/touring/84...vangelism.html

Bare essentials:

• tent
• sleeping bag
• sleeping pad
• appropriate clothes layers
• cook kit
• bike tools & spares
• toiletries
• iphone
• id & credit card

Maybe not in grizzly country!

Very comprehensive list. I don't carry those marked in red, since I only tour during dry months. No shower cap since I shampoo every day when I take shower.
3 sets of cycling jersey and shorts. 2 sets of T shirts and shorts to loaf off bike and sleep in. light rubber thongs when off bike. one small plastic squeeze bottle each for liquid detergent and liquid dish washer for 750cc water bottles. 1 small bottle of chain lubricant. 1 terry cloth to wipe dirty hands and another to wipe sweat off my face. I don't cook period.

Three sets of cycling clothes?! Here I am, carrying just one and washing it...

My current kit, for 3 season riding used about a month ago. I added a few more warm layers for an overnight a week ago. This is for on road / off road / dirt road touring. If I was doing a road tour / dirt road tour with resupply / stores / etc. I'd ditch the Sawyer filter and water purification drops, along with folding saw / etc. Basically, the question of what is a minimal kit really comes down to when, where, why, who... and then the kit gets chosen.

New rig, heavier than my Fargo due to the big wheels and tires (and I just added a Rohloff...!)
https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3939/...f96a95c6_b.jpgIMG_3809 by mbeganyi, on Flickr

I've also added a USBwerk to the mix, and will be wiring up a 3d printed switch box that I designed that will switch from charge / off / lights. The USBwerk and Shimano hub can top off iPhone, a Limefuel battery, or run my GPS or run / charge my GoPro (if I bring it...)

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7553/...1a2b127f_b.jpgDyno Switch Housing v1 (minuteman sent me the wrong switch so I'm hoping they ship out new ones ASAP) by mbeganyi, on Flickr

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3944/...eca2ef85_b.jpgUntitled by mbeganyi, on Flickr

Old rig, my Fargo:
https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5614/...1e45fdee_b.jpgFargo with Revelate Sweetroll, frame bag, Visaha seat bag, jerry can and gas tank. by mbeganyi, on Flickr

Something I have done overnights on, but don't ride much anymore:
https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2151/...e453bdd6_b.jpgIMG_9474a by mbeganyi, on Flickr

(This is bordering on a luxury list for me… I brought a pillow – something that doesn’t go on longer trips as I use the space for food / extra clothes)

(no food or water included in weights)
Fargo naked with Revo and Redeye lights, dyno wheel, etc. 29#
Fargo 35.2# with GPS, hydro hose, Revo, Redeye, Lezyne pump, and on frame bags as noted below:

On bike frame bags, feed bag, gas tank and jerry can 6.2#
Frame bag
Arm warmers, gloves, folding camp saw, knife, Fenix LD22 (for helmet, night riding headlamp), vest and woolie, tent pole, tent stakes, spare tube, empty bladder, sawyer mini inline with hydro bladder

Jerry can with tools, multitool with pliers, 1 brake, 1 shift cable (tucked into sides of bag stiffener), der hanger, patch kit, fiber spoke, tire levers, spare master link

Feedbag(s) with hand sanitizer (no food for weights, but generally my road food goes here)

Gas tank with Canon G12 camera and batteries (4aa and 4aaa)

Front harness and rear saddle bag 14#

Front bag 8#
Sleeping pad, sleeping bag, pillow!, personal stuff, water purification, toiletries, headlamp, showers pass crossover tucked into harness (need to change this – lost it after this photo)

Rear bag 6#
Tarptent Contrail, cook kit (Snow Peak 700 pot, double wall mug, fuel canister, Gigapower stove, matches, silicone bowl, Ti spork, bear line, carabiner, stuff sack), camp clothes (MUSA knickers, boxers for camp, Patagonia puffy jacket).

