A downloadable list of all my bikepacking gear can be found in this post, first some background information.
Clothes and personal items
If you’re riding as I did, taking your time, enjoying exploring the remote sierras, towns and pueblos and staying a few days, you will want more clothes than if you’re on a mission to finish a route as fast as you can. You don’t have to be dirty and smelly all the time! After having a shower, it was so good to be able to put clean clothes on. I washed my dirty gear in the hostal bathrooms and dried them where I could.
I had packed for warm to hot weather in the day, with chilly mornings and evenings (above freezing temperatures) I would swap out some items if I was riding in colder weather. My clothes were packed in a vacuum bag, to keep the volume down.
Sleep System and camping
My preference was to have a completely free-standing tent. I really can’t be doing with staking out the guy ropes every time I put it up. I was generally happy with my choice of tent, although in strong winds it felt quite unstable. It’s tall and thin and must be pitched with the thinner end facing the direction the wind is coming from, which isn’t always easy to establish. It survived, was roomy enough for me and all my gear, except my bike, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time in it. It's very good at keeping the bugs out!
Bike
Standard, out of the showroom Specialized Camber FSR 2017 except for tubeless tyres
Upgrade. Standard tyres - Ground Control and Purgatory.
My only criticism of it would be that a full suspension bike is obviously heavier than a gravel bike, but not to a point where I wanted to throw it down a mountain, unless I was on it of course!
I’d love to get some quick release pedals for it, but that’s for when I’m rich! **Update I now have some QR pedals, see the blog**
Bike Luggage
I chose the Arkel Rollpacker luggage as they looked the most suitable for a full suspension bike. At 25 litres they are some of the largest bags around. When I fell off my bike riding down from the Puerta de la Ragua, the luggage took a hard hit. On my final day of the ride, the front Rollpacker bracket snapped, I managed to fudge a repair to continue. I can only think I may have cracked it in the aforementioned shunt. I also think I put excessive stress on it by strapping my tent to it, now I don’t do that. After contacting Arkel, they promptly sent me a new front bracket free of charge, I did have to pay the postage though.
My fork luggage bags are Gorilla Cages, I bought new ones after I had my accident, which was caused by one of the bags falling into the front wheel. I also bought the correct bags for them this time, which is a great improvement!
Rucksack
I carry a lot more things than a bikepacker on a mission would. All the extra gear doesn’t fit into the bike bags, so I carry some in my rucksack. The rucksack is quite heavy, and when I’m tired it feels extra heavy! I carry my laptop, electronics, some of my food, some of my water, paperwork, and a fleece in it. I would like to not have to ride with it but can’t see how I can keep my 'luxuries' if I didn’t use it.
Cooking equipment
I’m happy with my cooking stuff in general although my cookpot is causing a problem, as it gives a metallic taste to boiled water, currently ongoing.
At some point I’ll need to buy a new stove, the one I have is around ten years old and it sometimes falls apart! But I will stick with the screw on gas canister type I think. I found it difficult to find screw on canisters in the small pueblos in Spain, luckily I’d bought an adaptor that fits into my existing canister, so I can refill it with a butane aerosol type bottle, which are easily found in ferreterias in Spain.
Electronics
My YouTube films are very basic, I only use a GoPro, without gimbal and don’t use a drone. My notebook laptop and camera are very basic too. I’d like to attract more subscribers to my channel, but think I need better equipment and content to do this, so I may review my whole media production equipment setup. If I continue with the current standard of my films, I’ll keep my current setup.
As far as navigation goes, I had taken three mobile phones with me, all with SIMs with data. It was lucky I had taken three, as I broke my newest one on the second day of the ride. I smashed another completely in my tour-ending accident, so was left with one properly working. At least one spare phone is a must for me.
I’m navigating with Google Maps, Google My Maps and Ridewithgps. And I carry a Garmin Inreach Explorer which can always be used as a navigation device also.
I'd love to add a bike stand to my gear, but really I'm not sure I can afford the extra weight, I'm pretty heavy already. I will weigh my bike and gear at some point! But I'm guessing 40 - 45 kgs in total including my rucksack.
Below is an XLSX sheet of my gear that you can download, in case you want to adapt it for yourself. It shows what I carry, product details and where I store it, I hope it's useful to you!
