What to take on tour = Cut That Kit!

[ossie]

I read the great soap debate before my recent tour. I did 29000 feet of climbing in 10 days (you may do more) and it worried me non stop beforehand- this weight issue.

However this is what i decided / did....

the greatest pleasure you will get at the end of each day is a hot shower!!!....and a meal. I took one bar of soap, one very small tube of shampoo, a tube of travel wash and a small container of washing up liquid.

I washed my hair with the shampoo - and sometimes my body ...it was great..sometimes I was in the shower so long i used the soap. The travel wash cleaned my clothes and the smidgen of washing up liquid cleaned my cooking stuff.

The trick was to take a little of each....its no great mystery

[bealer]

I've just come back from France and was on very busy narrow twisty roads with steep drops on either side. Still not seeing how a mirror helps in any cycling situation, what does it do that eyes cannot?

Looking over your shoulder can cause you to swerve slightly, especially when going at 30kph+, and it also means you're not looking at what is ahead, ie pot holes etc... Plus I find looking over my left shoulder harder (as I'm used to looking over my right in the UK). Although the OP is doing a UK tour so that may not matter.

If you're wild camping think carefully about not taking trousers or something to cover your legs. In some areas the insects will be a real nuisance, even when just walking to a spot, or putting up your tent. When I'm stealth camping, my trousers are one of the first things I put on, save me getting bit. It's annoying as I'm putting up my tent around sun down and that's when the little buggers seem to be hungriest.

[Cachao]

I've ordered the Mirrcycle Original. The 'Longs' on the list are tracksuit bottoms. Any advice on soap? We'd really like all-purpose soap but without the price tag, which looks like shower gel at the moment.

Thanks,

Cachao

[boblo]

The zip tie recomendation was for bodging a myriad of repairs. Half a dozen 200mm ones each, tucked in your handlebars will make you disaster proof.

They can be used for all sorts; keeping panniers on, fixing broken tent zips, bodging broken bike parts, I've even bodged a broken q/r in the past with a few ties to get me to the next town/bike shop. Velcro ones don't do it in the same way and if you're really, really lucky, you'll come back with the same number of ties as you left with...

[Cachao]

The zip ties are now on the list.

Any more suggestions would be much appreciated. We leave in two weeks.

https://spreadsheets.google.com/spreads ... pJYL#gid=0

[boblo]

Line 12, bit harsh but you are very light

[nmnm]

What are those metal pegs at 300+ grams? Ebay has titanium tent pegs for about £2 each. The 2g ones are too small for many uses but the 5 gram ones are full size, and can replace old skool steel pegs. Cheap way to save 250g.

[BeeKeeper]

I think the mirror argument may depend a bit on where you cycle. I use a lot of narrow lanes which have high hedges and lots of trees along them. When the wind is strong you simply cannot hear a car coming up behind you because of the noise of the wind in the leaves. The car then sits behind you with the driver getting increasingly frustrated and at the first wide part they shoot past scaring the life out of you. It happened a few times to me - until I got a mirror.

[snibgo]

I always take toilet paper and a small shovel (really just an offcut from aluminium sheet, about 2x3 inches). Last week I needed them, for the first time in many years, as I got the squits from something I ate.

I discovered after torrential rain on the tour that my sleeping bag sack is no longer entirely waterproof, so I was pleased I had a dustbin liner with me. A cable tie fixed a mudguard bracket that broke.

I also used a mirror, for the first time. Useful, but takes some getting used to, and doesn't replace a proper look.