Bikepacking seems to be becoming more popular, and with so many great bikes and products designed specifically for multi-day off road trips, it’s more accessible than ever. Are you a bikepacker? If you’re interested but haven’t been yet, what’s keeping you from giving it a try?
I think bikepacking is a bit of an intimidating term. It seems that a lot of people think they need to wait until they buy all the specifically bikepacking-marketed bags before they can go. While it’s great they are making lightweight touring gear that you can strap on your mountain bike, it’s really not necessary for everything. I’ve done some “light” bikepacking, for example riding out on fireroads with traditional panniers and then camping, ditching the gear and riding singletrack, or backcountry multi-days, sleeping and eating in huts (with maybe one full set of bikepacking gear between my wife and I- no cooking gear / shelter). The cool thing about “bikepacking” is that you can imagine your own adventures. If you can find a place to sleep inside, like hut or cabin or something, then just a backpack is all you need for an overnight.