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After threatening to go bikepacking for several months I finally did it this weekend. Seenvic and I went out for a short overnighter as a shakedown of our equipment, in preparations for a longer trip eventually. Here’s how it went, what worked well, and what didn’t work so well. I’ve been slowly acquiring gear over the last year, a few things here and there, whenever I find good sales basically. Temps were forecasted to drop down to around 43 degrees Saturday night, so we had to bring enough clothes to stay warm.
Please excuse the crappy iPhone pics.
This is my hammock broke down ready for packing.
The hammock went into this frame bag. I decided to put the rain fly in the exterior pocket of the camelbak though.
Clothes to wear around camp and my sleeping bag all packed down into….
…this dry bag, which got strapped to my handlebars.
The Jabberwocky loaded up and ready to ride. It weighs right at 30lbs as you see it.
When I first put the bag onto the bars I had a problem – it was all up in my grips and brakes. So, I took this bungee cord and used it to keep the bag bent back out of the way. After taking the pic I re-routed the bungee below the down tube. I wasn’t sure how well this would work.
Everything else went into my Camelbak HAWG. Here’s the full list:
-70oz of water
-arm/leg warmers
-pot/pan/knife/fork/spoon (all titanium and crazy light)
-scotch pad
-stove and fuel can
-plastic bowl
-rain fly for hammock
-lighter
-first aid kit
-SAM splint
-pump
-saw
-small duct tape roll
-toilet paper
-ramen noodles
-beef jerky
-trail mix
-candy bar
-toothbrush and toothpaste
-contact solution and case
-prescription glasses and case
-light to use around camp
The jacket didn’t fit, so I didn’t take it. Which was a mistake.
It was totally full. It wasn’t as heavy as I expected though. Threw it on my scale and it came out to 13.25lbs
Seenvic took a different approach. Bivy strapped to the seat post, food on the bars, everything else in his camelbak. It was huge. Apparently I didn’t get any pics of it though.
An old school Camelbak Bandito strapped to the bars.So all loaded up, we started our ride at the southern end of Turkey Creek, and headed north on the singletrack. My bike set up worked perfectly. The dry bag stayed right where I put it on the bars. It stayed out of the way of my brake levers and grips, and it didn’t hit my knees when I was out of the saddle climbing. My bike felt heavier for sure, but it rode like normal. The weight on the front end didn’t effect the steering at all. I rode just like normal. Log hops were no problem. My camelbak didn’t feel that bad. I tightened the lumbar straps pretty tight, and it put almost all the weight onto my hips, not my shoulders, and it was comfortable.
Seenvic’s bike set up didn’t work as well, we had to stop several times to adjust/move things around. First, the bivy sac came loose, so we moved it to the bars, and seenvic said the weight on the front of his did change the steering feel, especially at low speed. Then his sleeping pad fell out, so we had to put it back in again.
We rode all of Turkey, and a little over 3 miles of Wine, and found a nice camping spot. A flat area just off the trail next to a creek bed.
The creek bed was mostly dry, just a few puddles here and there. We used some rocks out of here to build a fire ring.
We set up camp and got a fire going just before we ran out of light.
My hammock. I used the support line to hang up clothes to dry – I’d be wearing them again the next day to ride back.
Seenvic used a bivy sac to sleep in.Once it got dark we ate, roasted some marshmallows on the camp fire and just hung out. A little after 9pm we went to bed. Temps were starting to drop and it was getting cool. I initially got in my sleeping bag wearing just a pair of boxers, and I was comfy. Went to sleep quickly. But then a few hours later I woke up, and I was cold. Put on some clothes and went back to sleep…for a little while. But then I woke up cold again. I had heard that hammocks sleep cold, since you aren’t insulated on one side like you are when sleeping on the ground. I had hoped my bag would be warm enough (it’s rated to be comfortable at 36 degrees, temps were forecasted to get down to 43), but it wasn’t. So I tossed and turned the rest of the night, not sleeping for more than just a few minutes at a time. I’m guessing I got about 3 or 4 hours of sleep total.
Seenvic stayed warm and cozy all night in his bivy sac.
Once daylight [i:2m3yiggf]finally[/i:2m3yiggf] started creeping into the sky I got up to pee, after putting on my arm and leg warmers and jersey beneath my pants and long sleeve shirt. Seenvic got up as well, and we got another fire going.
The fire worked really well for warming up our clothes before putting them on – just like pulling something straight out of the dryer.Ate some oatmeal, tore down camp, put out the fire, and rode the 10.7 miles back to the car.
Seenvic tried putting his sleeping pad on the seat post. It made to the Big Dip before it fell out. Back onto the Camelbak it went.The trip was a success. What we had worked (mostly), but we both learned a lot for next time. I need to find a way to stay warmer, and Seenvic needs a better way to put stuff on the bike.
