Cycling UK Forum

Mick F wrote:I didn't do it, but considered it, and I don't see why it wouldn't work.

Put your cycle helmet in a pillow case and wash it in the washing machine.
Gentle wash, and slow spin.

It would still bang on the inside of the drum and compromise the helmet's effectiveness

I didn't do it, but considered it, and I don't see why it wouldn't work.

Put your cycle helmet in a pillow case and wash it in the washing machine.
Gentle wash, and slow spin.

mercalia wrote:would any one like to say how big they are?

some said that the inteded use is for fishermen to keep their legs warm? Well Alpkit have or had some nice elephants feet that pack small but expand really large ( I have one )

In the picture of the bag spread out that I posted earlier ,the sofa it's spread out on is 6ft 6 inches long to give you an idea

of it's length, it's a normal sleeping bag, I also noticed it has a pocket on the back of the head end to take a a pillow.

Mercalia I take your point that it might be a bit thin (to use in early spring for example).

I'm not sure whether to return it and go for a decent 3 season bag, I suppose if I don't like it I could always use it for catching eels.

This was compiled at few years ago when I was trying to get things a bit lighter and less bulky. I've left my notes in so you can see what changes I made. This would be for a UK trip e.g., a week touring Somerset & Devon. I'm now touring a couple of kg lighter
Item Comments
Panniers fully loaded 2.9.14 6.15kg/13lb8oz each (total 12.3kg/27lb) (At end of trip).
Panniers empty 1.8kg ancient Agu Sport now replaced with CaraDura 900g 40l
Bar Bag (Altura) Now Caradura 613g, 2kg with camera, wallet, keys, multi-tool etc.
Tent (Vaude Taurus Ultralite) 1.9kg dry 2kg wet
Tent Footprint 200g
Sleeping bag (Vango Voyager 300 Lite) 1.9kg now Snugpak Softie 6 1.2kg and less bulky.
Thermarest 1.1kg/2lb2oz now Alpkit Numo 375g + much less bulky.
Vango camping pillow Don’t bother unless using small mat + no puffa jacket
Cooker (Wilko)
Gas (Wilko) 1 canister easily enough for week
Windshield (Wilko)
2 tiny pans, mini wooden stirrer, spork, pan grip, shallow plastic bowl, Platypus water bottle, plastic mug, mini tin-opener, lighter, matches. All in freebie Heineken cool-bag! Used to include plastic cutlery set, Opinel knife, plastic ‘glass’, J-cloth for drying.
Food: oatbran porridge, quick pasta, couscous, tea, dried milk, brown sugar, hot chocolate, salt & pepper, cinnamon. Adds at least a kilo to weight at start of trip. Supplemented by single portions of pasta sauce, beans, fish, etc from supermarkets
Puffa-type jacket (Decathlon) With cotton bag to make into pillow
Fleece top 1
Shorts 1
Ron Hill Tracksters 1
Lightweight trousers If visiting rellies
T-shirts 2-3
Thermals (M&S)
Underwear/socks 2-3 wash & dry overnight
T-shirt for sleeping in
Woolly socks For sleeping
Crocs/flipflops Useful but bulky to pack
Shoes Goretex worth it
Waterproof cycling jacket
Waterproof trousers
Gloves
Camping towel
Washbag Mini bottles/tubes of shampoo, shower gel, toothpaste, SPF 30+ sunscreen, toothbrush, underarm
1st Aid Kit Plasters, headache pills, tweezers, mini nail snippers, earplugs
Phone Non- smart!
MP3 player
Radio Tiny sports radio – or just the one on the phone
Spare batteries For lights
Camera Medium weight
Book Rarely take one now – MP3 superseded!
Notebook, pen For diary
Maps UK - pages from road-map supplemented with Sustrans maps
Bike 1st Aid Mini-pump, toolkit, multitool, tube, lights, hand wipes, J-cloths, oil, chain kit, wire crud-remover

Phil Bishop wrote:I'm pretty average - 5' 11" and 58 years old.

You will want a comfortable self inflating sleeping mat. And an inflatable pillow. Sleeping on the ground is for younger people.

