Bikepacking - a viable alternative to racks & panniers

Thing with Revelate is that he can pack the bag in a much smaller package and thus avoid custom charge.

Has anyone successfully used a backpack as a kind of hacked handlebar bag?
I'm riding across to Swindon next weekend for a party and would like to do the ride without my bag on my back, but would rather not shell out for a barbag. Unless anyone could suggest a suitablebar bag for ~£20? Cheapest I can find is around £27

I'm thinking I could turn my backpack (a bigxtop one) sideways, and use the shoulder straps to wrap around the handlebars and headtube somehow. It wouldn't be easily accessible but would keep the weight off my back which is the aim.

Edit: I think the bag is too tall (and when rotated would be too wide) to fit between the drops. So, has anyone ever used a backpack as a saddlepack?

Get a drybag from alpkit, and strap it to wherever you want. It will wobble, but it will do the job too.

I got the Alpkit Airlok Dual or whatever it's called for that purpose, was something like £15, comes with the straps and everything. Managed to squeeze a weekends worth of stuff into it.

Do you have anything like a toiletry pouch lying around in your house? use that as a handlebar bag.

as @gabes said, get cheap drybag, then strap it in the saddle.

I'm just back from a three day bikepacking trip from Brandenburg into the Bohemian part of the the Czech Republik and back to Berlin.

The pictures I took are a pretty pale comparision with what I actually experienced so I thought I'd keep this post down to what we really (possibly) want to know - what did I take, where did I sleep and am I still alive.

I can't seem to embed a picture into this post, but hopefully it is there as an attachment, anyway, two Alpkit dry bags, one large 13lt on the front for a sleeping bag and Alpkit Hunka bivvy bag, one smaller strapped in, and later protuding out of the Ortlieb saddle bag for everything else. The front one was just attached using the straps it came with, and despite being a bit saggy it worked perfectly, hangin just under the light and resting on the mudguard with no interference.

I slept two nights in wooded areas, both places were chosen just before nightfall, and thanks to dry nights meant I actually slept pretty well. I had no sleeping mat, pillow, or tarp with me, which I need to sort out, as I had no protection from rain.

I only took one set of clothes with me, a couple of pairs of socks and outer wear for rain, I just ignored the need to wash, opting instead to just avoid any human interaction and burn my clothes as soon as I got home.

To extend the journey I would only add the tarp and roll mat, with some kind of provision for pillow and an extra set of clothes so I could actually wash things, I'd then sporadically make use of campsite showers when they were available and would assume, with only these minor adjustments, that this set-up could work for weeks...

These are the routes I took;
Day 1) https://www.strava.com/activities/286817063
Day 2) https://www.strava.com/activities/286817826
Day 3) https://www.strava.com/activities/286818289

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Awesome. Just about doing it. With whatever you have.

Amazing. Some pretty serious mileage and climbing there! Keen to see/hear more about the trip generally!

Useful app for anyone going into the wilderness.... still best carry map & compass tho!

https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/shop/os-locate

@Yossarian
One of the most impressive posts I can remember seeing on this forum. I'm also amazed that you have a device that keeps your strava going for almost 300 km in a day.

Battery on my shitty old Iphone tends to die on me anytime after 60 km. Whatever you're using is the phone/kit I am buying next.

Garmin Etrex by the looks of things... takes AA batteries and you can turn it off, replace them and turn it back on without losing your route. Have managed over 24 hours with good quality lithium batteries on mine before.

Here's my Tour Divide setup, only thing it's missing is a water bottle under the downtube!

Awesome! Needs more pics

andy_k is right, I use an eTrex 30 which I find is perfect for the kind of cycling I do. I wouldn't often use the word revolutionary, but it has had a significant impact on my cycling now that I can plot routes as long and and as remote as I want, then follow and record the whole thing with just a few AA batteries.

I'm planning another Bikepacking trip next week, I'll post some pictures when I'm back...

How much water do you normally carry? Bottle under down tube + camelback? Or are you also storing water in the frame bag.

How much water do you normally carry? Bottle under down tube + camelback? Or are you also storing water in the frame bag.

Depends where I am. Normally just a camelbak. For Tour Divide I'm taking a camelbak with 2L capacity, 1L bottle on downtube, and I'm taking 2 x 2L platypus bladders for extra capacity through The Great Basin, and the Gila Wilderness in New Mexico.

Good luck @gabes sounds like the real shit.

Consolidating a bunch of kit, if anyone's interested in the following before I go make a proper thread, drop me a PM.

Revelate Harness (new style with rubber bar spacers) + 13l Alpkit double-ended dry bag, both unused
Revelate Tangle - small version, fairly well used but still in one piece, slight fraying to one of the seat tube straps, zips seem fine
Trangia burner (just the burner, not full set of pans...) + triangle stand + 500ml fuel bottle - all unused
Alpkit Hunka XL - good condition, used for ~20 nights
Alpkit Rig 3.5 tarp - used once, excellent condition - can probably include a bunch of cord to make your own guy lines
2x Salsa Anything Cage (2nd version, not the snappy ones) - very light use, straps included

Hello,

I'd be interested in the tarp and Salsa cage... PM'd...

edit: Sorry, just noted the PM bit, will do now..

Clearing out some stuff, is there any interest in a Hennessy hammock safari deluxe? Used for 5 days, but didn't get on with sleeping in it.

I'm just back from another brief bikepacking trip, this time in the Harz Mountains, Germany...

The Harz Montains are amazing, and pretty close to Berlin. Dense woodland with a single strip of tarmac rising up out of the forests and into the sky towards the summit of the Brocken Mountain. I descended down single track into the valley below and scaled several smaller mountain ridges using single track before darkness approached and I slept somewhere or other in the woods. The next day I returned to the summit of the Brocken Mountain then made the lengthy decent back down to Berlin...

Lessons learnt: need wider tyres, taking spare batteries is sensible, taking flat batteries isn't... need smaller dry bag for sleeping bag that doesn't sag and rotate around the front of the bike during descents... must work out why I was both cold and sweaty during the night...

Here is the route I took:
Day 1: https://www.strava.com/activities/304671768
Day 2: https://www.strava.com/activities/304673221

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re: cold sweat... breathable bivvy?

Yossarian, is that an Ortlieb saddle pack? If so, do you rate it? Been looking at one reently.

I've got one - it's useless... if you put any real weight in it, and do any slightly rough roads it can come undone and bounce onto your rear wheel - not ideal.