Touring Equipment

On another note, what's a decent, small packing 2-season bag for not-a-lot-but-possibly-some money?

I asked some sleeping bah questions up thread, got some useful answers. From memory look at the snugpak travel pak range, and maybe north face lynx, although this may be a bit too light for a true 2 season.

As you all seem to be on the verge of touring this summer, I should stress again the importance of CUTTING YOUR TOOTHBRUSH IN HALF to save weight.

I must point out that while I do exactly that, it's usually to reduced the volume in my bag, once you reduced the volume of nearly every content, you're left with a remarkably small bag that's easy to pack and unpack.

Brushing your back teeth must be all sorts of fun.

Not difficult really, I'm sure there must be a lots of online guide on how to cut it at the perfect length so you can grasp it properly yet still reach to the back of your teeth.

As you all seem to be on the verge of touring this summer, I should stress again the importance of CUTTING YOUR TOOTHBRUSH IN HALF to save weight.

You'll save calories too.

It's a secret SAS tip.

Done, which half is best to use first, left or right?

haha

^Nice one!
I cut my toothbrush to save volume as well.

Ti spork it is. How about mugs?

How long are you going? What will you use it for?
Myself I dont drink coffee and I can do without tea on tour so I don't need a mug. I brought a stove and small light pots last time which could be used as cups, but seriously considering my next tour without stove and such. Just bread with regional deliciousness in the form of charcuterie, cheeses, jams and honeys and shitloads of fruit. Drink = water and sometimes a bottle of coke. When I feel like eating a warm dish I can grab a plat du jour or menu del dia or similar.

Or just don't take the entire cooking equipment, save a massive 2.5kg worth of estimate weight.

Thought, next time I go touring, I probably just pack enough to make a cup of teas in the AM, and eat whatever shit they have at the supermaches as Machine said.

You can always clip your mug on the outside;

baguettes get pretty boring if your touring for any length of time

the extra weight of the cooking equipment is worth having hot meals and more importantly coffee in the morning

Definitely a question of personal preference. I don't mind eating baguettes for weeks at all and say no to coffee anyway.

Ed, what do you bring for that tea in the morning?

I cannot fucking wait to get out of the country, once I know which weeks in the next 3 months I can get holiday, I'll book the next ferry out to Spain and wild camp every National Park on the National Forest Explorer.

Ed, what do you bring for that tea in the morning?

None, just pan y agua every day.

baguettes get pretty boring if your touring for any length of time

NEVER!

BTW, that was I who shouted at you in Raynes Park last Monday.

Baguette ftw

[

Sweet, if you happen to cross Madrid you're welcome to wild camp in my appartment.

Fucking hell dude, that's a shitload of groceries!

Sweet, if you happen to cross Madrid you're welcome to wild camp in my appartment.

Doubt it, I have two option which the first is to fly to Madrid and ride north and explore the mountains before taking the ferry at Santander, the other is ferry down, ride and ferry up without heading toward Madrid.

Is there's a good route between Madrid and Santander? I can see the National Park near Soria being an option but I like to try and spend as much time in the mountains than the flat dusty road.

http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/light-touring-in-spain

If you really wanna stay in the mountains it's probably best to stay around Santander.

A Madrid - Santander route could be something like (note that it's an extremely rough sketch)

which also takes you through some beautiful less dusty and more mountainous landscapes. Also is this only 600km so if you plan to do 900km ish you can still play with the route once you hit the mountains up north. Either go east near the border which is FUCKING beautiful, or west and ride some of the roads in your inital Santander - Santander route.

You mean near the border of Portugal? just checked street view, and holy hell it look awesome (near salto de saucelle).

Machine is a baguette machine.

How long did you go for? If you don't mind me asking, how much does a trip like this cost? Itching to do something like this and Spain sounds very appealing.

^^ Actually meant border of France, but hey it's your ride! I'd love to tour around northern Portugal and Spain some time.

^ My stove ran out of gas with about 2 weeks of touring left. Couldn't find the right replacement for my stove and gave up looking after 3 days. I could do it for a month no problem.
You can go cheap or expensive. I spend quite the amount on preparation and on road because I love to eat good ham etc, sleep on campings, and I had to buy all my camping equipment. If you have all sort of camping equipment laying about which you can use for touring, wildcamp most of the time and eat/drink cheap it shouldnt be too expensive. Don't have any exact figures for you, but if you know what you eat and what you need you can calculate an estimate for yourself.

How long did you go for? If you don't mind me asking, how much does a trip like this cost? Itching to do something like this and Spain sounds very appealing.

When I rode to Casablanca, I spend £300, including the £150 flight back to London.

It's very easy to save when you don't have enough money to begun with after splashing out on some fancy camping equipment.

vive le baton!

Folding toothbrush and sample size toothpaste from the dentist for the win!

Youd have to break off the foldable part to save weight anyway.

Kids toothbrushes are smaller, lighter, easier to grip than cut-off ones and get more junk off the back teeth.

I am intending on doing some light touring around the end of August beginning of September from Philadelphia to New York. Route is about 160 km. I've done longer stints with rear and front panniers all full of gear but won't need to this time as I intend on doing it in a day and have friends in New York I'll be staying with so no camping. I don't want to take a rucksack and feel panniers would be overkill for a day trip.

Also don't want to spend a fortune for such a short trip so any suggestions regarding either handlebar bags or saddle bags?

Bike packers may disagree, but Carradice offers a million size options and can stay on your bike in perpetuity, way more convenient to load and unload too.

^I'm a bikepacker and I agree, Carradice bags are awesome on-road and tolerable off-road.

On another note, what's a decent, small packing 2-season bag for not-a-lot-but-possibly-some money?

For 2-3 season stuff I have a Sea-to-Summit Trek TK1 - 650 fill power at 900g ish. Works as a duvet in summer and I've used it for sub-bushline stuff to about -5c in winter. It doesn't have a fancy 3D hood and is a semi-rectangular shape so not the ultimate in performance for the weight, but then again, it was not particularly expensive. Being down it packs down to about the size of a small leg of lamb. I suppose you could get smaller/lighter bags for the money but then you're sacrificing versatility - your bag will probably be the most expensive thing in your panniers so it's worth getting something you'll be able to use for most of the year.

I think it cost 130 quid or thereabouts, you might pick one up much cheaper in a sale though.