Gear

The list is divided by what I use and not use. Initially I bought too much, a waste of money…

The bicycle, a steel Santos:

Here’s a list of all things I bought for the bike trip:

  • Ortlieb Backroller Classic
  • Ortlieb Frontroller Classic
  • Ortlieb Ultimate Classic
  • Ortlieb Mapholder. Broken and replaced
  • Axa Defender plug 180 (lock)
  • Nalgene bottle, both bottles are gone, use supermarket bottles now
  • Elastic luggage net
  • VDO microcomputer (used 3 in total)
  • B & M Cycle Star mirror (broken)
  • Fitted two extra bottle cages, one on handlebar

Here’s a list of all things I bought and left behind:

  • Massive bicycle bell from Bangladesh removed because of too many things on the handle bar
  • Bike Buddy (to hold bottle). Changed it for Zéfal bottle cage

Camping gear:

To sleep

  • Tent North Face Meso 2 replaced by North Face Talus 3. Hilleberg Soulo
  • Groundsheet, a sturdy construction sheet
  • Exped Synmat UL M changed for Therma-A-Rest Women’s ProLite plus
  • Sleeping bag Cumulus Quantum 450 (send to factory for new filling)
  • Cotton liner, fleece liner (depending on weather)
  • Self made pillow cover (broken)

To cook

  • Plastic stock bottles for peper, salt, herbs and masala
  • Ortlieb waterbag 10 Ltr.
  • MSR deep dish (also used as cutting plate)
  • MSR frying pan, replaced for MSR Alpine fry pan
  • Primus Eta Power pot 1.7 Ltr.
  • Spoon, knife and fork
  • Immersion heater

  • MSR Seagull titanium cup. Lost, replaced by similar cheaper enamel cup.

  • Primus multi fuel stove. Replaced by Optimus Svea 123 stove (broken). Replaced by gas cylinder. Replaced by a new Optimus Nova.

  • Fuel bottle 0.75 liter

This is the camping gear I left behind

  • Exped mini pump
  • Self made down pillow (use clothes as pillow)
  • Vaude narrow silk liner
  • Thermo flask
  • Immersion heater
  • Vegetable oil bottle
  • Sea to Summit kitchen sink 10 liter
  • Ortlieb water bag, 10 liter (I used it in Africa and USA)
  • MSR Autoflow Gravity Microfilter
  • Primus Omnifuel, service kit and bottle
  • Primus fuel bottle 1 liter
  • Opinel knife (replaced twice)
  • Rosti Mepal bowl with lid

Clothing                                          

  • several kind of different underwear
  • 2 bra’s, a ShockAbsorber and a normal one
  • Buff
  • Keen sandals, Adidas trainers, Lowa leather GTX low replaced by mid Renegade
  • 1 pair of woolen socks
  • Bicycle gloves (replaced over and over)
  • 2 leggings
  • 2 cycling T-shirts, and a blouse
  • Waterproof rain gloves
  • Rain jacket Fjallraven, replaced for Patagonia Torrentshell jacket
  • Rain covers for shoes

Winter Clothing

  • Icebreaker real fleece Igloo hood. Replaced by a Mountain Hard Wear hood
  • Fleece gloves
  • Down jacket
  • Down mittens from Outdoor Research
  • Woolen hat
  • ‘Icebreaker’ woolen chute (buff)

Clothing bought, not used or left behind

  • Fjall Raven raincoat
  • Icebreaker Pace hipsters (2)
  • North Face rainpants
  • Icebreaker legging 260
  • Odlo slip
  • Bikini
  • Regular slippers/traditional Indian shoes
  • Hat
  • Thermo long sleeve shirt ‘Icebreaker’
  • 2 padded shorts
  • Helmet
  • Smartwool sportbra

Tools

  • Parktool AWS-10 Allen keys
  • Parktool TB 2 (quick repair for tire)
  • Toppeak Road Morph pump
  • 10 spare spokes
  • Oil, grease
  • Mini chain tool (chainsplitter)
  • Spokey
  • Powertape
  • Quick links, key nr. 8, spare screws
  • 2x Schwalbe inner tubes and 2 Slime Tubes
  • Magura 4 brake pads
  • Rohloff easy fit-set, oil change-set, sprocket and -removal tool
  • Spare glue
  • Tie rips

Tools and spare parts I can do without

  • Leatherman multitool Wave
  • Shimano chain HG 91
  • Schwalbe Mondial
  • Magure service kit

Toileteries

  • Comb
  • Toothbrush, toothpaste and dental floss
  • Mooncup
  • Shampoo in little sachets
  • Towel 120 x 60 cm.
  • Sun cream
  • Lipbalm
  • Mirror
  • Jack Wolfskin toiletbag
  • Tea tree oil
  • File to remove callus from feet
  • Some kind of cream/oil for skin care

