Touring tips?
Well I don’t know about bicycle touring, but I’ve done jobs before where I lived out in the countryside and everything I used has to be carried on my back (and packed in the space left after the bulky and heavy tools of the trade!), I believe some of the lessons will carry over (I’ll find out next year when friends and I are doing John O Groats to Carlisle!) So here’s how I pack…
First thing is to identify what you think you’ll need, eg. sleeping bag, tent, wash kit, cooker, pans, plate/s mug etc etc.
Then lay them all out on the floor and consider whether you *really* need them, eg. knife fork and spoon, you only need the spoon (and possibly a penknife). Tent, will the weather be fair? Could you use a bivi instead? Have a cuppa and just look at them and mull it over. Then start discarding things.
Now do it again and throw away anything you have any doubts over, eg. “I’m not sure, it might be useful”.
Now look at it again, this time we’re hopefully looking at the things we really *need* to carry, so now we minimize them. Again, be ruthless/obsessive, some examples;
Take your toothbrush and snap the handle in two then file the broken end off smooth (concrete will do this if you have no file) it will still do the job but it’s smaller and a fraction lighter.
Get a 35mm film can and put some toothpaste in it, you don’t need toothpaste for a month if you’re only out for a week, similar for shower gel, or if you use cake soap, take one that’s almost done or chop a new block in half.
Take a hand-towel not a bath towel.
Look at your sleeping bag, is it big and bulky? Get an Army surplus bivi bag, about £50 last time I looked, totally waterproof and worth another couple of seasons on the warmth of a bag, allowing you to use a lighter, smaller sleeping bag. It’s also easier to efficiently fit in two smaller items than one large one.
Sleeping mat, it only needs to go from your head to your behind, your legs don’t need that much insulation, so cut the unnecessary bit off a foam mat or if you can afford it, use a half length thermarest or equivalent.
Do you need more than one pot? (I think you can guess the answer by now…;-)) If you can find a proper stainless steel “Crusader” mug, you will find you can cook on it and yet the lip stays cool allowing you to drink from it, so one mug, no pots. (If you are teaming up with someone else and you need a bigger pot of course then one can carry the pot the other the mugs)
Take the same attitude and work through everything you intend to take. Make it smaller or lighter in every way you can.
Complete this exercise properly and you’ll find you should be able to just about get your shelter / washing / sleeping / cooking kit into a daysack sized bag. Naturally we need to spread them about along with clothes/tools and whatever else is required in order to get a sensible weight distribution but that’s the sort of size we’re aiming for. (Or ideally smaller)
Same idea with clothes… and everything else!
(Sort of the opposite of what I do on my commute, sigh)
Hope that's relevant/helpful :)
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