Mats have a width - count that as part of your tent area ... then add some space for your pannier or two (I leave some panniers on the bike) and some space for clothing, cooking gear. I like to have a tent pocket off the ground for things like a torch, specks, wallet etc. One man tents are for people without equipment, 2 man tents are for one person with gear.

Go size things up in a shop. Nothing like seeing and feeling. Settle on what is best for you there. Go to another shop and consider what is best there. Then consider second hand - use the shop stuff as a guide. If your like me you will buy some stuff at the shops as you cannot find what you want second hand when you want it.

Good luck.

For summer trips of about 4 or 5 days duration:

Tarptent Moment 1 person single skin tent with optional clip-in roof liner.
Thermarest NeoAir mat (original type).
Exped blow-up pillow.
Alpkit 2 season down sleeping bag.
Silk sleeping bag liner.
Microfibre towel and washing kit.
Small container of washing powder.
Trangia or Jetboil and breakfast bowl (depending on how the fancy takes me and how easy I think it will be to eat out).
Meths bottle or gas cannisters.
Plastic cutlery.
Tea mug. (Metal, plastic or porcelain - the latter being the best!)
Enough Meusli for breakfast each day.
Headtorch.
Ingredients for one emergency pasta meal.
On the road snacks - e.g. meusli bars.
Campsite clothing - one pair of lightweight trousers, teashirt, undies, and Montane insulated smock.
Shorts and teashirt for sleeping in.
Cycling clothing - 3 pairs shorts, 2 or 3 short sleeve tops and/or one long sleeve top, waterproofs, thin gloves, socks, hat.
Spare specs.
Suncream.
Mobile phone - one that only needs charging once a week (remember them?).
Maps / route guides.
Optional Olympus 35RC camera.
All packed in Ortlieb panniers and bar bag.

This has been a useful exercise for me as I have never written this down so normally have to rethink it before every trip!

Recent camping trip I took:
Panasonic G5 camera
cheque book, wallet, & keys
Electronics (phone, Kobo e-reader, Lights, Garmin, anker power pack), cables (watch, usb mini, usb micro), & charger
3 sets of cycle clothing
Jumper
PJs
Travel towel & toiletries
cycling shoes
Waterproofs
Puncture repair kit, 2x inner tubes, tools & tyre levers
Loo roll
trainers
MSR microrocket Stove & a vango wind guard & gas
MSR quick 2 system & a spork & MSR Ultralight kitchen set & pocket knife
Vango meteor 300 Tent
Vango ultralight 600 Sleeping bag
Alpkit dumo mat
Vango pillow
500ml flask
Lifeventure washing leaves

Total weight about 18kg with food and liquids. I could drop it down but I like my comforts.

Just for fun, this my lighter weight camping list, for long days in the saddle and and moving on each day;

Tent TN Solar 2.2, 2kg*
Quilt - Jacks-R-better, 900g*
Mat – Exped ultralight Synmat, 450g
Blow up pillow
Sleeping bag liner (Over the mat), 180g
Silk PJs, 240g
Jetboil with gas, 460g*
V60 coffee drip with paper filters
Ti Spork, 50g*
Microfiber towel, 180g
Wash kit, 400g
J clothes, 100g
2 Merino shirts, 430g
Shorts, 350g
Longs, 400g
Socks, 300g
Jersey, 450g
Jacket, 700g
Torch, 200g
FM radio with earplugs, 320g*
Camera, 650g
USB charger and powerpack, 530g
Tools, pump and tools, 650g
lock, 500g
Water bottles, 300g
Travel wash (Clothes, cooking, body), 100g
Ortlieb banniers, 1.6kg*
Carradice saddlebag, 650g*
Vaude bar bag, 600g*
Phone and wallet

I might swap a couple of items around, but it usually comes to around 12kg including the bags and what I'm wearing. Some people can go a lot lighter but I've found this to be my comfort level for three season camping UK and Europe.

EDIT - Cost, I only have a rough idea of what I paid for this stuff, but for fun I've marked the items that are over ten years old with a *, whatever it is they cost they've been excellent value.