I go without these toiletries

  • Tiger balm
  • Purol ointment
  • Deodorant

All kinds of

  • Julbo Tracks sunglasses. Replaced by cheap Polaroid and fit little prescription glasses into it with the use of velcro. 
  • Ordinary diary
  • Cotton ‘hand bag’
  • Petzl Tikkina 2 headlight (once stolen and replaced)
  • Sea to Summit Ultra Sil stuff sack (for electronics) x 2
  • Sea to Summit Dry Bag 35 liter
  • Small scissor
  • Therm-A-Rest ‘bubble’ mattress small (lost)
  • Universal sink plug
  • Powermonkey Solar Panel (broken) Replaced by a power bank 10400 mAh

All kind of things I can really do without

  • Leather handbag
  • Therm-A-Rest foldable chair Z-seat
  • Lowe Alpine Nanon backpack 45:50
  • Camelback isolation bottle sleeve
  • Ortlieb coffee filter
  • Recta compass
  • Plastic safety blanket
  • Sea to Summit washline
  • Fancy sun glasses with prescription
  • Moleskin little notebook
  • Money belt

Paper Works

  • Maps
  • Many copies of passport size photo’s

Extra’s I have left behind

  • Vitamin B1
  • Anti malaria: doxycycline (which comes standard with gyno-miconazolnitraat cream), Malerone 8 emergency pills
  • Vitamin tablets
  • Some books to read
  • Rohloff manual
  • Booklet bike repair
  • Color copy of passport

Electronical

  • Camera Nikon D90 with Tamron 18 – 270 mm
  • iPod
  • Haglöfs laptop drybag
  • Notebook Samsung, broken and replaced
  • Extern memory 500 GB
  • SD cards, cables, memory sticks
  • Smartphone

Electronica left behind

  • Nokia mobile
  • Spot GPS tracker
  • Samsung DVD writer
  • Flip Video 4GB (with action mount) Lost!
  • X-mini loudspeaker

Medical kit

  • Ibuprofen
  • Iodine
  • Band-Aid
  • Bandage (1 for support, 1 for securing)
  • First-aid dressings, -clips, ointment compress
  • Gauze swaps, Betadine
  • ORS
  • Tweezer, tick removal tool

Medical stuff I don’t take with me anymore (or buy when I need it)

  • Talcum powder
  • Kliniplast
  • Syringes
  • Antibiotic  
  • Thermometer
  • DEET and Citronella

Weight of handle bar bag: 2 KG

Weight of dry bag: 6 KG

Weight of left front bag: approx. 5.5 KG

Weight of right front bag: approx. 5.5 KG

Weight of left back bag: approx. 7.5 KG

Weight of right back bag: approx. 8 KG

Total Weight: approx. 34 KG about 25/28 kilogram (not included water, food and fuel for stove)

14 replies on “Gear”

Hello Cinderella,

Concerning a sleaping mattrass :

I have very good experience with the Exped Synmat 7 MW mattrass. I have used it for a minimum of 12 months fulltime in the hot sun at the South of France and the France Alpes in the last 3 years. And since i always stay at one place for about 2 to 3 weeks to ride my mountainbike in that region the matrass is always pumped up. So it takes temperatures of up to ++40C in the sun every (full) day.

The mattrass does not make sounds when turning. It is filled with down so the air inside stands still and does not transport coldness. And it has a buit-in 2-hands pump along a side that works easily (and that you will never notice while asleep). With my hands (size M …) i fill here up with about 30 pushes to a medium pressure which brings me the best comfort.

The only drawback is that it is hard to pack the mattrass since you don’t get the air out easy. You have to fold it in 3 lanes lengthwise but there is only one releasevalve (in the middle). There should also be 3 valves or there should be an airtunnel over the small side along the valve.

Trick now is to release the air as much as you can, close that valve, unfold the mattress and start over again one more time. That will do. But if not i suggest to sleep (there) one more night and dream of some other clever solution haha.

At this very moment the mattrass is still in an excellent condition, and so am i haha.

Cheers,
Wilfried

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Hi Wilfried,

Do I understand that you have this mattresses already for 3 years? That sounds good and it doesn’t surprise me as mine holds up well too.

I think that my mattress started to delaminate after I start sitting on it more than usual. This because of the cold that I start sitting in my tent. Because the hump started at that spot where I sat.

This I won’t do any more.

I have same issues with letting the air out. I need to do it twice will it fit in the stuff bag.

The down feathers in yours; is that necessary for warm climates such as where you are in?

Keep on sleeping and dreaming. By the way: how do you manage to stay for 3 weeks at one spot and cycle out of your camp? Are you camping on an official campground?