I’m going to find something to put beneath my sleeping bag inside the hammock that should insulate me better and let me stay warm…like a fleece blanket or something. I’m also going to simplify my glasses/contacts. I’m just going to wear my prescription glasses next time, then I wont need to carry the contact solution and case, or the case for the prescription glasses. I’m also going to think long and hard about the stove/fuel/pot/pan/etc. While it was nice having warm food, I’m not sure if it was worth the bulk of all that stuff. I may also look at a way to put either a rear rack or large seat bag on the back of the bike to carry clothes and other light weight stuff, to get some weight/bulk off my back.
All in all it was a really fun trip. And the many possibilities longer, multiday rides are fun to think about…I just need to find a way to get away from all my responsibilites for 3 or 4 days 😄
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Sounds like a good trip! What did you guys do for water? I didn’t see a filter on your list, maybe I missed it… I tried that frame bag you mentioned but I was surprised how tiny the thing actually is. I ended up leaving it behind – maybe a custom frame bag is the way to go to maximize capacity. I like the hammock idea – sure beats hauling an air mattress and tent!
It sucks that seenvic’s stuff was falling off the whole time. I only used a handlebar bag on my trip but even that got mildly annoying as the load shifted throughout the day. I think I may try going with a monster Camelbak on my next adventure to see how that feels. Even a one-wheel trailer might work better than strapping everything to the bike…
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We didn’t take a filter. We carried water with us, and left a jug at Keg Bridge to refill on the way back to the car the next morning. I had 70oz on my back, and a small bottle on the bike. When we set out for the car I had about 20oz left I guess. I was conservative with what I had tho. It was enough, but we only rode 21.5 miles total. For a longer trip we’ll have to plan ahead and know where we can refill, and I’ll get me a 100oz bladder. Worst comes to worst we could stop at someone’s house and knock on the door.
That’s another reason I’ll probably leave the stove behind next time. Cooking uses water, so does cleaning the pots/bowl/etc. That’s wasted water IMO.
Not needing a sleeping pad (or pillow) was one of the main draws to the hammock for me. But now that I know I’ll need to carry something else to put beneath me…I’m not sure it’ll really save me much weight over a bivy + pad like Seenvic used, but it will be more comfortable. I need to do some research, see what other people use to insulate when camping in cold weather.
Yeah, the Tangle bag isn’t very big. But luckily it’s just big enough for what I had hoped to use it for, so I’m happy.
I was REALLY happy with how my bike rode. Since it’s rigid everything got a good shaking, and it was totally solid, nothing moved, I rode just like normal. I rode all the logs down, which as you know about those trails, there’s always lots of logs, most around 12" tall. I even aired out some of the dips on Turkey 😼 I was a little slower than normal, but that’s expected when you’re carrying extra weight. The dry bag was packed really tightly, so it was pretty rigid, and I’m sure that helped.
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Since you’re riding hardtails, I’m very surprised that you don’t have pannier racks. I haven’t bike-packed with my hardtail, but I commute to work with it and it can hold a bunch of stuff and weight on the rack.
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"maddslacker" wrote
Since you’re riding hardtails, I’m very surprised that you don’t have pannier racks. I haven’t bike-packed with my hardtail, but I commute to work with it and it can hold a bunch of stuff and weight on the rack.
Panniers aren’t very good offroad. They’re wide, and not all that stable, and heavy. The idea is to go as light as possible, so you can still ride singletrack like normal, just a little slower maybe. For commuting or touring on road they’re great though.
http://www.bikepacking.net <- tons of good info here. Very few people use panniers.
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I didn’t notice a cooler with beer. Maybe it was on a small trailer pulled behind the bike
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if weight is an issue skip the water filter and use iodine tablets. Space blanket under the sleeping bag in the hammock? Also instead of a bivy sack I have seen ounce pinching backpackers use just leave the tent at home and only take the fly, foot print and poles. A little more space for a little more weight.
I always had a pocket knife ( leatherman ultralight) and a spork (or is it a foon?) a little saving there. A winter hat is always in my hiking/backpacking bag. It is amazing how just covering up the dome keeps you warm.
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My friend and I have gone bikepacking and used a similar setup. We tried as hard as we could to get as much on the bikes as possible, but we ended up having decent sized backpacks on as well. We did 120+ miles on a rail-trail so the riding was pretty easy, but the packs make such a difference! I think panniers would be a great investment if you plan on doing a good deal of bikepacking. Dont worry about a water filter, $8 gets you enough iodine tablets for a few trips, I have never gotten sick!
as far as glasses go, I cant stand wearing my prescription glasses while doing any kind of sport. Get one of the airline sized bottles and carry. As far as being clean with contacts, I use hand sanitizer and wait a few minutes to take my contacts out or it really burns the eyes.
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That sounds like a very cool trip even with the snags along the way.I’ve been wanting to try this on a local trail but I may wait until it gets warm out again.
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Sweet bike setup and trip! Would love to try that once the warm weather returns…
I have camped in a hammock before, great in warm wether – but and yes its much easier to stay warm in cold weather sleeping on the ground. -
Sounds like a good way to get used to the gear and to see what you really need. I did happen to see the Steri Pen on Backcountry.com webiste. I did not notice if anyone mentioned that here to solve the problem of useable water. I do not know anything about it but the newest version id getting some good reviews. Anyone here ever use one? Just something else to consider.
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