I take a nerdish pleasure in having kit that allows me to stay warm/dry/comfortable in inclement conditions. On Friday, I headed out into a local forest and stopped overnight in a posh hammock tent (which I'd borrowed from a mate to compare against the one I own of a different brand) with a Thermarest NeoAir, a proper pillow and a 4-season sleeping bag. I had a great night's sleep although it was a fairly mild night for the time of year. I brought an appropriately weedy torch, which meant I had usable light throughout without needing to touch the spare batteries. I was using a cheapo Wilkinsons JetBoil copy with some provisions out of an army ration pack. I loved lying there listening to all the deer (or murderous psychopaths - can never be sure which it is) moving around outside.

I don't think I can persuade anyone that out-of-season camping is a good thing - the idea either appeals to you or it doesn't. But even in the depths of winter, you can get some nice high-pressure weather where it's cold but dry and scenic. It might not have been so much fun if it was raining/muddy etc, but even then it's just a matter of bringing the right kit and working out how to use it to best effect.

Exped also do a pillowpump - pillow and pump combined. I've found it very effective for inflating a synmat and much the most comfortable camping pillow I have ever used.

bigjim wrote:Anyway, does time matter that much?

No, exactly and certainly not 10 minutes in a day's riding, IMV. But difficulty does matter and the thought of riding with an impossible weight. And comfort matters too. So what the author is saying is, don't be put off carrying gear, it won't be as difficult as you think. And don't leave that extra pillow behind or your favourite coffee mug. I think it turns the concept of light and heavy on its head.

I accept the points about acceleration, liveliness etc but frankly when you are cycle camping these things are totally insignificant IMV: what really matters is the constant battle between comfort (at night) and the difficulty of carting that load up every hill. What he appears to be saying is that the weight is in your head not on the bike and he has the figures to prove it.

My last tuppence here,

I do use a compression bag, in fact it comes with a compression bag but I only compress it on tour. When compressed my Softee is quite packable.
In my standard back roller classic. I have the bag, my exped mat, pillow (compressed) spare clothes (I never take much, just wash and wear), first aid kit. Down the bottom are a couple of spare inner tubes and a folding 700x28 tyre, which I've never used. On the top, my waterproofs.

There's loads of good kit out there, if you're happy with your own then great.

The most important thing is to have fun on a bike. Camping touring for me is the ultimate freedom: no parking fees, no petrol pumps,no grotty hotels, you get up and get your head down whenever you want, park anywhere, eat at any time you like. Do what ever you like.

All this on an unladen machine that weighs less than a car wheel, what is there not to like about cycle touring with a tent?

John

I recently replaced a Exped blow up pillow (after at least 5 years) because the welding that makes a 'dimple' on the top had failed.

Reading the instructions on the new one I learnt that I should take care not to leave it inflated in the heat of day.

I suspect that expansion of hot air strained it.

Will be care full with new one.

mattsccm wrote:Ah!
What's always put me off a quilt is that when you move they leave gaps around you unless they are huge in which case they weigh the same as a bag. Eg A normal house hold single isn't wide enough is it? Also you are then lying on the mat which will be nasty synthetic stuff. What about your head? Pillows don't stay in one place. I am ready to be convinced here.

I have an Exped insulated mat, a rectangular sleeping bag liner, a Jacks R Better down quilt (And some silk PJs)
The mat provides more insulation between me and the floor than any bag ever could, the mat then goes in the bag liner which gives a nice easy clean surface to sleep on and also has a pouch to stuff as a pillow, it also stops the mat sliding round the tent as some do.. The quilt has a few options depending on the temperature - it has a soft version of velcro round the edges so it can be made into a rectangular bag (Something I never do) or there's a drawcord at the bottom to make a foot bag, or you can tuck one/both sides under the mat, or you can have it thrown over you (I sleep on my side and the quilt is big enough for this without gaps)
My quilt probably does weight the same as a comparable bag,there won't be much difference either way, I have it because I find it better rather than lighter.

I've got a pair of Dahon bags - a zip around full closure and an open top 'shopping' bag style. I've flown several times with each of them, they fold down small enough to sit on the rack on tour and double up as a pillow!