Bikepacking - a viable alternative to racks & panniers

I have the alpkit Numo. It is comfortable (for me anyway), and a revelation coming from the xtra lite something or other that I had before, which I just couldn't get on with. I'm pretty sure it's got a slow puncture though, or the valve is leaking air slowly, as it doesn't hold all the air all night anymore and I'm no heavyweight. Haven't been on any long trips with it since a couple of weeks in Ireland, so I haven't bothered to look for the source of the problem. It's been on my to do list for a while...

If it's just double sided velcro on the gastank, I have a bunch spare. Think it might be a little wider than the stock stuff but I'm sure you can manage something with scissors... Can pop some in the post if you want

Crappy pic of setup for family overnighter leaving in the morning. 20l upfront for my accom, framebag for tarp poles, pot mug stove & fuel plus cold drink, rear drybag for warm/change clothes to sleep in, carradice for tools & essential waterproofs.

T'other bike not pictured will carry tent & sleep stuff plus clothes for partner & 3 yr old, snacks too.

Gotta find a home for some beer too before I sleep.

Should be fun.

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My setup from an S24O I just did - everything on the bike, no backpack. I did carry a musette for when I bought bread rolls when I passed a general store. Water bladder is in top half of framebag.

More pics here

+1 for the numo - I took it on a weekend trip to Rye & Dungeness this weekend. Easy to inflate to a decent pressure, didn't take up much space & was lightweight enough. Was genuinely impressed by the alpkit stuff that I got, I lashed an Airlok Xtra 8litre to my handlbars with a 'Joey' and a second hand Nelson Longflap Carradice took care of the rest of my kit. For a weekend away travelling light it's a great set up. Can't wait to do it again.

Thanks to @Tababa for an army surplus bivvy, we tested an ultra skimmed down bivvy+summer bag setup last night up top of a hill in those trees.

Super windy, quite chilly but the army surplus bags worked wonders. Could have done with a sleeping mat and pillow, though.

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^ right side of fence from those cows.

In other news, innovation:

http://bearbonesbikepacking.blogspot.co.uk/2016/07/wildcat-gear-double-ended-dry-bag-that.html?m=1

On the way up it was late evening, so we were on the other side, and I was on edge the whole time. The last visit some years ago, I was without bike but had a bull coming to see what I was doing. This time on the way down it was convenient not to enter that field, totally glad we didn't, since they jogged over and didn't look all that happy with us.

I jus got a thermorest neo air x lite.
It's great.

They're odd creatures, mostly chilled but once they start running as a group it's time to gtfo rapid.

cows are mostly harmless, they just are inquisitive, not much excitement in their world..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs_-emj1qR4

I slept on my foam mat. I wouldn't call it great but I guess it was better than sleeping on concrete.

Sister left a yoga mat to be thrown away; stupidly heavy. Bought a cheap foiled-sided sleep mat from Tesco; stupidly thin and noisy.

Still prefer the chunky Karrimor egg-carton thing. I took an off-cut about the size of a sit mat to that stupidly windy test on Friday. The only part of my body that was totally comfortable was the part with the mat underneath. Must find a perfect shape/size and means to carry.

I bought a £6 Karrimor mat and trimmed it down.

The egg carton or the regular one?

It's flat/smooth so I presume it's not the egg carton one.

Back to cows: They can be very inquisitive animals and aren't aggressive at all (unless you're with a dog or similar "predator" when there's young about). Generally you can identify the herd leader, they tend to be just ahead of the others, the one that the less confident animals will follow. They direct the group. Stand up to that one and they'll all back down when the leader does.
One book I read suggested punching the leader on the nose if they don't back down. I've never had to do more than walk towards them to get them to move though.

Good to mention here:
Specialized top tube bag is perfect on several frames under the bottle cages.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

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Planning a 4 days tour of Cornwall at the beginning of August. Planning is a big word since I haven't done anything but booking days off so far.

Any tip is more than welcome! Rough idea is 4x60km/day to close a sort of loop, getting to see most of the characteristic landscape/villages rather than being after the most technical routes.

Given it's only 4 days, we'll take the train out, so a good first input would be about where to from London. I'd rather do this asap since prices are ££££££

Apologies for spamming this thread with something is probably more appropiate for "route" ones, thank you all

I'm ginger, so all bets are off.

Anyone got the apidura extended top tube bag?
Thinking of taking on for food. To save loosing it and rummaging around in frame bag. They decent?
https://www.apidura.com/product/top-tube-pack-extended/

I had one, the zip split in the end (overstuffing probably). Someone on here works in their ops team and did PM me about getting it replaced but I think I forgot to reply.

Zips love to split. First point to go.

thanks

Yeah. I think having a central zip puts more strain on it than having one round the edge (e.g. Revelate), both when filling it up and getting things in/out but I don't have enough evidence to back that up at the moment.

There are a couple of Cornwall route threads on here that might be good starting points for routes