number9
01-21-2006, 10:52 PM
I haven't started camping on the bike yet (still getting geared up for that) but I learned a few things pretty quick on my first few multi-day bike trips with the ST. Many of you probably already know all of this, but some may not have thought of it.
Clothes - I wear Under Armour boxers & t-shirts (loose gear) and Spidi Monza coolmax socks when riding. It not only helps prevent butt burn and keeps you dry and cool, but packs small & light. I have recently picked up a few quick-drying type shirts at Walmart - like Under Armour but $6 instead of $25. They are usually 100% polyester or sometimes, 90% poly / 10% spandex or something like that. I take 3 shirts, 3 boxers and 3-pr socks with me on the road. This allows me to go 3 days if needed before doing laundry. Laundry is simple, just wash them out in the motel / bathroom shink, wring them out and hang them over the shower rod/clothes line/chair back/whatever to dry overnight before you go to sleep. You will have fresh duds in the morning. I also wear soft, thin hiking type pants under my riding pants. Much more comfy / cooler than jeans and also pack smaller than jeans do. The nice pants to have would be quick-dry hikiing pants that the legs zip off to make shorts, but I can't bring myself to spend $40 each on a couple pair of pants.
Toiletries - I have collected the motel shampoo bottles over a couple trips (can also find small bottles in Walmart travel section of hygene section). I clean these bottles out and use them for shampoo, mouthwash, Tide (for washing clothes), whatever else I may need. They are small and pack well. Just write on them with a Sharpie marker what the contents are so you don't wash your mouth with shampoo. You can find lots of small, neat things in the travel hygene section of Walmart. I also carry a couple travel rolls of Charmin to .....well you know.
Compression bags - I was getting discouraged sitting here a few nights ago looking at the camping gear I have recently bought and trying to figure out how I was going to get it all in the Ortlieb medium duffle (11" x 21") bag my wife got me for Christmas. The Slumberjack Super Guide 30+ sleeping bag came in a 6x16 compression stuff bag and the Eureka Apex 3XTA tent stuff bag is about 8x17 or so. The Coleman Twin size Quickbed air mattress folds up to about 13x9x3. Obviously the tent at 8" dia. and sleeping bag at 6" dia wasn't going to fit together in the 11" dia duffle bag. I dug a couple compression bags I bought from Sportsmans Guide on clearance a while back out of the closet to play around with them. One is about 11x23 and the other is about 9x16 - nope, they'd both be way too large dia to go in the duffel bag. Then a light bulb came on. I put the tent/rainfly in the largest bag (11x23) and the sleebing bag in the other bag (9x16) and compressed the heck out of them turning the compression bags on their top and using my knee to compress all the air out while pulling on the adjusting straps. Each one compressed down to about 4-5" in height due to the larger diameter the gear had to spread out in. After that the tent, sleeping bag and air mattress all fit in the duffle easily with a little room to spare for some other small items I may need. And because the bags are a larger diameter than the tent or sleeping bag came in, I can expand them out so the gear won't be compressed during storage.
Here are some pics.
Clothes - I wear Under Armour boxers & t-shirts (loose gear) and Spidi Monza coolmax socks when riding. It not only helps prevent butt burn and keeps you dry and cool, but packs small & light. I have recently picked up a few quick-drying type shirts at Walmart - like Under Armour but $6 instead of $25. They are usually 100% polyester or sometimes, 90% poly / 10% spandex or something like that. I take 3 shirts, 3 boxers and 3-pr socks with me on the road. This allows me to go 3 days if needed before doing laundry. Laundry is simple, just wash them out in the motel / bathroom shink, wring them out and hang them over the shower rod/clothes line/chair back/whatever to dry overnight before you go to sleep. You will have fresh duds in the morning. I also wear soft, thin hiking type pants under my riding pants. Much more comfy / cooler than jeans and also pack smaller than jeans do. The nice pants to have would be quick-dry hikiing pants that the legs zip off to make shorts, but I can't bring myself to spend $40 each on a couple pair of pants.
Toiletries - I have collected the motel shampoo bottles over a couple trips (can also find small bottles in Walmart travel section of hygene section). I clean these bottles out and use them for shampoo, mouthwash, Tide (for washing clothes), whatever else I may need. They are small and pack well. Just write on them with a Sharpie marker what the contents are so you don't wash your mouth with shampoo. You can find lots of small, neat things in the travel hygene section of Walmart. I also carry a couple travel rolls of Charmin to .....well you know.
Compression bags - I was getting discouraged sitting here a few nights ago looking at the camping gear I have recently bought and trying to figure out how I was going to get it all in the Ortlieb medium duffle (11" x 21") bag my wife got me for Christmas. The Slumberjack Super Guide 30+ sleeping bag came in a 6x16 compression stuff bag and the Eureka Apex 3XTA tent stuff bag is about 8x17 or so. The Coleman Twin size Quickbed air mattress folds up to about 13x9x3. Obviously the tent at 8" dia. and sleeping bag at 6" dia wasn't going to fit together in the 11" dia duffle bag. I dug a couple compression bags I bought from Sportsmans Guide on clearance a while back out of the closet to play around with them. One is about 11x23 and the other is about 9x16 - nope, they'd both be way too large dia to go in the duffel bag. Then a light bulb came on. I put the tent/rainfly in the largest bag (11x23) and the sleebing bag in the other bag (9x16) and compressed the heck out of them turning the compression bags on their top and using my knee to compress all the air out while pulling on the adjusting straps. Each one compressed down to about 4-5" in height due to the larger diameter the gear had to spread out in. After that the tent, sleeping bag and air mattress all fit in the duffle easily with a little room to spare for some other small items I may need. And because the bags are a larger diameter than the tent or sleeping bag came in, I can expand them out so the gear won't be compressed during storage.
Here are some pics.