Total Kit without food / water 20.2#
Total rig without food / water 49.2#

On person – wallet, cellphone, SPOT tracker, cycling cap

Bikepacking List Fall (3Season)

Personal:
Glasses in case with cloth cleaner
Contact Case eye drops
Sunglasses
Maps / Cue card
Knife (in mesh in Feedbag)

Electronics:
GPS Garmin etrex 20 on bike
Camera canon g12
Batteries AAA and AA
Headlamp Princeton tec small thing
Fenix flashlight for helmet
Revo dyno headlight
Redeye dyno tailight

Meds:
First aid kit
Tums
Ibuprofen
TP
Shovel
Wipes
Lantiseptic
Tiny travel towel

Cook Kit:
Stove
Snow Peak Ti700 Pot
Snow Peak double wall cup (if ‘luxury’ camping…)
Ti Spork
Snow Peak Gigapower stove with Piezo ignition
MSR fuel canister
Bear (critter) bag and line with carabiner

Food:
As req’d

Hydration:
Water bladder(s)
Aqua Mira drops
Sawyer mini inline filter
Nuun tabs for flavor, electrolytes

Shelter:
TarpTent Contrail
Pole
Stakes
Sleeping bag big agnes fish hawk 30d down
Sleeping pad big agnes insulated air core

Bike Mech:
Tube
Patch kit
Tire boot
Tire levers
Pump
Multitool
Derailler hanger (if Fargo)
Brake pads (1 set)
Zip ties
Electrical tape
Chain Lube
Shift cable
Brake cable

Clothes:
Boxers
Dry gloves
Dry Socks
Patagonia puff
Rain pants or MUSA knickers
Showers Pass jacket
Thin ibex woolie

On body:
Cycling shorts
Socks
Shoes Pi x alps pro
Rapha jersey (got to be fashionable)
Thin cap
Helmet
SPOT
Wallet / iphone
Cycling gloves (if dirt road / single track)

Me too.

There's not one answer because it depends on where and how you're touring. What are the expected temps and odds of rain? Do you expect multiple consecutive days of rain as you might see in Ireland? Are you touring the developed world or the third world? Is your bike compatible with what bike shops might stock where you're headed, ie. 700c tires for Europe, but 27" for Mexico? How reliable is your bike, and what can you fix on the road? Do you need decent street clothes for some of the planned activities? and so on.

-----I pack by setting an absolute weight limit, and bag size/capacity. Then I gather everything I plan to pack and lay it out on the bed. Then it's a process of elimination/rejection until I'm within the preset limits. To me the size/weight limits are trump, and I'll make any adjustment needed to fit them. (I got used to working this way by flying in small planes with very tight baggage rules, and have gone for a month with only 25#s including scuba diving gear). -----

BTW- most experienced tourists learn to travel light, taking only what's necessary (desired isn't enough), and selecting things that can do double duty. If something unforeseen arises mid trip they can buy what's needed (doesn't work in the third world).

Most cycling rain jackets don't have hoods because they restrict visibility, so the shower cap is to keep your head dry in the rain.

The the amount of stuff you carry will depend on whether you are going to be staying in hotels and eating in restaurants or camping and cooking your own food. You are either doing a very, very long randonnee or more conventional touring.

If it's a very long randonnee you only need to add a couple of things to the gear you'd take for a regular day out on the bike. For me those would be a change of clothes, toiletries and an iPhone charger.

To address the "bare essentials" and "minimalist" bits of the OPs questions I assumed a randonee/credit card style that would fit in a small saddlebag like this:

https://wheelsofchance.files.wordpre...2014/11/rs.jpg

Ah so! I see your point.
BTW I carry three sets of cycling wears because They're light and take very little space. On some days it's just not practical to do laundry.

Totally concur. I tour Thailand Laos and Cambodia. Will add Myanmar and Vietnam soon. I normally change tubes, chain, and have mechanic go over the whole bike before a tour. Used but replaced items are back in service after I return from the tour.

Nice, bmike. Awesome set up.

Now THAT is a minimalist set up.