Full Gear List Item
1.5 litre Water Bottles x 2
Quilt
Tea, Coffee And Sugar
Rain Poncho
Gas Canister
Bag of Vitamins
Windshield For Stove
Cooking Pot
Washing Stuff
Mozzie Headnet
Bowl
Cup
Stove
Makeup
Trowel
Shit Tickets
Cable Bike Lock
Beanie Hat
Sun Hat
Tissues
Sweets
Hand Sanitizer
Insect Repellent
1 litre Water Bottle
Pillow
Towel
Vacuum Pack Bag For Clothes comprising
1x Pair Of Leggings
1x Pair Of Short Shorts
1x Pair Of Knee Length Shorts
1x Pair Of Padded Cycling Pants
2x Pairs Of Knickers
1x Sports Bra
1x Long Sleeve Tops
1x Tidy T Shirt
1x Vest Top
1x Fleece
2x Pair Of Socks (Short/Ankle/Long)
1x Pair Of Long Johns
Solar Charger
Umbrella
Spoon
Swiss Army Kife
Front Bike Light
Rear Bike Light
Head Torch
Puño
Wet Wipes
Fisiocrem
Sun Screen
Small Bottle of Fruit Cordial
1x Pair Of Riding Gloves
Buff
Headband
Neck Cooler
Flannel
Lighter
Tyre Tube
First Aid Kit
Snake Bandage
Emergency Blanket
Chain Oil
Tyre Sealant
2xBungys
Spare Sawyer Bottle
Rain Jacket
Spare Plastic Bags
Suspension Pump
Wrist Straps
Eye Cover
Allen Keys
Sawyer Filter
Empty Holdall
Emergency Repair Kit comprising
1 x 3 Metres Paracord
3 x Safety Pins
1 x Sewing Kit
1 x Large Darning Needle
1 x Chain Splitter
1 x Derailuer Hanger
1 x Darning Thread
1 x Waterproof Matches
1 x Plugs For Holed Tyre
1 x Toothbrush To Clean Chain
1 x Silicon Gloves
1 x Sawyer Washer
1 x Double Sided Spongy Tape
1 x Super Glue
1 x Tube Of Adhesive
1 x Small Reel of Tank Tape
1 x Pen
2 x Brake Caliper Piston Spacer Blocks
1 x Repair Patch for Airbed
1 x Repair Patches for Tent
3 x Tyre Levers
10 x Cable Ties
1 x Small Reel Of Wire
2 x Spare Strap Clip
1 x Fire Lighter Rod
1 x Co2 Canister And Adaptor
1 x Spare Chain Link
Puncture Patches
2xAdaptor to Fill Gas Canister
Spanish Fan
Incense Sticks
Spare Batteries
Notepad
Pencil
Tissues
Face Mask
Compass
Airhorn
750ml Water Bottle
Tyre Pump
2xRollpackers
2xGorilla Cages
Wedge Top Tube Bag
Top Tube Saddle Bag
Knife
Handlebar Telephone Mount
Telephone For Navigation
Tent Bag
Tent Body
Tent Rainfly
Ground Sheet
Tent Poles
Sleeping Mat
Sleeping Bag Liner
Bike Mounted Bottle Holder
Securing Straps-Large
Securing Straps-Sall
Prescription Sun Glasses
Backpack
Bike Helmet
Gopro Chest Mount
Gopro Camera
Trail Runners
1x Pair Of Knee Length Shorts
1x Pair Of Padded Cycling Pants
1x Pairs Of Knickers
1x Sports Bra
1x Long Sleeve Tops
1x Pair Of Socks (Short/Ankle/Long)
Money, Credit Card, ID
Water Bottle
Insulated Food Bag
Dry Bag For Electronics
Spare Prescription Glasses
Gopro Fittings
Electronic Cables And Sd Cards
Whistle
Food
Garmin Inreach
Spare GoPro
Selfie Stick Tripod
Wall Charger
Flip-Flops
2xPower Banks 8800mAh
Laptop
Ear Buds
Ear Plugs
Spare Telephone
Lip Salve
Digital Camera
Power Bank 10400 mAh
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