Regards Cindy and thank you for your nice review. Very much appreciated 😊

O

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Hoi Cindy,

I indeed do have this mattress for +3 years but it is even more the circumstances that count since that is +12 months fulltime usage at ++40C. I change campsite every 2 or 3 weeks (only) so the mattress is at pressure in the tent in the full sun almost always and continiously.

I am a longterm one-spot camper and are always travelling and camping by car, trailer, tent, touringbike and mountainbike. I search the (french) internet for mtb gps trails (traces vtt, velo toutes terrain) that local enthousiasts have uploaded. If i find some i then check whether i think i could cycle (or push …) them (concerning the number of vertical meters …). If oke (or optimistic) i then search for a campsite, preferably a camping municipal which means run by the little village to attract tourists (tip). Since they are quite basic and cheap they don’t attract many “modern” people. And that’s exactly what i prefer. Second interest is to (also) be close to a big(ger) village and explore that by touringbike. So i sejoure at regular campsites but am always the most unregular camper over there haha.

By the way, you could do all this with just a mountainbike but that would for sure not be a real mountainbike (ride) anymore. I have made so very many extremly beautiful mtb rides in the French Alpes in the past +- 15 years. It is just wonderfull out there !!! Just me and my bike, some filled up bidons and a good photocamera. Just have a look at my sites https://YesFotos.nl and https://YesGPS.nl , look for Frankrijk, choose your language and you will for sure agree that it looks fabuleous out there everywere.

Concerning the bubbles in your former sleepingmattress i can image that sitting to often on it might indeed have caused that bubble problem. All your weight (sorry) is then concentrated at a very small surface and pressure will rise at other areas. Maybe that’s why the mattress desintegrated a little bit haha. Far more important is that you did not. So that was a matter of learning by doing. Hopefully you will not have anymore bubbles and hills inside your tent.

To my experience a hot climate is hot only during the day (sun). As soon as our sun turns down so does the temperature in the mountains (and everywhere else). In july and august this is not an issue, but any other period it is. I never had ice on my tent but then i did not camp in the French winter (yet). Nevertheless temperatures down to +4C (in the warm part of the year) are no exception. So i use a thin isolation mattress, the Exped Synmat 7 MW mattress and a Vaude Mandan Comfort XL (envelop) sleepingbag. This combination always works perfect for me, until now at least.

When it comes to “sitting in the woods” i have choosen for the Helinox chair and the Vango Pioneer table. Both are very compact, lightweight and easy to setup and to folddown. Not having to sit on and reach to the ground is for sure a nice aspect ! The chair i (only …) just fit in and the table has a canholder, which means it wil hold a “verre de rose” haha.

Cheers,
Wilfried

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Hi Wilfried,

I see that you are a ‘comfort’ camper, taking a chair AND table with you! Are you taking both items, as well as all your stuff, from your house to the places you go to? Or do you drive by public transport to Spain, and start cycling there? I prefer simple style, so sitting on the ground and when I am lucky I have a back rest in the shape of a tree. I prefer the ground over a chair, also when I am back home, more like the Arabs and surroundings.

I went camping just now and to reduce the weight, we were on a motorbike, I did not take my Therm-A-Rest mattress, and not one night I slept well. Those mattresses are simply GOOD!!

When you camp on campings municipal, do you just rely on the safety such an environment might give you, do you hope for the best or do you always take your electronics with you? I never like to leave my stuff behind. I only do when I go to a supermarket, I chain my bicycle but the stuff is always relative unsecured. I wonder how do you feel aboout this on a camping.

Greetings Cindy

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Hoi Cindy,

Securing your stuff is indeed impossible. For my laptop i sometimes use a kensington cablelock. Secure the cable to the bike and then to the laptop. Put the laptop in the bicyclebag and close it as usual.

Vaude bags can be locked to the rack by a small lock that you can put through the clips. However, those very small locks are often of bad quality and/or difficult to reopen. You could also consider to use a lock to secure the handlestrip to the rack. But anyway, most of your stuff is still unsecured.
Besides that i always put the main bagstrip along the inside if the rack. This way it is not possible to grab the bags of the rack in an instance.

However, in 40+ years in France i only had 2 problems. This being a one-spot camper myself where i use the car to secure electronics in. Once the car gps was stolen while having forgotten to lock it. That thief only checked the dasboard locker … And once i discovered many fingerprints all over the car, from someone checking all doors (where they where locked).

I do read many blogs and have hardly ever read about thefts. Obviously the fear is there, but not the thiefs ?! Maybe they all went pedalling, inspired by your blog …

Cheers,
Wilfried

Ps: the “Notify me off new comments” does not function, at least not for a reply. So i always miss yours …

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Hi Francis,
easy read, isn’t it? And helpful, because we usually buy way too much.

The new gear list for my kickbike is not published (if ever) because I have the necessary items very slowly coming in. Just to be sure that what I get, is really needed.

Greetings Cindy

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Don't just stop here, I appreciate your thoughts too : )

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