Bikepacking - a viable alternative to racks & panniers

I can only imagine losing traction on a slippy root and the result fall from heights on this.

Nice. Seems a lot of water for Italy, were you off the beaten path for long periods?

I have been riding around all August and believe me they were so much needed.
Probably not until reach Rome... but in Calabria and Sicily they saved me.
I haven’t done much gravel roads but for example in Sila area (Calabria mountain) finding a place where to eat/drink has been very difficult. Therefore, more than less.
They have been also a test for (not sure if it’s gonna happen or not) my next year summer trip in North Africa.

Awesome. Where did you ride in Sicily?

Sicily was the last bit of my trip. So I did From Messina to Palermo.

Any reason not to lash tent poles underneath the down tube? Other than the fact they'll get covered in mud - if they're in their own bag they should stay clean enough right? Could put a bottle cage with a flat bottom on the DT mount to stop them sliding down with vibrations.

Where's a good place to get those funky straps? Voile or whatever

As it seems like you've maximised most of the space you've got already, you might be able to streamline your set-up a bit by getting a full frame bag and chucking in a couple of hydration bladders?

Also shout out the old school ipod shuffle.

Dirt and vibrations you seem to have covered. Only other thing I can think of is damage from rock strike etc? Would be a pisser if you couldn't put your tent up because summat had pinged into your poles while on the trail. Probably pretty unlikely though.

Hmm, yeah, that would be a bit of a problem.

Also, an alternative to strapping them to the frame would be one of these downtube bags (need to be 50cm long and then tyre clearance might be a problem)

Yes.
This is another option but would mean buying another bag etc. These bags have already 6 years and some trips on them but look ace.
If I go ahead with my next year trip, I might considering doing with a rigid mtb (just to be on the safe side) and this would mean go for (at least) a custom Rusjan frame bag. Will see...

And isn’t an iPod shuffle... but sort of Chinese copy... however with @hippy speaker (thanks mate) I was able to keep up the morale 🙂

Actually, unlike me, the grrl's knees come nowhere near the top tube when she rides and the poles fit there. So looks like we're just gonna voile the poles to her toptube and voile the tent itself in a 2L drybag under my aerobars.

Latest voile I bought (2 months ago) were from the bikemonger...fake copy of these might be found on Amazon too...

Thanks, just ordered a bunch of straps from 'Charlie'. Hopefully enough to keep the poles and tent hanging off our bikes.

What's out there, of similar drybag roll-top design, in 3-4L, that's more abrasion resistant than Ultrasil?

finally @BareNecessities can ditch panniers!

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What the phuc am i looking at?

Enjoying watching ,Stephen Fitzgeralds Instagram Stories of trip in Armenia

https://www.instagram.com/stevetheintern/

is there an SPD model

Is there anywhere that has a list/comparison of the various current Arkose models wrt price and specs? It doesn't seem to be possible to find them listed on Evans when they're out of stock.

looks incredible. I'm heading there in spring

I know the title is 'viable alternative to racks' but this might be of interest - apologies if already covered,

A friend is going live on Kickstarter in two days with this; A lightweight rack (5kg rated) that doesn't need any attachments to bars/stem, but clips onto most bikes/bars.
https://www.jackthebikerack.com/

I've not used, but have seen it ridden, and am into it. Will be ordering one (hopefully) to have on hand for those days when a pack ends up overloaded and can stick this on quick.

Also, interested to see if suitable for bike-packing with a roll bag, and how much more space it creates around bars/lights/equipment

Curious! Can see this being useful on a couple of bikes and might stop me buying another frame to be able to carry more.

I made something similar, but less adaptable, by hand bending 8mm di. steel bar to hold a handlebar roll away from an exposed canti brake cable. Got the idea from here:
https://www.bikeforums.net/general-cycling-discussion/902843-handlebar-bag-diy-removable-support.html
Worked well

oh yeah, looks similar - I think the one I posted uses friction/tension through a strap/friction gate from the stem, but this is neat to use increasing pivoting pressure from the load to secure with the strap.

Zero business/promo interest etc in it, just used to work with him, and looks well thought out.

Interersting! Would be great with optional Nitto M18 style struts IMO